"Yongsan Ninetree in Seoul's Core to Create a New 4.5-Star Realm"

Goso-jin, First Female General Manager of Nine Tree Hotel
Strengths in Location, Banquet Competitiveness, and Differentiated Rooms and F&B
Will Solidify Position as a Premium Lifestyle Hotel

"It will be a unique hotel that creates a new category of 4.5-star, between 4-star and 5-star."

Go Sojin, General Manager of Nine Tree Premier Locus Hotel Seoul Yongsan, said this in an interview with Asia Economy on the 6th, a day before the hotel’s opening. Although a 4.5-star hotel does not officially exist in hotel ratings, this expression stems from confidence that the hotel surpasses 4-star standards and possesses strengths comparable to global 5-star hotels.

General Manager Go is a hotel expert with 27 years of experience at major InterContinental Hotels both domestically and internationally, including in Los Angeles, USA, and Hanoi, Vietnam, where she worked as a GRO (VIP manager), room operations, and management. Recognized for her extensive experience and meticulous leadership, she has become the first female general manager in the history of Nine Tree Hotels. General Manager Go emphasized, "Through 27 years of experience at InterContinental Hotels at home and abroad, I realized that the composition of rooms including suites, professional facilities and customized services that can offer beautiful weddings, auxiliary facilities that meet diverse customer needs, and food and beverage competitiveness that provides new culinary experiences are the key factors that determine a premium hotel." Based on this experience, she is determined to focus on differentiating customer experience and premium service at Nine Tree Locus Yongsan.

Goso Jin, General Manager of Nine Tree Premier Locus Hotel Seoul Yongsan
[Photo by Parnas Hotel].

General Manager Go emphasized that Nine Tree Locus Yongsan has a prime location that even global 5-star hotels find difficult to secure. Facing Yongsan Station and just crossing one street to the left places it in the heart of Seoul with convenient transportation, which is a major advantage. This is why it boasts MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conventions, Exhibitions) competitiveness not found in typical business hotels. General Manager Go said, "The Harmonies Hall and Floris Hall, which can accommodate up to 300 people, are optimized for weddings, banquets, corporate and embassy events." There are also eight meeting rooms available for small-scale events such as seminars, workshops, and meetings.

The composition of rooms and auxiliary facilities is also differentiated. Nine Tree Locus Yongsan has a total of 274 rooms in 8 types. About 10% of all rooms are suites, targeting not only business demand but also various forms of staycation demand. General Manager Go said, "The 17th floor 'Garden Suite' is connected to a private rooftop garden of 165㎡ (about 50 pyeong), allowing guests to enjoy green nature in the city." It also features a fitness room, adult pool and kids pool, family lounge, business room, and coin laundry. The hotel also offers the first Executive Floor Lounge (EFL) in the Nine Tree Hotel chain.

Another point of differentiation is the food and beverage products and services at a luxury hotel level, introduced by recruiting a head chef and food and beverage experts from Grand InterContinental Seoul Parnas. The hotel also opened the first directly managed restaurant in the Nine Tree Hotel chain. It offers an all-day dining restaurant 'Apety,' a bakery cafe 'Locus Deli' where a pastry chef bakes bread directly, and 'Apety Lounge,' where guests can enjoy cocktails and drinks crafted by a professional mixologist.

Reconstructed by modernizing the former Army Soldiers’ House into a hotel and operated under consignment by Parnas Hotel, Nine Tree Locus Yongsan provides various benefits to army soldiers and military personnel while allowing civilians to use it freely. General Manager Go emphasized, "This is not a typical business hotel where guests just stay briefly; we will create a special customer experience where the hotel itself can become a destination."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.