Status: Diamond
Property: Hilton Busan
Booked: King Deluxe Room X2
Received: King One Bedroom Ocean View Suite X2
New hotel opened just 6 months ago. The design is very impressive, done in the spirit of Alexander McQueen with great attention to style and details.
I’ve booked two base rooms on el-cheapo rate and both were upgraded to top suites! Anyone who stays regularly with HH knows how rare it is to get top suite upgrade but two top upgrades in one stay is almost unheard of so I was blown away by the gesture (this property has just 8 ocean view suites).
We stayed two nights and I didn’t see any Westerners, in fact didn’t see any foreign tourists. There were plenty of guests but all seemed to be Korean couples and families. I’m also suspecting this property is not used to host many Diamond members so being Western + Diamond was most likely the reason for our VIP treatment.
The suite was huge, 120sqm devided into 3 separate areas - living room with balcony, bedroom with another balcony and bathroom with large bath overlooking the ocean. Wooden floors in living room and bedroom, stone in bathroom, all heated (common in Korea). I’ve stayed at Hilton suites before but this one was easily the most impressive one so far.
The property has 4 pools. The main outdoor pool was closed but there was one more, smaller which was heated. There is also spa club, free entry for Diamonds. In the spa there are separate men/women saunas, indoor pool on the top floor and heated rooftop pool. All facilities looked very fancy, in fact they were nicer than most Conrads I’ve visited.
Executive lounge served decent canapés and alcohol. It wasn never too busy thanks to the lack of status guests.
The restaurant was large, resort like, overlooking the outdoor main pool. Food selection was extensive with various Asian and Western options. It was quite funny to receive a “special” amenity - freshly squeezed carrot juice. They had at least 5 different juices to choose from but for some reason only Diamonds are offered carrot juice.
It’s well known that service in this part of the world is exceptionally good but here they took it to another level, it was phenomenal.
In conclusion, this is the best Hilton I’ve seen so far. I reckon all they need to do is update the bathroom amenities and it can be easily rebranded as Conrad or even WA.
Since it’s new property and haven’t seen any other reviews I’ll post some photos:
The entrance
View from the lounge
The way to lobby
Suite living room
Bedroom
Bathroom