Even Luxury Hotels in Seoul City Have Entered the 'Jangbak' Market

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[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] Luxury hotels in downtown Seoul have also jumped into the 'jangbak' promotion.

Lotte Hotel Seoul announced on the 8th that starting from the 15th, it will launch a long-term stay product called 'Once in a Life,' conceptualized as 'living for a month in a luxury hotel in downtown Seoul.' This product, available until July 15, offers a 30-night stay in the main tower rooms for 3.4 million KRW, which breaks down to about 113,000 KRW per night. Additional nights are available at 130,000 KRW each. This rate is about half the weekday (around 190,000 KRW) and weekend (around 230,000 KRW) rates during the low season in March. The '2-week stay (14 nights)' product is also offered starting from 2.5 million KRW, with an additional night costing 180,000 KRW.

Included at no extra cost are daily room cleaning, laundry service for one shirt and three pieces of underwear and socks, and parking. Fitness and swimming pool facilities are also free to use. Benefits also include access to a private lounge equipped with a microwave. Breakfast at Lotte Hotel’s buffet La Seine can be added for 660,000 KRW for 30 nights, including tax and service charges, and 308,000 KRW for 14 nights.

Urban hotels have faced a sharp decline in overseas business and travel demand due to COVID-19, creating a need for strategies to improve performance. Lotte Hotel Seoul, located in Sogong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, where many large corporations and financial investment firms are based, traditionally had strong business demand. During seasons of international conferences and forums, overseas business demand mainly came from attendees or meetings with companies around City Hall and Euljiro areas. However, with international travel restrictions due to COVID-19, this demand sharply decreased, causing significant difficulties last year.

Launching a large-scale 'jangbak' promotion is a bold move for luxury hotels in downtown Seoul. The hotel explained, "Although there were some long-term stay customers in the past, such as embassies and foreign companies, we judged that hotel usage patterns have changed in the COVID-19 era, so we decided to offer this as a general product." Through this, the strategy is to target not only existing business demand but also general customers seeking a refreshing change that can substitute for overseas travel without straying far from their living area.

The prolonged work-from-home situation due to COVID-19 has also influenced the launch of such products, as demand for working remotely from hotels has increased to change the work environment. With the emergence of the new term 'jaetelgeunmu' (working from a hotel instead of home), the hotel introduced a 'luxury hotel-style long-term jaetelgeunmu' product that adds lifestyle benefits such as cleaning, laundry service, and access to swimming pool and fitness facilities.

The jaetelgeunmu product, where one commutes to the hotel in the morning and returns home in the evening, has become common this year from luxury hotels to business hotels. Among luxury hotels, InterContinental Seoul COEX offers a weekday stay product called 'A Vigorous Day, 8 to 8 Workation.'

A Lotte Hotel official said, "Traditionally, hotels were short-term stay spaces for travel and business, but as overseas travel has become difficult recently, customers are investing the money saved into domestic hotel vacations or jaetelgeunmu." He added, "In the COVID-19 era, hotels are shifting the paradigm from 'a place to stay' to 'a place to live,' transforming from mere accommodation spaces to living spaces where work and rest can be enjoyed simultaneously." He continued, "Just as the 'drive-thru' service first introduced by Lotte Hotel has become a basic service among hotels, we will continue to focus on developing various products for the new normal."