Where to stay in Korea

Accommodation in Korea is plentiful, clean and — outside central Seoul — inexpensive. The decision worth thinking about is not price but type, because several Korean categories do not map onto anything you will have booked before.

The familiar end

International and domestic chain hotels cover the top and middle of the market in every large city, and business hotels are the reliable default: small rooms, spotless, well located, priced sensibly. If you want to stop thinking about it, book one of these near a subway interchange and move on.

Motels

Korean motels are a category of their own. They grew out of the love-hotel trade and still carry some of the styling — themed rooms, dim lobbies, discreet entrances — but in practice they are ordinary budget hotels: private, well equipped, often with unexpectedly good bathrooms, and much cheaper than a hotel of similar comfort.

They cluster around bus terminals and entertainment districts. Most take walk-ins rather than online bookings.

Guesthouses and hostels

The backpacker end is well developed in Seoul, Busan and Jeju, with dorms and private rooms, communal kitchens and staff who speak English. In smaller towns, guesthouses are often the only option that will have an English-speaking host.

Hanok stays

A hanok is a traditional Korean house: timber frame, tiled roof, paper-screened doors, rooms arranged around a courtyard, and an ondol underfloor heating system that has been in use for centuries. A number have been converted into guesthouses, concentrated in the historic quarters of Seoul, Jeonju and Gyeongju.

You sleep on a mattress on a heated floor rather than a bed. It is atmospheric, it is genuinely Korean, and it is best taken in short doses.

Temple stays

Many Buddhist temples run overnight programmes for visitors, with simple lodging, vegetarian temple cuisine and an optional share of the monastic routine — early-morning chanting included. English-language sessions are offered at temples across the country.

Jjimjilbang

Not accommodation exactly, but Korea's 24-hour bathhouses have communal sleeping halls, and Koreans use them as an overnight option after a late night or an early train. For a few thousand won you get the baths, the saunas, a floor mat and a locker. It is not restful, but it is an experience and it is very cheap.

Choosing a location

In Korean cities, proximity to a subway station matters more than proximity to a specific sight. Seoul is large but the network is dense; a hotel two stops further out but next to a station will usually beat one that is nominally central and a fifteen-minute walk from anything.

For the neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood view, start with Seoul, Busan and Jeju.