Hotel Shilla: Five-Star Splendor in Seoul, Korea

What made my first-ever stay in a five-star hotel memorable was how unmemorably bland the experience was. I accompanied my partner to an international business conference at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul, Korea. We expected to be wallowing in Korean-flavored luxury and dining on Korean specialties, with the company footing most of the bill.

Instead, we found ourselves walking down the hill with many of the other conference attendees to eat at the decidedly one-star Korean barbecue beef joint next to the subway station outside the Shilla's walled park.

For all its accolades and awards, the Shilla Hotel was a sterile cocoon. There was no "there" there. We were legally in Korea, but isolated in a bubble of blandly posh ambiance that could have been anywhere on the planet. The room was clean and comfortable, the restaurants gave stellar service, the staff was polite and helpful. The hotel has swimming pools, health and beauty spas, a 23-acre private park and sculpture garden, but aside from a few decorative touches, it looked and felt like a hundred other posh hotels.

I had shopping money set aside for a splurge. The Shilla's in-hotel shopping arcade, instead of featuring top Korean designers and artisans, was just another Wal-Mart for jet setters. It was well-stocked with the same "look at me I'm expensive " brands I can find in New York, San Francisco, Berlin, or Rio. So once again I trekked down the hill to the subway in search of Korea.

There were also some minor annoyances that one would not expect of a five-star establishment. Although the Shilla's guests can be expected to be arriving dazed and jet-lagged from a cross-Pacific flight, there was nothing on the menu for people who had to eat but were to tired to enjoy eating. I wanted comfort food at that moment, not haute cuisine. I'm sure that my first meal in Korea was delectable, but I don't remember eating it.

The Shilla issued one key for our room, despite our explanation that we were not on the same schedule. It was an impressively large brass key, but the one-key policy meant I spent time waiting for the front desk staff to check my ID, escort me to the room, and let me in. It made me miss the Holiday Inn and their low-class magnetic key cards.

If you want to visit Korea without having to experience Korea, and your travel budget can handle the $250 a night rooms and correspondingly high-priced meals, I highly recommend the Shilla.

Shilla Hotel website: http://www.shilla.net/en/seoul/