Scheduling a solo vacation to Seoul? Here are some sites that cater to singles in Seoul

A decade ago, a individual who walked into a restaurant in Seoul and asked for “han myung-I” —a desk for a single — could be declined support.  

That’s simply because restaurants in South Korea like groups of two or far more, owing to a complex blend of community social dynamics, gain margins and basic logistics — a tableside grill has to be cleaned no matter if it serves just one patron or 4, following all.

Solo rejections generally transpired at loved ones dining establishments and barbecue outlets, two quintessential spots to sample some of the country’s greatest delicacies. Solo diners could circumvent it in two means: by positioning an order for two or agreeing to a minimal devote.  

However, with the expansion of just one-human being households in South Korea, more people today are deciding on to dine, drink and vacation alone — embracing the “honjok” way of life development that has visibly taken root in the state.

Hongojib is contrary to most barbecue locations in Seoul.

Located in the energetic community of Yeonnam-dong, the restaurant — and its predecessors, this kind of as Sinssi Express and Hongo — have swapped conventional communal eating for the growing craze of honbap, or feeding on by yourself.

Diners consume at counters instead than round tables. And dishes are not served relatives model — each individual diner is offered personalized options for condiments and cutlery alongside with their possess grill.

Orders are put and paid out for with tablets. And food — alongside a cluster of typical banchan, or side dishes — is served in just minutes.

Marianne Lee, a Korean education and learning guide, mentioned this design and style of taking in is a transform from the times when “everyone has to consume in groups, absolutely everyone has to drink alongside one another, everybody has to go for the exact same menu.”

“If you needed to have a Chinese meal, but if your supervisor says let us go for Japanese noodles, you would have no option but to go,” she mentioned. “But nowadays, persons regard obtaining their have time.”

With a subsequent of additional than 40,000 on TikTok, Lee — who stated she’s invested equivalent areas of her lifestyle in the United Kingdom and South Korea — is popular for her video clips about Korean culture, from bus etiquette to the very best time to visit the country.

In her films, she endorses solo travelers attempt dining places this kind of as Labap for wonderful eating, or Gimbap Cheongu and Pomato for their broad variety of Korean food stuff.

The latter two “are open 24 several hours and provide tteokbokki, rice dishes, soup and other scorching cooked meals,” she claimed, referring to Korean spicy rice cakes.

Lee implies checking out the well known tourist places 1st, this sort of as Namsan, Myeong Dong, Insadong and Itaewon, in which folks usually converse some English. Multilingual tourist guides dressed in pink coats and hats are there to assist with travelers’ queries far too, she claimed.

“It also assists when you include in a few Korean words and phrases, like hoksi (possibly) in advance of you talk to your issue in English,” she adds. Koreans listen improved than they talk, so she feels that it will help to “soften the method and we actually recognize it.”

South Korea is popular with people from Asia, in particular China and Japan, but people from Western countries, namely the United States, are on the rise. American travelers have been the fourth-biggest source industry until finally 2019, but catapulted to the top demographic in 2022, in accordance to Tourgo, a investigate initiative of the Korea Lifestyle and Tourism Investigation Institute.

Before this yr, South Korea announced a new visa for electronic nomads is in the pipeline. The visa, which would allow for foreigners to stay in Korea while doing work remotely for an employer in one more state, is slated to start afterwards this year, in accordance to The Korea Herald.  

Thankfully, it is now considerably easier to find a area to remain than it was in the earlier.

New co-living companies, like Episode and Mangrove, ended up established in response to the increase of solitary-man or woman households seeking affordable sites to dwell in Seoul. Some residential structures permit short-phrase lodging, which solo travelers can reserve.

I stayed at Mangrove Dongdaemun for a thirty day period in a clear and compact room that came with a workstation, private rest room and a look at of Mount Namsan.

Contrary to accommodations, there are communal kitchens and coworking areas, furthermore a gymnasium, yoga rooms, library and even free laundry self-support. An application back links inhabitants with chat boards and actions like “New Joiner Nights.”

The notion is well-liked, claimed Mangrove staff members member Kim Serin, who included that the setting up is comprehensive most of the year. She reported brief-continue to be requests are growing, and that the corporation is performing to meet this want with new jobs coming in two other well known destinations, Busan and Jeju.

Celib Soonra is an additional home developed for solo citizens and tourists. Stays under three months can be booked by way of Airbnb, which is how I booked my remain.

My room was much less cookie-cutter and arrived with neighborhood touches like a common tea space, and the rooftop has panoramic sights of Changdeokgung palace and Jongmyo Shrine.

Its community, Gwonnong-dong, is extra intimate far too, and the hip cafe-loaded Hanok village of Ikseon-dong is but a 10-minute stroll absent.

Small business accommodations, like those people from the hospitality brand name Accor, are also performing to generate hybrid dwelling spaces the place travelers and locals can “dwell, function and perform,” in accordance to its web site.

Accor’s Ibis brand presents an example of this. At the Ibis Types Ambassador Seoul Gangnam, I could see how modest changes can make a large big difference, such as the communal back garden on the hotel’s 15th ground, the place I worked on days I had limited deadlines.

I also slept in an ondol room at the hotel, which experienced heated flooring and traditional bedding, a thing that is usually uncovered only in classic houses and hanoks that caters to teams. In the vicinity of Gangnam’s Coex Shopping mall, it was also a steal at a lot less than $55 a evening.