Where to stay in Seoul: the best neighbourhoods and hotels

Myeongdong is Seoul's busiest shopping district, a grid of pedestrian streets where every other door is a beauty shop and the gaps are filled with stalls selling egg bread, tteokbokki and grilled lobster tails. At night the neon comes on and the whole place turns into an open-air food court.

It is also about as central as Seoul gets. Deoksugung Palace, City Hall and Namdaemun Market are a short walk away, and Namsan's cable car climbs to N Seoul Tower from the southern edge. Grand hotels cluster around City Hall, one of them linked directly to the subway and a department store; nearer the shops you'll find a Parisian-style boutique hotel and dependable four-stars three minutes from Myeongdong Station.

This is the Seoul of the Joseon kings. Gyeongbokgung, the grandest of the palaces, sits at the top of Gwanghwamun's broad ceremonial boulevard with the mountains behind it; Changdeokgung and its secret garden are a little to the east. Between them, Bukchon's lanes of traditional hanok houses tumble down the hillside, and Insadong's main street is lined with galleries, craft shops and old teahouses.

Stay here to do your sightseeing on foot and to hire a hanbok without a commute. Hotels range from a top-tier five-star in Jongno to smart mid-range places a short walk from Gwanghwamun and Gyeongbokgung, and apartment-style suites with an indoor pool. Evenings are gentler than in Myeongdong, which sits a short walk or one subway stop south.

Dongdaemun is named after the old east gate of the city wall, which still stands at the crossroads, but the area is better known for wholesale fashion. Its towers of clothing stalls trade through the night, and Zaha Hadid's Dongdaemun Design Plaza, a silver curve of a building, hosts exhibitions and fashion week. Nearby Gwangjang Market is the place for mung-bean pancakes and hand-cut noodles.

Hotels here are modern and good value for what you get. Two five-stars with indoor pools sit within a five-minute walk of the Design Plaza, one of them facing the old gate. A little south, on the slopes towards Namsan, one of the city's grandest hotels has indoor and outdoor pools and a sculpture garden.

Hongdae grew up around Hongik University, Korea's leading art school, and it shows. The streets are a jumble of indie music venues, clubs, street art, themed cafes and vintage shops, with buskers and dance crews performing on the main drag most evenings. Next-door Yeonnam-dong is calmer, all brunch spots and a long, thin park on an old railway line.

It is the liveliest place to stay in the city, and one of the easiest to reach: the AREX airport train from Incheon and Gimpo stops at Hongik University station. Choose a design hotel in the thick of it, a good-value chain connected to a shopping mall, or head a few minutes south towards the Han River for a hotel with an infinity pool and water views.

Namsan is the green hill in the middle of Seoul, topped by N Seoul Tower and wrapped in walking trails. On its southern slope, Itaewon is the city's most international neighbourhood, known for restaurants from every corner of the world, rooftop bars and the antiques and design shops of nearby Hannam-dong.

The hotels use the hill well. One long-standing five-star sits right on Namsan, surrounded by the nature reserve, with a free shuttle into town; a spa resort nearby is ten minutes' drive from downtown and feels a world away. In Itaewon itself there is a design-led lifestyle hotel, and at Yongsan station a vast hotel complex with sky-high lounges and a bridge of bars slung between two towers.

South of the river, Seoul gets glossy. Gangnam is the city's wealthiest district: plastic-surgery clinics, K-pop agencies, and the luxury boutiques and galleries of Apgujeong and Cheongdam. Further east, COEX is an enormous convention centre and underground mall with an aquarium and a much-photographed library, facing the quiet courtyards of Bongeunsa Temple.

Hotels are big, polished and business-ready, with pools and floor-to-ceiling windows. Two five-stars stand beside COEX itself; a design-led hotel is connected directly to Apgujeong station; and there are apartment-style suites with kitchens for longer stays. The palaces are half an hour or more away by subway, so this suits return visitors and shoppers better than first-time sightseers.

Jamsil, at the eastern end of Gangnam, is dominated by Lotte World Tower, the tallest building in Korea. At its feet are a huge mall, an aquarium, the Lotte World theme park, half of it indoors, and Seokchon Lake, ringed with cherry trees and a jogging path. The Olympic stadium and park are nearby.

For families it is the easiest base in Seoul: days out without a single subway change. One hotel occupies floors 76 to 101 of the tower itself; another sits beside the mall and the lake; a third, renovated in 2021, is attached to the theme park. Downtown is a longer ride from here, so plan your palace days in one go.

Yeouido is an island in the Han River and the home of Korea's National Assembly, stock exchange and broadcasters. That sounds dry, but it has two things going for it: Yeouido Hangang Park, where half the city picnics by the water on warm evenings, and The Hyundai Seoul, one of the city's most talked-about department stores, in the Parc1 complex.

The hotels are sleek and often better value at weekends, when the bankers go home. Expect skyline and river views, indoor pools and spas, plus a brick-fronted design hotel right outside National Assembly station. Hongdae is a short hop across the bridge.