Despite spending most of my life in Hong Kong , I had yet to visit Seoul until this spring – which is why I took a while deliberating over which neighbourhood to select as a base when booking my hotel. I finally went for the popular recommendation for first-timers, Myeong-dong, but also booked myself into Hotel Naru Seoul in Mapo just a short taxi drive away. {"@context":"https://schema.
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jpg"} Hotel Naru Seoul in hip Mapo sits on the northern bank of the Han River Part of the MGallery Hotel Collection of boutique hotels across the globe – itself part of hospitality group Accor, which also owns Raffles and Sofitel – Hotel Naru opened at the end of 2022, and admittedly jumped out at me for one reason: its gorgeous, sweeping views of the Han River. I may have initially just daydreamed about lounging by the Insta-worthy infinity pool but, upon checking in, I quickly found plenty more reasons to be tempted not to leave my room during my stay. The design The lobby is on the 20th floor, for maximum drama.
Upon stepping out of the panoramic lift from the ground floor, the first thing you notice are the floor-to-ceiling windows that take full advantage of the river view right off the bat. The guests here are a more stylish set than the budget and bu.