Step By Step.....Ooh Baby!

First step for my Korea trip was getting my airfare squared away, which I did last week. Second step was to secure the hotel reservations.

I did some researching on the net and think I found a gem for a great value. When I went in Spring 2005, I stayed at the Hotel Centro which ended up being about $75 a night. But the room was kinda tiny and not that great, although in a very convenient location in Gangnam. This time around, I was looking for something different and have decided to stay at the Tria Hotel, also located in Gangnam. From the pics on the website, it looks to be a pretty stylish place! Amenities include 42" TVs in every room, free internet, and free water and healthy drinks. Good enough for me!Here's the best part....the hotel's homepage lists the Standard room as 90,000 won a night, which is about $95. When I did a search on the net for discounts, the best I could find was 71,000 ($76) a night but after added on taxes and charges, it woulda been about $85 a night. But then I Googled "tria hotel seoul" and found a link to a japanese "gaijin" message board where someone posted the info that if you call the hotel directly, they'll give you a flat rate of 70,000 won ($75) a night. So I called the hotel and talked to the agent (in English at first but her English was not so great so I busted out my amateurish Korean). She said that their normal rates were 90,000 a night but she could give it to me for 70,000. I asked her what about taxes and VAT and she said since I was a foreigner, they wouldn't tack them on.

Sweet! So that poster on the message board was correct! I love finding good deals.

Now that Step 2 is over...it's time to start planning out my daily activities (in a really loose, flexible way of course)!