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The Westin Josun Seoul
Seoul, South Korea · Westin · Accessible Luxury
Korea's oldest hotel stands on the altar where Emperor Gojong sacrificed to heaven. The first Chosun opened on 10 October 1914, a four-storey railway hotel by the Prussian architect Georg de Lalande, who died in Seoul that August and never saw the doors open. The colonial government cleared most of Hwangudan in 1913 and left Hwanggungu, the octagonal shrine of 1899, now Historic Site No. 157, in what looks like the garden. William B. Tabler's eighteen-storey tower reopened in March 1970 with 462 rooms.
- 462 rooms
- Opened 1914
- Neighborhood: Sogong-dong
- Architect: William B. Tabler
About The Westin Josun Seoul
- Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger stayed in November 1974, when the tower was still the Chosun and Westin had not yet taken the management.
- The main gate of Hwangudan was removed in 1960 for a hotel project, stood forgotten near another hotel in Ui-dong, and was identified and returned to the altar in 2007.
- Westin took the management in November 1979. The name Westin Chosun followed in 1981, and the English spelling became Josun in January 2021.
- The 1914 house was the first in the city with a passenger elevator, a French restaurant, ice cream, and a dance floor. After liberation, Syngman Rhee dropped the Japanese name Chosen.
- The Ninth Gate, the French restaurant, looks onto the walled garden around Hwanggungu. Several guest rooms are sold specifically as Hwangudan View.
History
Hwangudan was the Korean Empire's altar to heaven. Gojong raised the coronation court in 1897, when he proclaimed himself emperor, and Hwanggungu, the three-story octagonal shrine, in 1899. In 1913 the Japanese colonial government demolished the court to make room for a railway hotel and left the shrine. Georg de Lalande, the Prussian who had designed the Oriental Hotel in Kobe, drew the Chosun. Ground was broken on 15 March 1913. Shimizu built it. De Lalande died of pneumonia in Seoul on 5 August 1914, and the hotel opened on 10 October without him: four stories, 52 rooms, the first passenger elevator in the city, ice cream, a French restaurant, and dancing.
After 1945 Syngman Rhee changed the Japanese name Chosen Hoteru to Chosun. In the Korean War the building was occupied by the North Korean army and later by the U.S. Eighth Army. By the mid-1960s the house was worn out. It was demolished in 1967. William B. Tabler designed the replacement, and the eighteen-story tower reopened in March 1970. American Airlines held the foreign stake, then its hotel arm Americana. Westin took the management in November 1979, and the name became Westin Chosun in 1981. The English spelling shifted to Josun in January 2021, under Josun Hotel and Resort. Marriott now lists 462 rooms, including 40 suites. The address is 106 Sogong-ro.
The setting
Sogong-dong, at 106 Sogong-ro, puts the front door between Seoul Plaza and the old imperial altar. City Hall and Deoksugung are a short walk. Myeongdong's shopping streets start a little farther south. Hwanggungu sits in the block itself, Historic Site No. 157, easy to mistake for a hotel pavilion. The three stone drums in front of Hwanggungu belong to the imperial rite of sacrifice to heaven.
Restaurants and bars
- The Westin Josun Seoul Lounge & Bar — Bar · Lounge bar
Awards
- Forbes Travel Guide Recommended (2026)
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