Oakwood - What's that?
Well, the official name is:
Oakwood Premier Coex Center located at a short walk from Samsung Station and Bong Eun Sa Buddhist temple in Gangnam, Seoul. They are luxury serviced apartment that boasts the experience of a 5-star hotel accommodation (according to
their website). Actually, I think that they are better than the 5-star accommodations because Oakwood provides an ambiance of a home away from home than what you'd expect in a hotel room and that in itself is very comforting. In addition, this place is connected to COEX Mall through a basement and that is a definite plus point, it is just 2 subway stops away from Gangnam Station. Location of Oakwood is one of the advantages of staying there even for someone who is in Seoul for the very first time.
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| 110V and 220 V sockets/switchboards are side by side - it's wonderful for someone who has a mismatch of gadgets |
When we were invited by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) and BUZZ KOREA - we got to stay there alongside
Grand Hilton in Seoul. Oakwood was way better than Grand Hilton in service and accessibility and the room was very spacious compare to Hilton. Not just that, they have a complete kitchen which is also very helpful and an excellent bathroom with steam sauna facility. It is huge for a single person but is ideal for a family or a couple.
I loved this idea that they have a 110V and 220V sockets. Fully equipped kitchen with home appliances and crockery for 4 people, pots, pans simply everything, they even have a washer/dryer in the room that came with a bottle of detergent. By the way, the various choices in terms of rooms that they offer include: studio, one bedroom, 2, 3 and 4 bedroom choices and a penthouse -
click here. The rooms are exactly what you see in pictures, actually better and extremely comfortable. They have everything you'd need. The bathroom with steam sauna facility was outstanding.
A fellow blogger from Japan,
Naoko in her blog titled - Burura, has done a wonderful post on reviewing Oakwood so check out the details and great pictures on her blog. If you know Japanese then its even better, you can read through it. I will never be able to post as much pictures as Naoko covering both the major and minor details however, these are a couple of photos I took of the room and the bird's eye view of Gangnam, Samsung dong and Jamsil from the room and the corridor's window.
Some of the images are below..
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| Roof Parking at COEX, Seoul |
Oakwood has a record number of families from the Middle East who have chosen to live there instead of the other choices that they had. In a matter of few days, I met about 9 families who are very happy that they chose Oakwood and even though they have kids - things are much better than they'd expected. This place is one of the biggest hub of the Arab community in Seoul.
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| Source: Oakwood |
Starting rates for a studio with breakfast would cost 500USD per night but one can get a big discount if your stay is for a couple of days or on long term basis. So call them and get details.
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| World Trade Center from the window - Samsung-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul |
Most important of all, pets are allowed in Oakwood and that's one of the reasons to choose this place however, for the size and number of pets, call them first.
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| Olympic Stadium at Jamsil can also be seen from Oakwood's window |
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| KEPCO Head office |
If your company will pay for the accommodation don't forget to checkout residential options at the Oakwood Hotel. In my opinion it is one of the best choices and is located in the heart of Seoul, it is better than Fraser Suits in Insadong.
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| Bong Eun sa in the green cluster... |
The green area is where the Bong Eun Sa Buddhist temple is located (pic. above) and in the picture below - after zooming in...it is much clearer, it's very unique that in the middle of sky scrapers we have Bong Eun Sa in the cluster of tress.
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| Bong Eun Sa Temple - Zoomed! |
Once I came out of the Oakwood Residence to catch a bus to head home - the same building (in photos above) looked like this (from below) from the main road :
and like this...
I could still see the Trade Center building while on my way towards Pangyo.
I enjoyed the view from the windows at Oakwood and had a panoramic view of Seoul without going out. One can see even across the Han river, a subway train crossing over the bridge on Han and neighborhoods such as Oksu and Hannam could be clearly seen along the Gangbyeong Highway.
is
difficult. Even a high-class hotel has to go
through a rigorous checklist to be included. 
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