Mixed experiences
Joe our tour manager was a great help to us during our trip to South Korea. The organisation of the tours, taxi transfers, train journeys, and flights was faultless, and for that we thank Joe. However, we were disappointed with the standard of the hotels that were allocated. It appeared that IndoGusto prioritised securing the lowest-cost accommodation. Although the hotels were advertised as four-star properties, none of them felt deserving of that rating, particularly the Griffin Bay Hotel in Busan. Our experience at the Griffin Bay Hotel was especially disappointing. When we requested a room change due to problems with the bathroom, the staff appeared offended by our request rather than trying to assist. In addition, guests were expected to clear their own breakfast tables by taking used crockery and cutlery to a designated station, separating food waste, rubbish, cutlery, and dishes into different containers. This is not what we would expect from a hotel marketed as four-star accommodation. Joe later informed us that the hotel has since been downgraded to a two-star rating. While this may benefit future customers, it does not change our experience. Unfortunately, the poor quality of the accommodation had a significant impact on our holiday. It was certainly an unforgettable trip, but regrettably not for the right reasons. The Ramada in Seoul and the Best Western in Jeju Island were passable. These hotels would benefit from refurbishment. None of the hotels we stayed in were mentioned in IndoGusto’s advertised online brochure. We checked the hotels mentioned prior to booking the tour and all the hotels mentioned seemed acceptable but be warned, as their get out clause is ‘or equivalent’. For eg. hotels in Seoul: ‘Four Points by Sheraton / Hotel Gracery / equivalent. Joe has pointed out that we should have requested a change of hotel when we were sent our accommodation details. I admit that was our oversight with our busy lives and naivety for not suspecting these hotels will not be equivalent to hotels mentioned. I would have rated this trip as 3 stars but given 4 stars because Joe has genuinely tried to improve things for us. 12 June 2026 I feel compelled to reply to IndoGusto’s reference to our ‘bathroom’ problem. I feel that IndoGusto has totally missed the point. The issue is not the difference in cultures. We have been to many places over the years where toilet paper cannot be flushed down the toilet. However the room allocated to us has a bidet that does not work. We simply asked to be reallocated. Needless to say , the service was poor and breakfast service was next to non existent.