Seoul

Seoul works as a base because everything is close. Several major properties sit within a manageable radius, and the practical differences between them are easy to test in person.

A capital where hillside hotels overlook the Han river basin. It is assessed separately from the rest of South Korea's integrated resort districts, since the choices a traveller faces here are not the choices they face elsewhere in the region.

Rates here move with the local calendar rather than with the seasons alone. Event weekends, conventions, and school holidays produce the sharpest movements, and shifting dates by a few days is the most reliable way to reduce a total.

Every property listed under Seoul has been graded on the same six weighted criteria as the rest of the catalogue. That consistency is what makes the scores worth comparing at all.