Hidden Cliff Hotel & Nature

I booked this place for the Jeju views and couldn’t be happier. From the 7th-floor outlook you get it all – Hallasan with the rolling hills, ocean views, sunrise and sunset. Out on the street it feels properly Jeju – clean, leafy, and shady enough to walk around. Most of the big Jungmun attractions are within 4 km (only about 5–6 AUD in a cab), so it’s easy to get about and enjoy. Breakfast was a treat – loads of sunlight pouring into the open restaurant. The cliff-top pool with all that greenery around is something different too. Tips: Plenty of Korean hotels restrict pool use with time slots, which can be a bit of a shock. Here, apart from cleaning breaks and “night-club time” (10 AUD entry), you’re free to use it as much as you like. The place lives up to its “Nature” name – there are quirky little hidden corners everywhere. Breakfast even had a Jeju pork sausage that’d impress any traveller, plus a proper English Breakfast tea and good milk (unlike the watery taste you sometimes get with Korean milk). If you book a cliff-view room, you’re basically facing the pool. Just note you’ll hear the music during pool hours and especially at night-club time. On the flip side, the rooms facing the other way have full-length windows that are perfect for soaking up the sunset and the view of Jeju’s oreum (volcanic hills). A couple of downsides – the hot water and coffee station in the restaurant is a bit cramped, so you might bump into other guests, and the floating timber floor means you’ve got to watch your step. Not heaps of restaurants around, but the ones nearby (about 10 minutes on foot) are well-known, good value, and full of character. Handy little shop inside the hotel too, plus a bigger convenience store close by – perfect for grabbing an ice cream.