Seoul II Day 2: Lotte Hotel World & Lotte Mart

We woke up to clear skies this morning and enjoyed the beautiful view of the sea from our room.

As our room package included breakfast for 4 adults, we took the glass lifts down to the restaurant.

We had to pay extra for my Boy but I can't remember the exact price (should be about 15k won). The buffet line was simple but with enough variety to satisfy our family.

It was such a blessing to be able to start the day with a full stomach! Food was good!

We headed back to our rooms to pack and check out.

After checking out, we waited for the hotel's complimentary shuttle bus to take us back to Incheon International Airport. The bus leaves every hour so make sure you check the bus schedule at the front desk so that you don't miss the bus. 

We realised that we had just missed the bus, hence we left our luggage at the lobby and explored the area while waiting. It was really chilly when the wind blew! 🥶😄

The bus arrived right on schedule and we boarded it. 

When we arrived at Terminal 1, we headed to the Bus Ticket Vending Machine to buy our Airport Limousine Bus tickets to Lotte World. It was relatively easy to navigate the system, which offered English as one of the languages we could choose. We naively thought there should be only one Lotte Hotel and tapped on the first one that popped up without checking. On hindsight, this was the biggest mistake of the day, as we would soon find out! 😴 

The tickets cost us 18k won per adult and 12k won per child, paid via credit card. Even though the bus was more expensive than the Express Train, it was a direct route to our destination and more comfortable!

We queued up at 3B-4 (Bus 6701) and saw the correct bus (Bus 6705A) pull up at the stand right next to us (see picture below, right)! We didn't realise it then but we had chosen Lotte Hotel Seoul instead of Lotte Hotel World! The difference in one word would lead to more than an hour detour (more on that later)!

As the travel time was expected to be about 80 minutes, we ensured that everyone went to the toilet before boarding.

The seats were very comfortable and we enjoyed the ride. At least until we arrived at Lotte Hotel Seoul and realised in horror that we had taken the wrong bus! 😱

Stranded at the wrong Lotte hotel, we wanted to take a cab to the correct one but the roads outside were very congested for some reason. I realised that we were actually close to a train station and we decided to take the train. Compared to Japan, it's much harder to travel with luggage and kids by train in Seoul as there were few elevators. Everyone, including the kids, had to lug our luggage down many flights of stairs to get to the station. I found difficulty in buying tickets as I was unfamiliar with the language and system. We finally got our tickets once I figured it out!

Fortunately, it was a straight train to Jamsil Station. On arrival, we found our way through the basement of Lotte Department Store to Lotte Hotel World. We have finally arrived! 😅

The hotel lobby was beautiful! We checked in at the front desk and received our key cards for our rooms. We had booked 2 Family Twin Rooms via Agoda at S$313 per room per night (inclusive of spa access but no breakfast). Each room comes with 1 double bed and 1 single bed, which meant my Littlest Girl will have her own bed (no kicking me at night)! 🥳

The room was spacious and comfortable! It also had all the usual amenities that were used to.

The bathrooms were luxurious! We loved the huge bathtub, which was perfect for our favourite hot baths every morning and night!

Our room faces Lotte World and its surrounding buildings! We had a great view of both the indoor and outdoor areas of the park!

Benefits of Lotte Hotel World that we loved: 

• Discounted Lotte World Adventure tickets (cheaper than Klook, must purchase at the front desk)
• Direct access to Lotte World Adventure theme park through Wonder Door (entry just for hotel guests) no need to queue with non-guests
• One-time re-entry to theme park via Wonder Door (only if tickets were purchased at the front desk)
• Close proximity to Lotte Department Store and Lotte Mart
• Access to Kids Club for kids 6 years old and under
• Access to the spa facilities (i.e., onsen and sauna) and/or swimming pool (with slide for kids) once a day

More details about the benefits in the next two posts (link at the bottom of this post)! 😊

By the time we've unpacked, we were hungry and headed to Lotte Departmental Store to look for food. Despite visiting this place 10 years ago, I had little recollection of the mall (that's how bad my memory is 😅)!

We walked for almost 45 minutes and couldn't find a decent restaurant we liked. I finally caught sight of a signboard that promoted Korean Traditional Restaurants at Level 3, next to the Lotte World Folk Museum.

There were a few restaurants on the same level but the hubby chose this one because he had a good feeling about it (and he is usually not wrong).

We probably over-ordered because we were so hungry! The great thing about Korean food is the endless side dishes we could eat while waiting.

Their abalone porridge deserves a special mention! And their beef seaweed soup was also amazing! We enjoyed it so much! 👍🏻

We cleared every plate including side dishes despite ordering a whole table full of food! The whole meal cost us about 100k won, which was really affordable compared to Singapore!

After a satisfying meal, we found our way to Lotte Mart located in the same building.

It is a must to visit Lotte Mart because many of the groceries we got were cheaper than other supermarkets in tourist areas. We were amused by the 5L bottle of soju that looked deceivingly like mineral water! Only in Korea! 😂

We bought so many things that we actually filled a whole cart! 😅 We also bought food for dinner/supper so that we can enjoy in the comforts of our hotel room. 

As we were walking back to our hotel, I stumbled upon Lee Sung Dang bakery at the basement food avenue and walked in because I had a good feeling (didn't even know its name until I Googled later)! I bought the plainest looking buns in the bakery because I felt that plain food meant that they were so good that they didn't need any 'decoration' to lure people to buy them! And I was not wrong! The red bean buns were the best I had ever eaten! My super picky Littlest Girl loved it so much that I only managed to snag one bite before it was gone! Definitely a must-try if you're a fan of bread & pastry like me! 😆

We decided to go for an evening swim at the swimming pool. We had to register and collect a key bracelet each. The bracelets gave us access into the bathrooms of our respective genders and you'd need to pass through the bathrooms to get to the pool. Don't be alarmed if you see naked people walking around; it's a bathroom! 😅

You can leave your things in the bathroom lockers if you don't want to watch over them at the pool. A pool attendant will also request for you to put on a swimming cap before entering the pool.

We spent most of our time in the kids pool because it was warm and had a slide that entertained my Littlest Girl for a long time!

I really wanted to go to the spa while the hubby watched the kids but decided not to because I didn't bring a change of clothes. It turned out to be a decision I would regret later because not only was the spa amazing, there were clothes for me to change into if I really needed! Such a wasted opportunity 😭

We returned to our rooms and had our dinner while watching the light show at the outdoor park.

There's nothing like a warm meal and comfortable beds at the end of a long day! I'll never take such luxuries for granted! ☺️

Continue to >> Seoul II Day 3: Lotte World Adventure

<< Back to Seoul II Day 1: Best Western Premier Incheon Airport

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Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on Seoul, South Korea 

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