Luxury rooms over 1 million KRW per night sold out
Hot Christmas demand regardless of Gyeonggi region
"Christmas Eve hotel reservations are already fully booked. It seems Koreans still have a lot of money."
As of the 21st, just days before the Christmas holiday, it has been reported that most reservations for luxury hotels in Seoul on the 24th and 25th are already sold out. This includes 5-star hotel rooms that easily exceed 1 million won per night.
On that day, a check of the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul rooms via Naver confirmed that all rooms available for reservation on the 24th and 25th were already sold out.
The Four Seasons Hotel is a 5-star hotel in Seoul and is a representative luxury hotel highly rated with scores above 9 on overseas travel sites such as Booking.com and TripAdvisor.
The accommodation cost is also considerable. The nightly stay fee ranges from a minimum of 700,000 won to a maximum of 1,900,000 won. The most expensive room, the Executive King Suite (as of the 25th-26th), offers views overlooking the royal palace and access to a club lounge for two, with a rate of 1,940,000 won per night.
The hotels showing sold-out streaks ahead of Christmas are not limited to the Four Seasons. Other 5-star hotels such as Signiel Seoul, Lotte Hotel World, JW Marriott Hotel Seoul, and Lotte Hotel Seoul have also reportedly sold out all rooms or are close to selling out for the 24th and 25th.
Netizens who encountered this news on social media (SNS) and online communities responded with comments like, "One night's fee equals my monthly living expenses," "They say the economy is tough, but it doesn't seem so at all," and "I didn't know Koreans had this much money."
The hotel industry's 'Christmas boom' is not limited to luxury rooms. Top-tier hotels such as Shilla Hotel and Chosun Hotel & Resort annually present 'signature cakes' made only with the finest ingredients targeting Christmas.
This year, the most expensive luxury hotel Christmas cake is the 'The Taste of Luxury' from Shilla Hotel Seoul, priced at 300,000 won. It contains 40g of freshly ground black truffle and uses the French dessert wine 'Chateau d'Yquem,' known as the 'drinkable gold,' as a liqueur. It is said that all products were sold out by the 10th, effectively making it a complete sell-out.
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