首尔四季酒店
Four Seasons Hotel Seoul
www.fourseasons.com/seoul/
活力感性的都市源泉
每一间四季都能带给人不同的视觉惊喜以及同样的舒适感享受。新春伊始，我们一行四人造访了位于首尔光化门广场地区的四季酒店，在这座以引领时尚潮流与灌注娱乐精神呈现于世的都市中，四季酒店以其活力感性的城市肌理为灵感源泉，汇聚文化与时尚潮流铸就成首尔新地标，使其成为喜欢追求高端酒店品牌的人们出行下榻之首选。
奢享全城美景的现代客房
首尔四季酒店由LTW Design works以及韩国排名首位的建筑规划公司Heerim Architects & Planners共同完成。外观以诠释韩国传统文化为基底，采用光线充足的空间架构营造触手可及的现代氛围，呈现出一种更为丰富的内在。
酒店共设317间客房及套房，面积从 44 到 52 平方米不等，据称是首尔市各大酒店中最大最奢华的客房。其装修风格现代酷炫，从首尔的历史与未来中汲取灵感，将经典韩国设计主题与简洁摩登的现代美学完美结合。
客房的照明充分利用了室外的自然光，巨大的落地窗不是传统意义上的“一马平川”，而是呈阶梯状斜向对等分布，此种设计巧思形成的恰当角度不仅能让光线通透到房间的各个角落，还可从一些套房中最大限度欣赏近处的景福宫全景及远观地标N首尔塔的外观。
人气爆棚的就餐体验
美食在四季酒店里永远都是体现奢华不可分割的一部分。首尔四季酒店坐拥七间充满巧思风格迥异的餐厅及酒吧，皆由世界顶级创意人才或公司设计而成。其中，中餐厅“豫园”曾在2017年《米其林指南首尔版》中获评一星，与日式餐厅“Kioku”同为香港籍全球知名设计师傅厚民（Andre Fu）操刀设计。在这里不仅可以品尝到粤式菜肴，更有地方特色美食如豫园的招牌菜肴北京烤鸭。餐厅名称取自于上海著名的岩石花园“豫园”，精致再现了 20 世纪 20 年代全盛期上海滩的富足与魅力。
我们此次重点体验了“The Market Place”自助餐厅，在现场制作餐台上供应着各类泛亚洲及国际美食，种类丰富地让人超乎想象。餐厅的拱顶天花板与诱人的食物香气让人仿佛置身欧洲的集市大厅；但这里最特别之处在于主用餐区全部坐落于架空的纵横交错的钢化玻璃上方，桌椅下方是有着历史感的断壁残垣，据引领我们参观的公关人员介绍，当年酒店在施工现场发现了古代韩国平民的老屋遗址，索性将其保留下来作为餐厅的一个卖点；因此，当我踏着这些历史的痕迹从餐台上取回新鲜出炉的烤肉及带着海水咸味的海鲜时，真的有种时空穿越感。晚餐时分餐厅达到了用餐高潮，上百个座位居然桌桌爆满，这在同等级别的酒店餐厅并不多见，也让我们对四季的品牌更添一层欣赏及好感 。
主打隐秘情调的 Charles H.酒吧
除了丰富多样的美味佳肴，首尔四季酒店的“Charles H.”也声名在外，于“2018年世界最佳酒吧”榜单中位居64，是韩国极具人气的网红酒吧，甚至有宾客为了泡吧而专程入住酒店。最大卖点之一在于它的隐蔽性，低调地隐藏于酒店特别不起眼的位置，入口处也全无任何LOGO及指示标牌，如若不是工作人员带领，我们根本就找不到它的方位。
进入其中，别有洞天。我们参观的时间酒吧还未营业，但也能想象它高朋满座直到凌晨时分仍旧进行着鸡尾酒品鉴与动感活力的聚会场景。“Charles H.”酒吧如同向美国禁酒令时期的纽约地下酒吧致意，室内丰富的设计元素灵感来源于韩国传统金工图案，将酒吧的创建概念提升到新的水准。公关人员指着入口处桌上充满岁月感的旅行手记告诉我们，酒吧的命名取自传奇人物查尔斯・H・贝克（Charles H. Baker）的旅行见闻和他笔下关于世界各地鸡尾酒的权威著作。
四季酒店不仅融入了韩国不断创新的现代化趋势风格，还充分结合了当地特有的传统文化元素，不妨将首尔四季酒店作为来韩国的第一站吧，一定让你不虚此行。
A Vibrant Urban Fountain
Each Four Seasons hotel brings a different visual surprise and the same comfort. At the beginning of the New Year, we visited the Four Seasons Hotel in the Gwanghwamun Plaza area of Seoul. In this city that is the leader of the fashion trend and entertainment, the Four Seasons Hotel is inspired by its dynamic urban texture, culture and fashion trends to become the new landmark of Seoul, making it the frst choice for people who like highend hotel brands.
Modern Rooms with Panoramic Views of the City
Architects & Planners, Korea‘s number one architectural planning company. The exterior is based on the interpretation of Korean traditional culture, and Four Seasons Hotel Seoul is completed by LTW Design works and Heerim employs the lightflooded space structure to create a modern atmosphere,presenting an interior of richer insight.
The hotel has a total of 317 rooms and suites ranging in size from 44 to 52 square meters, which is said to be the largest and most luxurious of the major hotels in Seoul. The interior is modern and cool, drawing inspiration from Seoul‘s history and future, combining classic Korean design themes with simple modern aesthetics.
The lighting of the guest room makes full use of the outdoor natural light.The huge floortoceiling windows are not arranged in the traditional sense of a flat plane, but are arranged in a diagonally stairlike distribution. The proper angle formed by this design not only allows the light to penetrate into every corner of the room, but also allows one to enjoy the panoramic view of the nearby Gyeongbokgung Palace and the facade of the landmark N Seoul Tower from some suites.
Popular Dining Experience
Gourmet in the Four Seasons Hotel is always an integral part of luxury. The Four Seasons Hotel Seoul is home to seven ingenious restaurants and bars that are designed by the world‘s top creative talents or companies. Among them, the Chinese restaurant ”Yu Yuan” was awarded a star in the 2017 Michelin Guide Seoul Edition, and was designed by the worldrenowned designer Andre Fu together with the Japanese restaurant ”Kioku”.Here you can not only taste Cantonese dishes, but also local specialties such as the signature dishes of Yu Yuan, Beijing Roast Duck. The name of the restaurant is taken from Shanghai‘s famous rock garden ”Yu Yuan”, which reproduces the richness and charm of the Shanghai heyday during the 1920s.
We focused this time on the ”The Market Place” buffet restaurant, which offers a wide range of panAsian and
international cuisines on the live production table. The vaulted ceilings and attractive food aromas of the restaurant make you feel like you are in a European market hall; but the most special thing here is that the main dining area is all located above the crisscrossed tempered glass, with the wreckage of a broken house underneath it all. According to the public relations personnel who received us, the hotel discovered this old house ruins of ancient Korean civilians at the construction site, and finally decided to retain it as a selling point of the restaurant; therefore, when I walked through the traces of history, bringing back freshly baked barbecue and seafood with salty seawater, there was a sense of going back in time. At dinner, the restaurant has reached its climax, for hundreds of seats were fully booked. This is rare in the restaurants of the same level, which gives us more appreciation and affection for the Four Seasons.
Secretive Charles H. Bar
In addition to a wide variety of delicacies, the ”Charles H.” of the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul is also wellknown. It Ranking 64th in the ”Best Bars in the World in 2018” list, it is Korea‘s most popular bar for the internet celebrities, some guests even stay in the hotel just so they can go to the bar. One of the biggest selling points is its privacy, which is hidden in a particularly inconspicuous location in the hotel. There are no LOGOs and signs at the entrance. If the staff did not lead us, we will never find it.
Upon entering, we found it to be a very unique space. At the time we visited, the bar was not open yet, but we can picture the dynamic party scenes when it was full of guests drinking cocktails until the early hours of the morning. The ”Charles H.” bar is like a tribute to the New York underground bar during the American Prohibition Era. The interior‘s rich design elements are inspired by Korean traditional gold work patterns, bringing the creation concept of the bar to a new level. The publicist pointed to the travel notes on the table at the entrance and told us that the name of the bar was taken from the travels of legendary Charles H. Baker and his authoritative work on cocktails from around the world.
The Four Seasons Hotel not only incorporates Korea‘s innovative and modern trend styles, but also combines the unique traditional cultural elements of the region. Take the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul as the first stop in Korea, and the trip will definitely be worthwhile.
