Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Quiet
Business
Languages Spoken
English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean
Property amenities
Free parking
Free High Speed Internet (WiFi)
Sauna
Pool
Bar / lounge
Game room
Mini golf
Children Activities (Kid / Family Friendly)
Parking
Wifi
Hot bath
Outdoor pool
Coffee shop
Restaurant
Breakfast buffet
Walking tours
Free shuttle or taxi services
Shuttle bus service
Conference facilities
Banquet room
Meeting rooms
Hot spring bath
24-hour security
BBQ facilities
Baggage storage
Concierge
Convenience store
Non-smoking hotel
Picnic area
ATM on site
24-hour check-in
24-hour front desk
Express check-in / check-out
Private check-in / check-out
Room features
Air conditioning
Desk
Housekeeping
Room service
Coffee / tea maker
Refrigerator
Cable / satellite TV
Bath / shower
Safe
Sofa
Telephone
Flatscreen TV
Complimentary toiletries
Hair dryer
Room types
Mountain view
Landmark view
Non-smoking rooms
Suites
Family rooms
Location
289-17, Bulguk-ro, Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do 38126 South Korea
Name/address in local language
Kolon Hotel
135 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
It’s a pity to see that the management let this hotel show its age. I’m sure that, in its old days this was a luxury hotel because it still shows many traces of its former splendor. This is a big hotel, with many rooms across several stories, a small shopping center in the reception area and two pools. Our room was spacious, with two twin beds (big enough for a family of four) and a large bathroom. The breakfast held a large assortment of choices, both Western and Korean, with some unusual possibilities like waffles that can be made on-spot by us or to add lettuce that grows inside small chambers that they have for that purpose. The only minus being that the coffee machines available had all the choices (eight of them) labeled in Korean only. Anyway, if it wasn’t for the fact that some of the tools available are clearly old and the hotel would surely get a different rating.
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Date of stay: May 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I stayed at Gyeongju Kolon hotel for 3 days in September 2011, while visiting Gyeongju, Korea. It was a rather hard decision for me to choose a hotel in Gyeongju. I read the reviews and was going back and forth between the Hilton, the Hyundai and the Kolon. Though I was leaning towards the first two because of the reviews in regards to comfort and overall style, I finally decided on Kolon because of its peaceful location and close proximity to the attractions I was interested in.
I traveled with 2 other people, so we had booked a triple room on agoda requesting a non smoking floor, 3 beds, and lake view. Upon arrival the hotel we were greeted by concierge who helped us with our baggage. When I asked whether we had garden/lake view she informed us that the triple room they had given us on the 5th floor was facing the mountain. She said there is another oom available on the 7th floor but there are only 2 beds so they would have to bring one more bed in. She kindly let us check both rooms. We were really disappointed with the room on the 5th floor. It seemed tiny for a triple and the carpet was covered all over with cigarette stains, there was no view as well only a big tree, so we opted out for the 7th floor room. It seemed bigger, definately cleaner with no major stains and they offered to put another bed in at no extra cost.
I have to agree with the others, that the outside decor of the hotel as well as lobby does not match the decor inside the rooms or even out in the hall. The hall carpets on the floors are stained and old, and the hotel rooms just seem as if you stepped back into the early 80's. The is a bathtub but seems yellowish. Don't forget to bring your own soap, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste and so on as it is not provided. You may purchase a toothbrush and toothpaste, and a razor or a comb, but that's basically it.
Aside from the inside room drama-decor, the hotel was quite nice. It's huge with a nice korean type of rooftop. It's in the middle of mountains and hills and very close (about 10 minute) walking to Bulguksa Temple, which is wonderful and totally recommended. From Bulguksa, you can hop on bus #12 and pay about $1.50 for a 15 minute ride to the top of the mountain where Seokguram rests. I think the bus comes every 30 minutes from Bulguksa to Seokguram and from Seokguram to Bulguksa every hour. There are local restaurants on the opposite side of Bulguksa's exit, but I hadn't eaten there.
In terms of the hotel, you can definately relax in this remote location, there is an outoor pool, open of course in the summer, there is a lovely garden, golf course and lots of walking trails. For my purpose, the location was perfect. However, it's about $25.00 taxi ride from Gyeongju station. The other hotels, Hilton and Hyundai are closer to the downtown area, probably about $16.00 taxi ride or so. I also visited Anapji Pond which seems more popular at night, as the grounds and temples are lit. Very nice and relaxing and it is surrounded by lotus gardens (just outside of it), so you may want to check those out, and then proceed to Anapji pond. All the entrance fees to Anapji, Seokguram, Bulgoksa, are cheap, about $1.50 or so. The 3 of us wanted to try some famous Gyeongju beef and asked at the hotel where to go. The front desk ordered a taxi for us and the taxi driver took us to a traditional restaurant, however, u had to sit on the floor and one of us couldn't sit crossed legged on the floor due to an injury, so we asked the same driver to take us some place else where there are tables. He called around and started driving. The drive, though scenic, seemed to go on and on and on, the meter running close to $50.00...at that point we asked where is he taking us and he replied to a "beef town"...It was still a bit away and getting quite late, so we decided we diddn't want to go there and spend over $100.00 just on the taxi ride. So we had asked him to take us back to Gyeongju downtown where there were other restaurants, and we opted out for some samgyeopsal, (korean pork barbeque). It was quite good and really cheap, we only spent just over $40.00 for 3 servings of pork. However, the next two days we opted out to eat at the hotel.
There are two restaurants, one western and one korean. We ate twice at the western one for buffet breakfast (which was decent, had everything you could think of, nothing fancy but good) and also had dinner there as well. We ordered pizza, soup, and salad. The pizza was tiny and there was too much sauce, the italian soup was okay served with 3 buns and butter and the salad was okay. Not totally satisfied, we opted for the korean restaurant next day. It was great, we had some bibimbap, and korean beef dinner. My only regret is that we didn't eat there more than once. The prices at both these hotel restaurants where not expensive, comparable to the outside restaurants, with the convenience of being right there. After that disastrous and expensive taxi drive, we were glad we could satisfy our taste buds right there at the hotel. There is also a tiny bakery shop there, which sells traditional korean bread-cookies with bean paste, bought some and they were good, but too sweet. We also spent one evening there, had some drinks and desert while listening to a live performance. There is a Phillipino woman who sings in English quite well and her partner plays the piano. I enjoyed the relaxing evening listening to their performance. There is also a sauna which i did not use and a souvenir shop which is quite expensive, so you might want to get your souvenirs in town.
Aside from the inside room decor and the taxi drama, I actually had a good time in a relaxing atmosphere. The hotel staff speaks little English but enough to communicate and understand your needs. They definately need to upgrade and do some renovations soon and it would be nice if they had separate smoking and non smoking floors as the smoking and non-smoking rooms are next to each other, which is a pain! At the time I was staying, I saw mostly Korean and Japanese guests with some Westerners. I would recommend this to those who want to relax in a truly quiet and serene environment and who want to be close to the attractions on this side of town. This is more of a 3.5 star type of hotel, but the price was definately good, and so were the views and atmosphere. I think if they renovated the hotel rooms, i would come back.
Ps. there is a good size soccer field next to the swimming pool.
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Date of stay: September 2011
Value
Rooms
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled with friends
Room Tip:Â ask to face the garden/lake, bring your toiletries
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My room is #915 and it is in old style, but it is spacious and clean. King size bed is firm and comfortable. Bathroom is large and clean. No basic toiletry however, provides lotion, shower cap and comb, even a sewing pack. There are purchasable tooth brush and tooth paste in the room. There is a hair dryer, small fridge and flat TV. No coffee/tea maker, through the room service guess can ask for a free pot of hot water.
The breakfast was not included in my room. There are two eating places inside hotel: one is western style in check in level (3rd floor), and the other is Korean style cuisine at 2nd floor. Hotel staffs spoke limited English nevertheless; all of them were very friendly and eager to help.
During the weekend, the western style restaurant offers buffet style lunch for 20,000 won. There is also a take out counter providing coffee and cakes. I had oblong porridge, came with 4 small dishes of pickles in Korean style restaurant for 16,000 won including 10% service charge.
There is a hot spring sauna at the end of the hotel and it charges 5000 won for hotel guests; and a small grocery store is nearby for convenience,
For going to down town, there is a bus stop 3 minute away down the road from hotel, bus #10, #11 and #700 all go to the town center. The bus fare for #700 was 1500 won and 1200 won for #10 and no idea for #11 since I did not take it.
Tips: For those taking train or bus to Gyeongju with a small luggage, the bus #10, 11 and 700 has stop in front of Gyeongju Station and Bus Terminal. It is much cheaper (1200 – 1500 won) to get to Kolon Hotel than taking taxi, which coasted me about 200.000 won. However, it is very difficult to get on bus with the big luggage!
To Bulguksa Temple: It only takes 7 minutes walking distance to get there. The entrance fee was 4500 won.
To Seokguram Grotto: There is bus #12 in front of Bulguksa temple going to Seokguram Grotto (a circle bus: Bulguksa – Seokguram Grotto – Bulguksa). It takes about 15 minutes and the fare was 1500 won.
Although Kolon Hotel is far away from the center of Gyeongju, it is very close to Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto. In a good weather this is a tranquil, peaceful place to walk around in Gyeongju National Park (including Tohamsan Mountain).
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Date of stay: December 2011
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The Good - The location is excellent and is within walking distance of Bulguksa Temple and the Grotto. Additionally, the area is very peaceful and calm and a nice area to go hiking and exploring.
The Bad - The rooms are not up to par for a place that bills itself as an international resort. The rooms are dated, and the bathrooms look like a public restroom you'd find at McD's, complete with gray, industrial tile flooring. Additionally, the staff spoke virtually no English. Even when asking for a bottle of water (which they didn't even have in their restaurant), they could barely understand me. This could be a really nice hotel if they gave this placed a giant makeover. The TV in the rooms has nothing but Korean channels. No CNN. No CNBC. Nothing in English at all. Lastly, because it was November they shut off the the a/c to the ENTIRE BUILDING so my room was broiling hot. Thankfully the windows opened.
If this place wants to attract more foreign travelers, it'd be wise to spruce up the place and bring it up to international standards. For eating, I'd recommend giving the restaurant a miss and taking a cab to the Hilton not too far away.
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Date of stay: November 2011
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I would not giveit a 1 point rating if this hotel were not marked as "luxury" hotel. This hotel looks pretty good outside, and the lobby is also bright enough, HOWEVER (a big however), the guest rooms of this hotel are horrible! It's not better than most motels I've lived.
Tiny room, decorations are VERY old, filty carpet, old beddings, nothing good worth mentioning.
The restaurants and lobby inside the hotels are pretty good though.
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Date of stay: April 2006
Value
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled on business
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We spent one night at the Kolon Hotel and had a wonderful time. The hot spring/ tub area of the hotel was nice as was the staff. The rooms were okay but kind of worn, especially the bathroom. It is convenient to the temple and buddah area but far from the other attractions of Kyongju- good views from the hotel windows!
By the way- bring your own shampoo/ conditioner- as it is not provided.
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Date of stay: October 2005
Value
Rooms
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I stayed at this hotel with my family for one night during a visit to Gyeongju, a well-known historic city in Korea. We were assigned to a 'triple' room with three beds. Overall, the stay was better than I expected.
The hotel is a bit outdated: the carpet on the corridor was slightly smelly, but the room was quite okay. It appears that a double, a twin, or a triple room is all of the same size only with different number of beds, because the beds in our room were packed. Wifi was provided for free. Interestingly, the room was equipped mostly with 110-V outlets (the one used in Japan and the US, which was used long time ago in Korea). There were only two 220-V outlets. Room also had a fridge and A/C was good.
In the morning, there was a long line to the breakfast buffet. It did not matter to us because we did not purchase the breakfast buffet. The hotel has an outdoor swimming pool. I think the pool is not free even to the hotel guests, but we were given a coupon for four which allows free access to the swimming pool for one day. The coupon I think was a part of the package that we purchased. The pool itself was not very large, yet friendly to children. The guards did not mind food at the pool, so almost everyone brought lunch in while occupying a table at a pool side.
We heard that the hotel has a beautiful garden and a golf course on its own, but we did not have time check it out. Bulguk-sa temple and seokguram (the grotto) are close, compared to other hotels, so it was quite convenient.
Downtown Gueongju is at a distance. However, it was not very difficult to find a way when driving. There was a bus stop at the entrance to the hotel, where there was a bus going directly to downtown spots, although we did not consider riding it.
All in all, it was bit pricey possibly because it was the peak season of the year, still we definitely enjoyed for the night.
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Date of stay: August 2013
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed two night midweek in the off season. The grounds are lovely, the view from our 8th floor room was delightful. The room was huge, fully equipped, but decor was outdated and a bit worn. The staff spoke enough English to be of assistance, and the restaurants offered a wide vaiety of (overpriced), but tasty meals. The best feature of this hotel is that it is only about 10 minutes walk to the Bulguksa temple, and from there an uphill, coble stone pathed 3.2kg hike to Seokguram Grotto. It is close to the No#11 Bus, which takes about 20-30 minutes to take you downtown, and does stop at the train station. A taxi will cost about 15,000kw to the city center. Another favorite feature of ours was the korean style sawna (sauna) housed in the hotel. After a day of hiking, relaxing in one of 3 hot tubs, or in the very hot sauna was a great way to unwind at the end of the day. (not coed). We liked this hotel, and would reccomend it of you are visiting Gyeongju in order to see the sights, but it would not be a good choice if you plan to spend the majority of time in the city.
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Date of stay: February 2007
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Check-in / front desk
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Hotel is located near Bulguksa and Seokgulam. We were there to go see Seokgulam sunrise, so location-wise, it was perfect for us. The hotel was last renovated in 2004, so it needs update desperately. Electrical outlets are outdated, and refrigerator was running with an electric transformer. They charge fee for shaver, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, and drinking water.
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Date of stay: December 2014
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
You pick this hotel because it is walking distance from the central attraction "Bulguksa" temple and a local bus away from Sukgulam. From train station, you can grab a taxi to here...walk to see the temple and take bus to the top of the mountain to see the sights...then spend a night, take a bus from nearby street to the center of the city to see the museum and other sights. There really is nothing much I can comment about the greatness of hotel itself, but it is definitely friendly to foreigners and most staff speak English (although they'd prefer korean).
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Date of stay: July 2012
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Â Get any economy room
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Gyeongju area.
PRICE RANGE
C$91 - C$121 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
gyeongju kolon kyongju
LOCATION
South KoreaGyeongsangbuk-doGyeongju
NUMBER OF ROOMS
305
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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