The Shilla Jeju

The folks at The Shilla Jeju made our honeymoon so special. They provided a few perks that really sweetened our stay! The rooms and facilities are gorgeous. Some hotels look luxurious but don’t hold up to the quality; this is not one of those places. The whole time, my fiancé and I really felt like we were in paradise. The food was also remarkable and high-quality. Sometimes with quantity you let quality go by the wayside. The food we ate at the buffet was delicious and plentiful with something for everyone. (Note we only ate at the buffet and Poolside Cafe.) We currently don’t have kids, but it seemed like there were multiple areas for kids to enjoy the facilities. We loved being so close to the beach. In just 10-15 minutes, we were there! Finally, I had a great experience at the spa. The massage/facial technician was extremely attentive and took her time with me.

We recently stayed at The Shilla Jeju for five nights with our five-month-old baby. Shilla has always been our favourite place to stay whenever we visit Jeju, and despite our baby still being very young, we were excited to return and experience the hotel as a family. As expected, many parts of our stay were very pleasant. The main staff members at check-in were welcoming, and we enjoyed the food and overall hotel experience as we have in the past. Unfortunately, our stay was seriously let down by how one incident was handled. On the fourth night, while our room was being cleaned, one of the housekeeping staff appears to have thrown away our baby shopping bag, which contained items worth around $300. We understand that the bag may have been mistaken for rubbish because it was tied up, but it was still inside our room and should not have been discarded without checking. When we raised this with the hotel, the response was very disappointing. After checking with the housekeeping staff, we were simply told that nothing like that was found in the room when it was serviced. We had to call the concierge multiple times to ask for updates, and each time it felt as though the responsibility was being passed around rather than properly addressed. The final response we received was that there was nothing the hotel could do because there was no way to identify what had been in the room. I have never experienced this kind of protocol or lack of accountability at a five-star hotel. We have always loved The Shilla Jeju and have considered it our preferred hotel in Jeju, but this incident and the way it was handled have left us very disappointed. Sadly, despite our many positive memories of the hotel, we will be staying elsewhere on future visits to Jeju.