Mercure Ambassador Jeju
- Price / night€107 (about $115; I stayed four nights, breakfast included)Check current rates →
- ALL StatusPlatinum: upgrade to a large, generous room facing the golf course and access to the executive lounge with a Happy Hour every evening
- WiFiFast
- WalkabilityNice walks inside the golf resort, but to see the island you need a car
- Airport / TrainI flew from Busan to Jeju; without a rental car, the bus works but is slower
The Mercure Ambassador Jeju is a hotel in the south of Jeju Island, near Seogwipo, in the middle of a large golf resort. If you don't play golf, you can still take nice walks, but it is a little strange. The owners have a passion for teddy bears, and so there are teddy bears everywhere, some of them two metres tall. In an almost empty hotel, that was a bit spooky.
Quick verdict: A clean, friendly resort hotel with a generous room facing the golf course, a pool, fast internet and a Happy Hour in the executive lounge for Platinum members. The hotel is showing its age, the setting is made for golfers, and the teddy bears are an acquired taste. You need a car, or a lot of patience with the bus, to get around the island. JCI Score 3.4 out of 5.
Location
The hotel is in the middle of a big golf resort in the south of the island, in Seogwipo. If you don't play golf, you can walk around the resort, which is nice, but that is about all there is directly around the hotel. We were not golfers, so this felt a little strange.
Jeju itself is incredibly beautiful, with lovely mountains and a lot of nature, and you can do a lot there. The beaches were not great in my experience: I saw no beautiful ones, they are rather pebbly and dark.
Getting There & First Impression
I flew from Busan to Jeju. On the island, you really only get around properly with a car, although there are bus lines. We had booked a rental car, and we took the shuttle of the rental company from the airport to the rental office. There I found out that I could not rent a car, because I had no international driving permit. I have rented cars all over the world with my EU driving licence, and it was never a problem. In Korea it was, and it was my own mistake, because it was written everywhere and I thought it would work without. My tip: in Korea you absolutely need an international driving permit to rent a car. I have had one since then, and I have not used it again, because with my EU licence I have got a car everywhere else.
Without a rental car, we got across the island by bus, and we managed it somehow. You are slower, but you can move around with public transport.
The hotel is a quiet, large complex, and it was not very full. The owners' passion for teddy bears is visible right from the start: there are teddy bears everywhere in the resort, some of them the size of a man. When you ride the lift in a hotel with hardly any guests, the doors open and two teddy bears look you in the eye. I found that a little eerie.
Check-In & Loyalty Experience
Check-in was excellent. We were welcomed very warmly, and the team knew who I was. I was Platinum, and because of that we got an upgrade to a nice, large and generous room.
The best part of the status was the executive lounge. It was really just a glass box in the lobby, but there was a Happy Hour there every evening, with alcoholic drinks, other drinks and a few snacks such as cookies. Before we drove out for dinner, we could always have a glass of wine there. It was also funny, because we were the only obvious Platinum guests in the whole hotel complex, sitting at a certain time every day in this glass cubicle and having a drink.
The Room
The room was lovely, large and generous. We faced the front, towards the golf course. It was low season, and we were almost the only guests in the hotel.
The hotel is a little dated, so for Comfort I give only three stars. It has a pool, and the pool was nice. There was enough space to work, and the internet was fast.
The room was clean, and the shower was good.
Food & Drink
Breakfast was included in my rate. There was no buffet: you could choose between an Asian (Korean) breakfast and a Western breakfast, and it was simply brought to the table. The breakfast room is huge: it is almost a house of its own, directly at the golf course, with a view of the course. A teddy bear plays the piano there, a kind of animated one. Only two other families were having breakfast when we were there, so there was not much going on. Perhaps the other guests had not booked breakfast, or perhaps we were there at an unusual time.
Digital Customer Experience
The internet was fast. Nothing else digital to report.
The Bill & Value
Four nights cost €429.11, which is about €107 per night or about $115 per night.
Verdict
What I particularly liked
The warm welcome, the upgrade to a large room, the clean room, the Happy Hour in the executive lounge, the pool, the fast internet, the breakfast served to the table and the nature of the island.
What I didn't like
The hotel is a little dated, the resort is made for golfers, the teddy bears in the empty corridors and lifts are a bit spooky, and without a car you move slowly.
Would I come back? If I came to Jeju again, I would stay at this hotel again. Jeju is beautiful and relaxed, but I have been now, and once is enough for me.
