If you’re planning a family trip to Seoul and want a luxury hotel where you can actually relax instead of running from sight to sight, The Shilla Seoul is worth a look. We spent one night here with our child and used it as a home base for a short, easy loop through Namsan and Jangchung-dong.
Rather than packing the trip with attractions, we wanted to enjoy the hotel itself — the deluxe room, the indoor pool, the kids’ lounge, and a proper breakfast at The Parkview the next morning. We also squeezed in a walk up Namsan and a stop at Taegeukdang, Seoul’s oldest bakery, both an easy distance from the hotel.
The Shilla Seoul at night
What’s in this review
- Quick Facts
- Why we chose The Shilla Seoul
- The Room — Deluxe Room
- Facilities — Indoor Pool & Kids Lounge
- Breakfast at The Parkview
- A short trip — Jangchung-dong & Namsan
- Location Map
- Pros & Cons
- Final Verdict
📋 Quick Facts
- 📍 Address: 249 Dongho-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (04605) — at the foot of Namsan, close to Jangchung-dong
- 🛏️ Room: Deluxe Room, approx. 36㎡
- 🏊 Facilities: Indoor pool (3F), Kids Lounge (5F)
- 🍳 Breakfast: The Parkview (buffet)
- 🕒 Check-in / Check-out: 3:00 PM / 11:00 AM
- 💰 Rate: Deluxe Room averages roughly $270–$370 (about ₩350,000–450,000) per night based on booking-site averages — varies by season and availability
- 👨👩👧 Best for: Families who want a genuinely nice hotel to relax in, not just a kids-activity resort
🤔 Why We Chose The Shilla Seoul
The Shilla Seoul is widely considered one of Korea’s top luxury hotels — it’s confident enough in its own service and facilities to call itself the best hotel in Korea. When traveling with a toddler, we didn’t want to spend every day rushing between attractions. Sometimes the hotel itself becomes part of the trip, and that’s what we were after: a place to swim, eat well, rest, and let our kid play.
The lobby lounge, “Sweet Escape”
The location was another big plus. The hotel sits right on the slope of Namsan, so a short walk up gets you a full view of the city, and Jangchung-dong and several other central Seoul spots are close by. For a short family trip, it turned out to be a really good combination of resting at the hotel and still seeing a bit of the city.
🛏️ The Room — Deluxe Room
We stayed in a Deluxe Room, at roughly 36㎡ — a comfortable size for one night with a toddler.
The Deluxe Room — twin bed setup
We let the hotel know in advance that we were traveling with a child, and they had kids’ slippers and a robe ready in the room. It’s a small touch, but details like this go a long way when you’re traveling with little ones.
Minibar & Nespresso/tea set (left) — the kids’ robe and slippers (right)
The room itself felt clean, calm, and classic rather than loud or overly kid-themed — and honestly, we liked that. It didn’t feel like a room built only for children; it felt like a space the whole family could actually relax in.
🏊 Facilities — Indoor Pool & Kids Lounge
The indoor pool was one of the main reasons we booked this stay. It’s on the 3rd floor, so we could swim without ever leaving the building — no weather to worry about, and no need to plan a separate outing just to find a pool.
The 3rd-floor indoor pool
Swim time, flotation vest and all
On the 5th floor there’s also a Kids Lounge. It’s not a huge indoor playground or an all-day kids club — more of a small space where a child can play while you’re staying at the hotel. We liked not having to drive somewhere else for playtime; it was just a short elevator ride and back.
The 5th-floor Kids Lounge, giant teddy bear chair included
We also had cake in the room on our first night
🍳 Breakfast at The Parkview
The Parkview, the hotel’s buffet restaurant
The next morning we had breakfast at The Parkview, the hotel’s buffet restaurant — genuinely one of our favorite parts of the stay. Our table came set up with kids’ tableware, wet wipes, a coloring set, and a child’s chair, which made breakfast with a toddler much easier than usual.
The buffet spread, and the bread & pastry corner
The coffee service was a nice touch too — no need to queue, just order from your table, with refills and takeaway both available. The food selection was wide, and the bread and spreads in particular stood out.
The kids’ table setup, and breakfast in progress
🗺️ A Short Trip — Jangchung-dong & Namsan
One of the best things about this hotel is that we didn’t have to choose between enjoying the hotel and seeing the city. Our actual itinerary looked like this: Day 1 — Jangchung-dong pig’s trotters (jokbal) → café → check in at The Shilla Seoul → indoor pool → Kids Lounge → cake in the room. Day 2 — breakfast at The Parkview → Namsan → Taegeukdang → home.
Jangchung-dong jokbal
The view of Seoul from Namsan
We finished the trip with Korean food in Jangchung-dong and a stop at Taegeukdang, one of Seoul’s oldest bakeries. It felt less like a simple overnight hotel stay and more like a short Seoul getaway.
Taegeukdang — exterior and the bread display inside
🗺️ Location Map
Here’s where everything sits relative to the hotel. Tap the hotel marker to check rates on Agoda, or any other marker to open it in Google Maps.
✅ Pros & Cons
👍 What we liked
- Comfortable Deluxe Room
- Kids’ amenities prepared in advance
- Indoor pool
- Kids Lounge
- Breakfast genuinely set up for families
- Table-side coffee service
- Wide variety of food at The Parkview
- Easy access to Namsan & Jangchung-dong
👎 Worth knowing
- No big waterpark or all-day kids club — if you want activity-heavy kids’ facilities, a dedicated family resort may suit you better
🏁 Final Verdict
The pool by day, with Namsan Tower in the background
Would we stay at The Shilla Seoul with our kid again? Yes — if it fits what we’re looking for on that trip. If you want a short Seoul stay at a genuinely nice hotel, a chance to rest, swim with your kid, eat a good breakfast, and still fit in a walk up somewhere like Namsan, we’d choose this again.
It’s not the most kid-centric hotel in Seoul, but that’s not really what we wanted either. We wanted a hotel where our kid could have fun and we could actually relax, and The Shilla Seoul struck that balance well.