From yacht rides to year-end parties, Jeju Shinhwa World caters to long-term travelers

Food & Travel

Published: 23 Nov. 2023, 07:01

From yacht rides to year-end parties, Jeju Shinhwa World caters to long-term travelers

Jeju Shinhwa World in Jeju's Seogwipo [JEJU SHINHWA WORLD]

JEJU ISLAND — As the number of first-time travelers to Jeju Island decreases while more frequent visitors prefer to stay longer and just relax, hospitality providers in Jeju are coming up with different ways to cater to these preferences. One such place is Jeju Shinhwa World, a large integrated resort complex on the island’s city of Seogwipo.

The property, run by Hong Kong-listed Shin Hwa World, opened its doors in 2018 and has nearly everything under one roof. It combines four hotel and resort brands — the Marriott, Somerset, Shinhwa and Landing — as well as a waterpark, Jeju’s first-ever theme park, a cinema and a premium outlet. The four five-star hotels together have some 2,000 rooms of various types.

A deluxe suite room at Jeju Shinhwa World's Marriott [JEJU SHINHWA WORLD]

“Large families, for example with three generations that include grandparents and school-aged children, who travel to Jeju together frequently stay with us as we have premium condominiums at the Somerset that are equipped with several bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen,” Choi So-young, a manager at Jeju Shinhwa World’s marketing communications department, said. “Instead of booking two separate rooms, they can all stay together in one condominium.”

Choi said there are also guests who stay for several months at such condominiums, like parents who have kids attending international schools near the hotel.

“They stay for two to three months to look after their children then go back up [to the mainland] during school breaks,” Choi said, adding that the resort has also been seeing an increasing number of regular visitors staying for more than a month.

After witnessing more frequent inquiries from its guests asking if they can bring along their furry friends, the hotel launched a pet-friendly package last month. The pet-friendly rooms are in the resort’s Somerset and are equipped with amenities for the furry family member, including a bed, toys, treats, food and water bowls and shampoo.

Jeju Shinhwa World began operating pet-friendly rooms from October. [JEJU SHINHWA WORLD]

Only dogs that weigh less than 10 kilograms (22 pounds) are allowed to use the rooms. Guests can bring them out for walks around Somerset’s picturesque garden, but they are not allowed into most other facilities, like the restaurants, waterpark and shops.

The property also has large convention halls for companies to hold events. The idea is that event attendees can bring their whole families with them to the resort and everyone has something to keep themselves entertained.

“The companies that hold conferences and seminars here usually tell the participants to bring the whole family to increase participation,” Choi said. “We usually see one of the parents attend a seminar here while the other parent spends time with the children by going to the theme park or the water park, or doing some shopping or enjoying a movie, as all of those facilities are within the resort complex and accessible within walking distance.”

Choi said that the hotel has been seeing more and more guests coming in by taxi and staying at the property for several days or weeks at a time.

“Before Covid-19, we saw a majority of guests coming in with rental cars, staying with us for a day or two and then leaving to enjoy another destination,” Choi said. “The trend has definitely changed, and the hotel has been creating various packages to cater to their needs.”

A view of the Jeju Shinhwa World [YIM SEUNG-HYE]

How is having all those facilities in one resort complex possible? It’s built on a 250-million-square-meter (61,776-acre) plot in Seogwipo, about 40 minutes by car from Jeju International Airport. The site is about 80 percent the size of Seoul’s Yeouido, but only half of it has been developed so far. Its next phase of development is slated for completion by the end of next year, which will see the addition of more facilities like a Costco Wholesale store.

Luxury yacht tour

The resort's Suite & Yacht package invites guests to take an hour long tour around a luxury yacht operated by Grande Bleu. [YIM SEUNG-HYE]

Jeju Shinhwa World has been offering its Suite & Yacht package (469,000 won or $360) since this summer. It comes with a single-night stay at a deluxe suite room, a dinner buffet for two, and two tickets for a luxury yacht cruise that goes along the Wolpyeong coast that offers a dazzling scene of the coastlines. The tour takes about an hour and makes stops at Daepeyongpogu, the volcanic rock formation Jusangjeollidae, Elephant Rock and Wolpyeong Cave. Each stop offers jaw-dropping scenery, according to a captain of Grande Bleu Yacht, the operator of the cruise, adding that he sees people rushing out to the front of the ship to take selfies at every stopping point. During the tour, the yacht stops for a brief fishing session as well.

Guests have to take a taxi or drive to the Daepo Harbor to get on board the Grande Bleu Yacht. Three options are available for the Grande Bleu Yacht tour: a luxury tour, a sunset tour and a private tour. The hotel package includes the luxury tour by default, but guests can change the option for an additional charge. All three tours come with complimentary unlimited wine and beer, as well as cup noodles and snacks.

The package will be offered through the end of December.

Year-end party

Jeju Shinhwa World is hosting an year-end party, a K-pop concert on Dec. 30 and a counting down event on Dec. 31. [JEJU SHINHWA WORLD]

Jeju Shinhwa World has been hosting an annual countdown party for New Year’s Eve. A star-studded lineup is prepared for the year-end party, which will go on for two days on Dec. 30 and 31. On Dec. 30, a concert featuring artists like Sandra Park, Realslow, Jinusean, DJ Kyte and DJ Mewloud starts at 7 p.m. On Dec. 31, the concert starts at 8:30 p.m. and finishes at around 12:30 a.m., after the countdown. Artists set to perform on the second day include Mirani, Hyorin, Kim Jong-kook, Dynamic Duo and DJ B4ssdr0p.

Concert tickets for hotel guests cost 44,000 won for the Dec. 30 concert and 55,000 won for Dec. 31. General admissions cost 66,000 won for Dec. 30 and 88,000 won for Dec. 31.

Everything under one roof

Jeju Shinhwa World's Shinhwa Theme Park [JEJU SHINHWA WORLD]

Frequent travelers to Jeju have been complaining that the island has no department stores. Now, inside Jeju Shinhwa World, there is a premium outlet operated by Shinsegae Group.

Traditional markets and small business owners on the island had been protesting the establishment of a shopping district inside Shinhwa, so the hotel decided to only include brands that do not already exist on the island’s city center, which are mostly high-end.

Also inside Jeju Shinhwa World is a theme park, the first on the island. There are no bone-chilling roller coasters or giant drop rides, but the theme park has been attracting not only hotel guests with children but also schools in Jeju. It’s also a popular date course for couples in Jeju, Choi says.

“Our property is known for its beautiful gardens all year round as we have a team dedicated to looking after our gardens,” Choi said. “I think that is why we have a lot of people — both hotel guests and outsiders — taking a serene stroll and breathing in some fresh air. Just this fall, we had a 7,500-square-meter flower bed with cosmos flowers. The flowers change every season. It’s always good to get out of the building forests and have this vast area to walk around in. We have many photo spots that visitors can look for during their stroll.”

The resort complex also has a water park that has both indoor and outdoor pools and a cinema with two theaters equipped with reclining chairs, playing the latest films at different hours of the day.

Hitting the jackpot

Jeju Shinhwa World's foreigner-only casino [YONHAP]

Those with foreign passports can visit the hotel’s foreigner-only casino. There are eight casinos on Jeju, and this one is the largest on the island and the second largest in the country. It has more than a hundred slot machines and gaming tables, as well as private rooms for more high rollers.

“We’ve also seen an increasing number of foreigners visiting the property — one type being those long-stay guests who stay with us for months due to their jobs or leisure, and the other type is travelers coming here for the casino, as Jeju International Airport has direct flights to and from Tokyo, Shanghai, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Choi said the resort is known among foreign travelers to have “great infrastructure for a fair price” and that Jeju Shinhwa World has been working hard to “encourage foreign travelers to visit and revisit the island and our resort.”

BY YIM SEUNG-HYE [yim.seunghye@joongang.co.kr]