Hotel vs. Motel vs. Airbnb: How Koreans Really Choose Where to Stay

Not all Korean accommodation types are created equal, and a couple of them come with a backstory most guidebooks won't tell you.

Seoul's skyline, home to every type of stay imaginable

Yeogwan and Yeoinsuk — Korea's Cheapest, Oldest Lodging

At the very bottom of the price ladder are yeogwan (여관) and yeoinsuk (여인숙). The closest English translation is "inn," but don't picture a cozy countryside B&B — these are old, no-frills places, sometimes with a private bathroom, sometimes shared, and the furniture and wallpaper have usually seen better decades. Yeoinsuk are slowly disappearing, mostly found in older parts of town and smaller cities, with rooms containing little more than blankets and a heated ondol floor to sleep on.

These places aren't really aimed at tourists — they're for people who need the cheapest possible roof over their head, sometimes for one night, sometimes for an entire month (a setup called dalbang, 달방, or "monthly room"). Unless you're on a very tight budget, this category isn't really for travelers.

Personal Take

My grandparents' building has five floors, and the back section has been run as a yeogwan for as long as I can remember. The rooms are cheap, and sometimes people stay a whole month on that "monthly room" deal. The people who stay there are usually day laborers, or workers sent somewhere temporarily for a job — they just need a place to sleep, nothing more. I'm honestly not sure if these still exist much in Seoul, but they're definitely still around in smaller cities.

Motels — Korea's Most Misunderstood Word

If there's one word that trips up foreign travelers, it's "motel." In the US, a motel is a roadside stop for drivers. In Korea, a motel (모텔) is something else entirely — it sits between a yeogwan and a hotel in price, and a lot of them exist for couples who want a private few hours or an overnight stay, away from prying eyes. That's why you'll often see a heavy curtain hanging over a motel's parking entrance — so cars (and the people in them) can't be seen coming or going from the street.

Older motels can feel pretty dated — old wallpaper, old furniture — but newer ones are often surprisingly stylish, sometimes with mood lighting or large bathtubs. Some "couple-oriented" motels even have glass-walled showers, which is one more reason this category generally isn't family territory. Motels also tend to cluster near nightlife districts, and sometimes near universities too.

Personal Take

I used motels when I was younger too, with a boyfriend — I won't go into details! But that really is the main reason most of them exist here. One thing that always makes foreigners curious is the curtain hanging over the entrance — it's there so cars can come and go without being seen from the street.

Where Motels Blur Into Hotels

There's no hard line, but generally: the taller the building and the more rooms it has, the more likely it calls itself a hotel rather than a motel. In nightlife-heavy areas like Gangnam, Yeoksam, or Seolleung, you'll find bigger buildings branded as "hotels" that still look a lot like motels from the outside — priced above a regular motel, but below a proper international-standard hotel.

If you want a real hotel experience — front desk, restaurant, room service — 3-star and above is generally where to start looking. But a star rating alone doesn't tell you everything: it reflects facilities, not neighborhood, so a 3-star hotel can still be located right in the middle of an entertainment district. If you recognize an international chain name, that helps too — brands like Hilton (including Hilton Garden Inn), Holiday Inn, Novotel, ibis, Courtyard, or Best Western all operate across Korea, mostly in the 3 to 4-star range, and tend to be consistent no matter the city. At the very top end, Korea's own flagship 5-star hotels — Lotte Hotel, The Shilla — are excellent, but priced accordingly.

Tip

Star ratings and brand names matter less than location. Before booking, think about what you'll actually be doing each day — if you're a K-pop fan, staying near Gangnam puts you close to K-Star Road and the big entertainment agencies; if palaces, markets, and old neighborhoods are more your thing, areas like Jongno or Bukchon make more sense. Either way, picking a base near where you'll spend most of your time beats chasing the highest star rating.

Airbnb and Pensions — What Koreans Actually Book for Trips

When Koreans plan a trip — especially with family or a group of friends — Airbnb and pensions (펜션) are often the first thing that comes to mind, more than a hotel. The appeal is simple: more space, a kitchen, and a living-room-style layout where everyone can hang out together instead of being stuck in a single hotel room.

These two aren't quite the same thing, though. Airbnb tends to be the go-to in cities like Seoul — a regular apartment or house, useful when a group is too big or the cost of multiple hotel rooms adds up fast. Pensions are more of a "leave the city" option: house-like rentals, often with a barbecue area or yard, mostly located outside Seoul near mountains, rivers, or camping areas — sometimes booked simply because there's no hotel nearby, and sometimes because the whole point is getting away from city life for a bit. They're a staple of Korean domestic travel, especially in summer and around holidays. If you're planning day trips out of the capital, our Beyond Seoul series covers several areas where pensions are a common option.

Personal Take

My family is five people, and we currently live abroad, so whenever we go back to Korea, we don't really have a place to stay. Booking two hotel rooms for five people gets expensive fast, so an Airbnb in Seoul just makes more sense for us economically. Pensions are a different story — those are for when we're traveling somewhere outside our usual area. Sometimes it's because there's no hotel nearby, and sometimes it's because being near a mountain or a campsite, away from the city, is exactly the point.

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Guesthouses, Hostels & Residences

For solo travelers or shorter stays, guesthouses and hostels work pretty much the same as anywhere else — budget-friendly, often with shared rooms or bathrooms. Serviced residences are more like long-stay apartments with hotel-style amenities, a good fit for trips of a week or longer.

Hanok Stays — Sleeping the Traditional Way

If you want a taste of traditional Korean living, a hanok stay (한옥스테이) is worth the splurge. Honestly, this isn't something most Koreans book for themselves — but for visitors, it's a genuinely different way to experience the country. These are guesthouses or boutique stays inside traditional hanok-style buildings, with a concentration around the Bukchon Hanok Village area near Gyeongbokgung Palace. They tend to cost more than a standard hotel room, but the experience is different — many rooms let you sleep on the floor, Korean-style, on a thick mat (yo, 요) over heated ondol floors.

Ondol means the floor itself is heated — cool in summer, warm in winter — and plenty of Koreans find sleeping on a heated floor deeply relaxing. One heads-up: if you've never slept on a floor before, your back might let you know about it the next morning.

Key Info

Some regular hotels also have hanok-style annex buildings on the same property — a nice way to try the experience without committing to a full hanok stay.

Jjimjilbang — The Backup-Plan Option

Jjimjilbang (찜질방, Korean bathhouses/saunas) are open 24 hours, and technically you can sleep there overnight. But realistically, Koreans use this option in two situations: when traveling somewhere and genuinely can't find or afford a room, or during a holiday rush when every normal room is booked or prices have spiked. It's less a planned stay and more of a backup plan.

Knowing these categories won't make every booking decision for you, but it should at least save you from a few surprises — whether that's an unexpectedly retro motel room or a hanok stay that's pricier than the Hilton next door. For more guides on getting around and exploring beyond the usual spots, check out the rest of the blog.