Where to stay in Seoul to experience real Korean culture and hospitality: Hanok House
A ‘hanok’ is a traditional Korean house. Since recently, ‘hanok home stays’ have become popular in South Korea, especially in Seoul. To be honest, I didn’t inform Dutchman about the repercussions of staying in a hanok because I was afraid he might back off.
Staying in a traditional Korean house is the ultimate Korean culture and hospitality experience. However this means doing everything on the floor—sleeping, eating, relaxing, reading a book, internetting, everything on the floor! There are no chairs and the table is small and very low. On our first day stay at the Charm Hanok House in Bukchon Hanok Village, Dutchman was already wondering where did the furniture go. LOL
My goal really in this Seoul trip was to first-hand experience Korean culture and I think I have pretty much achieved this through our choice of accommodation. Our host, the Korean couple was very gracious and attentive to our needs. Mi Kyung, the lady host of the house looks carefully into the details of our stay including the lovely breakfasts she made that we looked forward to each morning. I will blog about the breakfasts separately.
I found Charm Hanok House on airbnb.com. My patience was drawing to an end as I searched high and low for the right hanok house to stay, simply because many hanok places looked terribly daunting to me. Firstly, many have this scruffy edge and they are relatively small. Secondly, and this is where I drew the line, most of them have shared bathroom facilities.
Now I’ve heard of airbnb before so I decided to give it a try, and voila, I found the newly renovated and with a private toilet and bathroom Charm Hanok House! A real hanok house yet with a modern touch. Clean cut lines. Minimalism. No clutter. B&W and earth colours. The Charm Hanok House was the answer to what I was looking for in a hanok stay.
You can also contact Mi Kyung, the lady of the house directly at this website: Charm Hanok House
Bukchon Hanok Village is located in the old city centre of Seoul, between the two main historical palaces of the city, Gyeongbok Palace and Changdeok Palace.
Travel Period: October 2012
Destination: Bukchon - Jongno-gu (Seoul Old City Centre), South Korea
Keep in touch and follow me on Facebook: Travel & Lifestyle Diaries by Dutched Pinay Travels
Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
Staying in a traditional Korean house is the ultimate Korean culture and hospitality experience. However this means doing everything on the floor—sleeping, eating, relaxing, reading a book, internetting, everything on the floor! There are no chairs and the table is small and very low. On our first day stay at the Charm Hanok House in Bukchon Hanok Village, Dutchman was already wondering where did the furniture go. LOL
My goal really in this Seoul trip was to first-hand experience Korean culture and I think I have pretty much achieved this through our choice of accommodation. Our host, the Korean couple was very gracious and attentive to our needs. Mi Kyung, the lady host of the house looks carefully into the details of our stay including the lovely breakfasts she made that we looked forward to each morning. I will blog about the breakfasts separately.
I found Charm Hanok House on airbnb.com. My patience was drawing to an end as I searched high and low for the right hanok house to stay, simply because many hanok places looked terribly daunting to me. Firstly, many have this scruffy edge and they are relatively small. Secondly, and this is where I drew the line, most of them have shared bathroom facilities.
Now I’ve heard of airbnb before so I decided to give it a try, and voila, I found the newly renovated and with a private toilet and bathroom Charm Hanok House! A real hanok house yet with a modern touch. Clean cut lines. Minimalism. No clutter. B&W and earth colours. The Charm Hanok House was the answer to what I was looking for in a hanok stay.
You can also contact Mi Kyung, the lady of the house directly at this website: Charm Hanok House
Our first room/wing for the night. The next day we moved to the other wing of the hanok house.
Our hanok room. The floors are ondol meaning they are traditionally heated flooring. These mattresses are unbelievably comfortable to sleep on. I felt I was glamping inside a hanok house, haha.
The materials used in the interior design, especially on the walls, are very light: Hanji (or Korean paper).
Check can be an attention-seeking little dog. Yup, his name is 'check' and he guards the hanok house.
Wooden roof beams and stone-block construction.
Bukchon Hanok Village is located in the old city centre of Seoul, between the two main historical palaces of the city, Gyeongbok Palace and Changdeok Palace.
Travel Period: October 2012
Destination: Bukchon - Jongno-gu (Seoul Old City Centre), South Korea
Keep in touch and follow me on Facebook: Travel & Lifestyle Diaries by Dutched Pinay Travels
Happy Travels! Enjoy Life =)
