Booking accommodation in Korea: day use, overnight stays, private rooms, and dormitories
Day use and overnight stays offer different hours, while private rooms and dormitories differ in how you share the space. Examples from Darakhyu and Hostel Haru explain how to choose a room for the night or a room just for you and a friend.
Booking accommodation in Korea: day use, overnight stays, private rooms, and dormitories
A double bed photographed at accommodation near Seoraksan National Park in February 2014.
If you need a room for the night, look for 숙박 (overnight); if you want somewhere to rest for a few hours during the day, check the hours for 대실 (day use). If you and a friend want a room to yourselves, it also matters whether you're booking a whole private room. Even if several prices appear below the same photo or a room is labeled "2-person room," the stay hours and whether you are booking a whole room or an individual bed can differ.
What the names "hotel" and "motel" don't tell you
The Korea Tourism Organization notes that some motels have "hotel" in their names. It also describes motels with high-performance computers comparable to those in PC cafés.[1] A name and a photo of a computer aren't enough to establish the type of accommodation.
Large mirrors or photos of a parking area aren't a basis for judging safety or legality either. What you need for booking is the selected room's hours, who you'll share it with, and its beds and bathroom.
How many hours for day use, and when does an overnight stay begin and end?
Look at day use for a short rest, and overnight stays for a room where you'll sleep and leave the next day. Foreign-language booking pages may use the labels "Day Use" and "Overnight." The exact hours vary by property.
Walkerhill Darakhyu at Incheon Airport Terminal 2 divides its hours as follows.[2]
• Day Use: a basic 3-hour stay within 08:00–20:00.
• Overnight: listed under the 20:00–08:00 band, with a 12-hour stay from check-in.
• Use outside 08:00–20:00: Overnight rates apply.
Here, the 12 hours for Overnight start at check-in. Rather than reading 08:00 in the "20:00–08:00" label as every booking's checkout time, look at the check-in and checkout times shown in your booking. Darakhyu's arrangement doesn't automatically apply to other hotels or motels.[2]
Additional time for an Overnight stay can only be requested on site, subject to room availability that day. An extension isn't confirmed as part of the booking, so if you need to leave later, pay attention to when your original booking ends.[2]
Arriving after midnight can also make the booking date confusing. For a hypothetical arrival early on November 7, tell the property, "I'll check in at 00:30 on November 7 and leave later that morning," and ask which date to book. That makes your arrival clearer than simply saying "the night of the 7th."
One private room or two dormitory beds
Hostel Haru in Seoul describes private rooms as booked by the room and dormitories as booked by the individual bed. In a dormitory, you share the room with other guests.[3][4]
Haru lists 2-, 4-, 6-, and 8-person dormitories, all marked as women-only. Its "2-person" dormitory is also booked by the bed: it has one bunk bed and sleeps 2 people.[4] Here, "2-person" is the room's capacity, not a promise that one booking gives you the whole room.
If you and a friend want a room to yourselves, one private room fits that purpose. If you're booking two dormitory beds and need to be assigned to the same room, ask the property before booking.
Read the bathroom description separately too. Whether the bathroom is private, and whether it is inside the room, changes how you'll use it. If the description is unclear, give the name of the room you're considering and ask, "Is the bathroom inside the room, and is it just for us?"
Double, twin, and bunk twin
Among Haru's private rooms, doubles and twins both sleep 2 people, but their beds differ.[3]
• Double: 1 double bed.
• Twin: 2 single beds.
• Bunk twin: 1 bunk bed, sleeping 2 people.
At this property, a twin is the choice if you and a friend each want a single bed. When booking elsewhere, also read the actual bed types and quantities beneath the room name.
Haru has bunk beds in both private rooms and dormitories.[3][4] The sight of a bunk bed alone doesn't tell you whether the room is shared; the private-room or dormitory description tells you who will use it with you.
If you're adding a guest, check whether the extra charge includes a bed or bedding for that person. Before paying, compare the booking dates, check-in and checkout times, number of rooms or beds, guest count, cancellation deadline, and total price together.
You can also read the guide to hotels, motels, and guesthouses for a broader comparison of accommodation types, the guide to areas to stay in Seoul for location, and the guide to choosing a hanok room for sleeping arrangements and bathrooms.
Official information used in the examples
[1] Korea Tourism Organization: types of accommodation in Korea
[2] Walkerhill Darakhyu: Incheon Airport Terminal 2 Single Bed room and stay hours
[3] Hostel Haru: private rooms
Photo credits
• Cover: Piotrus · Seoraksan National Park trip Feb 2014 08.JPG · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Orientation corrected, resized and JPEG re-encoded.