My Busan hotel review after spending a few days at Signiel Busan, near Haeundae Beach. (I visited ALL the luxury hotels at Haeundae during my stay to make sure my review is as informative as possible!)
Located at one end of Haeundae Beach in Busan- the other end from Dongbaekseom Island and close to the Haeundae Beach Train- Signiel Busan is a 5-star hotel by Lotte group. I spent about a week there in 2023.
I paid for my own stay so this is a totally unsponsored and honest review. So honest I'm not sure if I'll make any affiliate sales through this post! (Yes, some of the links are affiliate, so if you book via my link, I'll get a small commission at no cost to you, which would be great because this blog has no income at the moment but lots of expenses!)
In my opinion, Haeundae is one of the best places to stay in Busan if you're looking for a luxury holiday. (The other option is Seomyeon, if you want a city break. I recommend Lotte Hotel Busan but there are also other cheaper hotels in Seomyeon.)
It was by no means a perfect stay- I was on the verge of leaving a one-star review at several points during my stay- however, other bits were so good that I still want to return!
Recommended for: the sea views from the gorgeous infinity pool, having the prettiest coffee shop out of all the Haeundae hotels, & the relaxing beauty treatments
Location
The location of Signiel Busan is great, if you want to be based at Haeundae. You're within walking distance of lots of good restaurants and the Sky Capsule.
Note that Signiel Hotel is located on the 3rd to 19th floors of LCT Tower, one of the newest and tallest residential complexes in Busan. The building next door is a service apartment, so taxi drivers often get confused and may drop you off at the wrong place. LCT Tower was meant to have a lot of shops, but it was pretty much deserted when I visited in 2023. There were only 2 shops useful to tourists: 1 coffee shop and a convenience store.
If you walk to the next-door mall, and go down the escalators, you'll arrive at Haeundae Beach. (There's a connecting door to the mall from within the hotel, but it's not always open.) There's a beautiful beachfront promenade that is a great place for a stroll or to sit and enjoy the sea breeze.
It's about 1.5 km from Gimhae International Airport.
Jungdong Station and Haeundae Subway Station (Busan Metro Line 2) are both about a 11-minute stroll away, so it's a convenient base to see things in Busan.
Address: 30 Dalmaji-gil, Haeundae-gu, Busan, 48099, South Korea
Nearby Attractions
- Haeundae Blue Line Park: it goes all the way to Cheongsapo. You can also walk the coastal path if you can't get a ticket for the Beach train or Sky Capsule. My favorite thing to do at Mipo Harbor.
- Haeundae Beach
- Dongbaekseom Island
- Sea Life Busan Aquarium
- Haeundae Market
First Impressions
To be honest, my first impression was horrific.
Firstly, the signage for the hotel is horrendous. Neither the taxi driver (a Busan local) nor myself could make out which of the 3 buildings was Signiel Hotel Busan. (The other 2 include a Mall and a service residence.)
If not for my patchy Korea and the Papago app, I would have been dropped off at the wrong place, with tons of luggage, on a rainy day! (I basically asked the taxi driver to do another slow turn round the driveway, and we eventually figured out which was the right tower.
Upon alighting, the porters did not help me with the luggage. I had to carry them out of the trunk myself! Not that I can't do it myself- although I was pretty tired after a long commute- but one reason people pay to stay at five-star hotels is so that they have help!
After I made it to the lobby, I was welcomed by a lady who asked me to go up to the 4th floor to wait to check-in. As I had a Zoom meeting soon, I politely asked how long I would have to wait, and she told me 5 minutes. (I arrived about an hour or so after the official check-in time by the way.) Which totally did not make sense to me as, by the time I made my way to the 4th floor and back down to the reception to check-in, more than 5 minutes would have passed! (It eventually turned out that I was at the lobby (which is on the 3rd floor), so I only needed to go up one level, but the receptionist was unable to convey this in English.)
Note: the front desk and lobby area is quite small and unimpressive for a luxury hotel, but the cafe interiors are lovely.
Unfortunately, it was impossible to communicate with the lady as though she could say English words, she couldn't actually converse in English. (I don't mean to sound snide, but it's the truth. She once told me to go left when the map said right.)
So I went upstairs to a waiting lounge. Apparently the wait to check-in might take over an hour! (This is not peak season by the way, and it's not a large hotel- it only has 260 rooms!) The lounge was quite nice- there were free drinks- but I was getting pretty annoyed by now. It's not quite the premium experience it was advertised to be!
The staff at the waiting lounge kindly helped me check if I would be able to get to my room before my meeting ( in 1.5 hours time) and luckily I managed to check in before then. (I think I ended up waiting less than 30 minutes. However, when I asked the staff on arrival, she wasn't sure if the wait would be more than 2 hours!)
I was told that I had free access to a lounge, Salon de Signiel, on the 8th floor. (Operation hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.) After my meeting, I went to the lounge and- guess what- you have to queue again! Honestly, I was starting to wonder if luxury to Signiel meant lots of waiting!
After finally being allowed in the lounge, I wasn't super impressed. There were some free drinks and cookies, but it was quite small and didn't feel very premium.
English Ability of Staff
As mentioned above, the staff of Signiel Hotel have terrible English. (In Lotte Hotel Seoul, the staff speak decent English, though not as good as a budget hotel such as Ibis!)
I used to read Korean hotel reviews where angry hotel guests would rant and rave about the staff's inability to speak English and be puzzled. Aren't we traveling to Korea for a foreign experience?
Now I understand their frustration! It's one thing to not be able to speak English but try to be helpful- the first time I visited Busan, I couldn't speak a word of Korean and there were no Smartphones to translate, yet I got around quite easily and happily!
Unfortunately, at Signiel, the staff can't speak English but pretend they can and give out the wrong information! (For example, telling me to go left when the attraction is on the right.)
OR they just ignore you.
When checking-out, I asked them to call a cab like three times before they actually did. The were also the ONLY Korean hotel staff that didn't bother to ask where I was going and to inform the driver- this includes the 3-star Fairfield Songdo Hotel, by the way. (As it can be difficult to communicate with Busan taxi drivers if you don't speak Korean.)
If you want to stay in a hotel where the staff have a good command of English in Korea, I STRONGLY recommend staying in an international chain, such as Intercontinental COEX in Seoul or Westin Chosun or Grand Josun in Busan. Also, don't forget to download Papago and these helpful Korean travel apps.
Room
The Signiel Hotel room was decent looking but pretty small. (Not super luxurious in feel- the names of Lotte's rooms tend to sound fancier than they really are) Comfortable as a solo traveler but a little squeezy if you're traveling as a couple.
However, it does have individually controlled Air Conditioning in the rooms, which is very important to me. (Not all 5-star hotels in Korea allow you to independently set the thermostat in the guest rooms!)
Obviously, as a five-star, it has the typical flat-screen TV, a private bathroom, offers dry cleaning and what not. It uses luxury Italian bedding, which I appreciated, and the bedroom slippers are tied with Marina Bay Sands as the best I've been given at a hotel.
I booked it because of the balcony, which has views of the sea or Mipo Harbour. (There are floor-to-ceiling windows.) Unfortunately, even in April, there were lots of flies, and no insect screen. Which meant it was impossible to open the door to enjoy the sea breeze without insect entering the room. And there is no furniture on the balcony, so you can't exactly sit outside to enjoy it! I felt it was a waste of space, to be honest.
I booked a Harbor View room which did not come with breakfast.
Note: you'll need a Premier room or higher to get a good ocean view.
And, even with the door closed, you can still hear your neighbours if they're noisy. I had a family next door and they were VERY loud.
There is a desk and sitting area in the room. I found the desk OK to work at, but some reviewers have said it's not possible to get serious work done there. The sitting area felt more like it was for show- it wasn't super comfortable as it was quite short.
What I REALLY liked was the free snacks that were brought up every afternoon. Now many luxury hotels do this. However, the presentation at Signiel Hotel is really much more personal and luxurious. For example, one afternoon, I was sent macarons under a glass cloche, on a tray. (This is in comparison to other 5-star hotels, where you might just find a generic box of cookies in the room.)
Note: you might see some hotel booking sites going on about the "designer toiletries" but they were nothing special. Lotte is notoriously stingy. They're the only Korean hotel I've stayed in- this includes budget hotels- that doesn't provide toothbrushes/ toothpaste "because of sustainability issues."
And the toiletries are provided in large bottles, not individually packed. (I agree this is better for the environment, but it also means that lots of people handle the bottles, making it feel a bit icky.)
The room comes with free tea sachets and electric kettle. The tea is the Signiel house brand and nice enough that I bought a box to bring home!
Bathroom
Water pressure was good. I generally had no complaints about the bathroom but taller people above 6-feet may find the tub a bit small. The Signiel-branded bath salts were a nice touch.
Food
There isn't a Korean restaurant in the Signiel Hotel. (There are a few Korean options on the in-room dining menu, but the Korean food was not as good as Lotte Busan.) However, this is the case for ALL the 5-star hotels in Haeundae, except the Westin which is MUCH older.
Their guests are mostly Koreans, with fewer international tourists, and I believe the locals prefer international food. The Chinese restaurant (Chao Lan), dim sum, and buffet are among the best in Busan, and often fully booked.
The coffee house offers Western food, which was good.
Facilities
- The infinity pool of Signiel Hotel Busan is the best I've seen and has panaromic views of the sea. (It's an outdoor swimming pool.)
- It's even better than the one at Marina Bay Sands Singapore. (But then I prefer nature views to city skylines.)
- And better than all the other luxury hotels at Haeundae, such as Paradise Hotel, Westin Josun (old), Park Hyatt (location less ideal, not really in Haeundae) or Grand Josun (feels more cramped.)
- There is also an indoor swimming pool for bad weather days.
- The fitness centre is quite small but happily only allows people 17-years and up inside. (For kids, there's an outdoor activity area and Kids Lounge.)
- The Lounge restaurant is beautiful, with wonderful views of the sea, and has great food: you don't have to leave the hotel to eat.
- The spa at Signiel Busan was also great.
- I did a facial treatment and it was very relaxing.
- The plus point was that I could book in last minute, unlike the spa at Paradise Hotel, which was fully booked for the entire week I was in Haeundae. (Having said that, the spa at Signiel is more expensive and I was not staying at Paradise Hotel, 2 reasons that could affect the availability of appointments.)
- 24-hour room service: due to the terrible English standard, I couldn't get a cup of water with the meal I ordered.
- The free wifi worked. (But Internet in Korea is generally great.)
Note: the hotel has a sauna, but there may be additional charges to use it, depending on your room type. (This is common practice in Korea, even for top hotels.)
To sum up, the software of the 5-star Signiel Busan Hotel really needs fine tuning (hotel signage and staff training/ service/ ability to help international guests/ speak English.) However, the hardware is so good that, depending on your needs, it might compensate for that. (Good food, beautiful restuarant to relax, AMAZING pool, and great beauty treatments.)
I would not book my elderly relatives in to Signiel Hotel on their own, because the staff didn't seem equipped to deal with regular things, let alone any special requests senior travlers might have. (Imagine 80-year old ladies with hip and knee issues having to carry their own luggage out of the taxi's boot!?) However, if they were traveling with younger people such as myself, or if I was on my own, then I would consider it, as thy would revel in the beautiful facilities such as the restaurant and luxury spa.
If you've decided Signiel Hotel is not for you, the other luxury hotels in the Haeundae area to consider include: LHW's Paradise Busan hotel, former Starwood, now Marriott's Westin Chosun, Park Hyatt Busan (opened in 2013, location not as good but great view of Gwangan Bridge), Hilton (opened in 2015) and Grand Josun (opened 2020.)
Leave a Reply