South Korean luxury hotels in Seoul are going further upscale amid heated competition in domestic hospitality market with mushrooming budget players and international names.

According to Hotel Lotte Co. on Monday, Lotte Hotel Seoul in Sogong-dong, central Seoul, one of the country’s leading 5-star hotels, will undergo renovation from July 1 until August next year. It is the second renewal work for Lotte Hotel Seoul that opened in August 1988. The last renewal project was done in 2006.

During the 13-month-long renovation project, the hotel will reduce the number of guest rooms from current 373 units to 250 units to provide guests a more spacious room and add more luxury suites.

Vista Walkerhill Seoul run by SK Networks reopened in April after a comprehensive renewal work including changing its nameplate from W Seoul. The hotel reformed its guest rooms with a new system that allows guests to order room services via smatphone applications and have installed voice-activated electronics like speakers.

Ritz Carlton Seoul in Gangnam, southern Seoul is currently busy with refurbishing at a cost of 110 billion won ($96.8 million). It aims to reopen after a full makeover under a new name Le Méridien Seoul.

A series of upgrades by existing hotels have come after the number of hotels in Seoul has rapidly increased to 348 last year following the addition of 100 or more new ones including boutique and business hotels over the past two years. Big names in the international hotel market are also scheduled to open a business in Seoul soon starting with Grand Mercure Ambassador in Yongsan, central Seoul in October. Hyatt Hotels Corp. is getting ready to open luxury boutique hotel Andaz in 2019 and Fairmont Hotels and Resorts will open a branch in 2020.

By Park Eun-jin

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]