I recently had the displeasure of staying at the Shilla Seoul, and I must say, my experience was extremely disappointing. To begin with, the hotel is highly overrated and failed to live up to its supposed 5-star rating.
Furthermore, navigating the hotel was a complete nightmare. The confusing layout made it difficult to find our way from the entrance gate to the top, and no one seemed willing to help us. To make matters worse, the swimming pool and gym were both closed during our stay, without any prior notice from the hotel. The gym had a strict policy of requiring guests to use baskets, which seemed unnecessary for those who only wanted to stretch.
The bus drivers were incredibly rude, and to add to that, the bus we took was marked "dongdaemun" but ended up going to myeongdong, which caused a lot of confusion and frustration. The shower floor was also broken, which was unacceptable for a hotel of this caliber. The hotel felt more like a factory than a luxurious retreat, and to top it off, the guy working at the executive lounge was incredibly impolite.
Finally, it was frustrating to learn that everything at the hotel was an add-on, and you had to pay extra for almost everything. However, I must admit that the view from the hotel room was excellent, the shower pressure was good, and the breakfast was decent.
Overall, my advice to the hotel would be to prioritize quality over quantity and treat guests with more respect and care. I would not recommend this hotel.