Hotel Yaja Jongno

We had a wonderful stay at Hotel Cats. Was a little difficult to find originally from the train station but that could be easily solved by having a good map. Hotel was close to plenty of great things to do and eat. Staff where friendly and the breakfast was satisfying. The rooms where warm which was brilliant as it was freezing during our visit. I will defiantly stay again when in Soul

Stayed for a couple of nights in Cats design hotel. It's situated in a convenient location with good communications when you visit Seoul as a tourist. This is a clean and nice hotel, but it is also a design hotel. That means that some practicalities like lightning, duvets and normal door to the bathroom is missing. The bed was rock hard and the breakfast a complete disappointment.

When I booked a room at this hotel (actually motel) from travelocity.com, the regular price of the room was higher than $220 for a 3-person junior suite room and it was on sale for $120 a night. I paid more than $270 including tax for two nights. As soon as I arrived there, I found the banner which said "sale for $40 a night." Inside, I found the price stand on the counter, and the regular price of the room was $70. It was located in a very ugly area of Seoul, and for people who just wanted to stay for couple of hours. I asked to tour the room before I decided to stay, and we ended up going to a different place. I attached photos, so please review them. This place is definitely not family-friendly. Money is not refundable, so be careful before you make a reservation. In the picture, W40,000 is about $40.

Almost killed about 5 mosquitoes per night while still see there are around 2 to 3 fly around the room, i believe those hotels in thailand could manage better. The room light are way too dark. Whenever we get into the washroom, we smell very strong cigarette smell which we have no idea it comes from. Staff are nice and gentle.

Stayed for 8days7nights in Cats Hotel and my stay is quite a disappointment. Luckily I changed to another accommodation after. 1st of all, when I first checked in to the deluxe room on the 5th floor, the room was very dark with bare minimal lights (4 small yellow spotlights in the attire room). The room was very cramped and small with barely any space to move with all the luggages for only 2pax ( 2 x 20kg luggage and 1 weekend bag). Then when unpacking, I realized that there are bugs flying in the room hence I went to the reception counter and enquired if all the rooms in this hotel are as such. Well, at least the guy at the reception immediately changed the room for me with no questions asked. Then we got transferred to another room on the 7th floor. This time, the room was slightly bigger but still quite limited space to move much & do not come with a bath-tub like the previous room. The bed sheets were very rough though and the bed was really hard hence we do not have a really good rest throughout the stay. Then come the worst, as the bathroom drainage has problem, it got flooded every time I showered in it and once the water got into the room! The hotel really need to get the bathroom drainage system checked! There are also times when the hotel replace only 1pc of new clean towel instead of 2pcs for us when they know that there are 2 occupants staying in the room. The amenities such as the toothpaste, body lotion had also been used before hence not really hygienic. The plus points for this hotel is that the drinks in the mini fridge are free & there are free daily breakfast available. The hotel definitely have a lot of work on its basic cleanliness.

I found this hotel at a great rate and decided to book for 4 nights. Initially, my taxi driver said he could not drive to the front because no cars are allowed in the small alleyway. We walked up a small open-air parking garage to find the main door entrance. We were greeted my two friendly men and check-in was fast and efficient. To our surprise, as a welcome, we were given two traditional bookmarks which we love. One of the men took our luggage to our room and was extremely kind and friendly making small conversation. When we got to our room, he showed us around and explained how to use the electrical features. He said if we had any questions not to hesitate to call. The room itself was on the “design” floor. Since it was a last minute booking and most of the rooms were sold out, we had to book a room with only one double bed. In the room you could also find a tv, mini fridge, computer and excellent fast wifi. This hotel was very generous in many ways. In our room and replenished daily were two bottles of water, one can of juice, one sports drink and one can of cold coffee or coke. We were also given tea bags and coffee sticks and cookies daily. The room also came with breakfast daily. Breakfast was a small arrangement of Korean noodle soup, breads, jams, rice porridge, boiled eggs and milk. Breakfast wasn’t the best in terms of variety however, for the size of this hotel, it was a nice touch. We ate there only once though, as the hotel is about 150 meters or away from Insadong, where we spent all of our time. Also in the lobby, available 24/7 was a free coffee machine with selections of various blends including cappuccino, hot chocolates and lattes. They also provided unlimited cookies for a quick snack. Overall, I think that this hotel is a former motel with a newly renovated touch. I can see how they are really trying to win over tourists. At this time, I believe that the only thing preventing this hotel from soaring high in the mid-range hotel service in Seoul is the location. In an area of love motels, older Korean folks, drunken people and loud shouters and fighters; this is not the most ideal place for a family. On one particular night I was woken by the sounds of a couple in “action” and this made me feel uncomfortable. I was sure we were not the only ones up from these loud noises. This place had good service, nice touches but if only they were located on a different street would give it a higher rating. Not bad for a one or two night stay. I would not recommend it for families with children. When we stayed there there was a lot of Chinese, North American and European tourists, as well as some Korean. I believe you can book sightseeing tours right from the hotel as everyday we walked out of the elevator various groups of tourists were talking to the reception about it.

I don't care if this neighborhood is full of love motels, gay bars or something else, all I know is that we have spent a wonderful five-day vacation while staying there! Its location is excellent with three subway lines meeting around , and the staff is friendly. When checking in , you don't need to fill in any blankets or forms so it's efficient! Anyway, if I have any chances to travel in Seoul again, I will definitely choose this hotel for its low-cost room rates and nice service, and free drinks in the room refrigerator! Haha,

The area itself is filled with love motels and therefore the area might seem a little seedy but in the morning, everything is as clean and well. Close to the subway and lots of decent eateries around. Staff was a little impersonal but efficient. No smiles, Fast check in. Rooms were really small and only one large suit case can be opened at any one time. Computers provided were a little slow so i did not utilize them at all.

The location is excellent but as others have noted in a seedy side alley which can get noisy. I stayed for four nights and although my 'deluxe' room was really quiet, the bed comfortable and the sheets changed every other day, the room was not cleaned and the bathroom was extremely grubby which detracted from its other comforts. Take your own soap! Eccentric balloon display in lobby and 'breakfast' is a misnomer - far better to go to the excellent Paris Baguette on Insadong.

The hotel comes across as rather seedy. It's in a good location but it's surrounded by a few love motels which for unassimilated and unbeknownst foreigners, may come as quite a shock. It's seriously hard to find and I was familiar with the area. They spoke no other language but Korean at the reception desk which will make it challenging for anyone who doesn't speak Korean. The hall ways had a heavy smell of smoke in them. We received a free little tub of ice-cream on the way up to our room. Surprisingly our room was great. It was spacious and modern. Hotel Cats may be trying to distance itself away from the "love motel" status but I'm afraid that it's hard thing to do when you are surrounded by them. -What would help this cause more is if they treated their guests like actual hotel guests and not a couple checking into a love motel for the evening.