What area to stay in Seoul.

Insadong is much better than Hongdae. The subway runs everywhere, including Jongno Gu. Cabs are cheap.

The "Guesthouse in Korea" at Jongno has private rooms for 2.

http://www.guesthouseinkorea.com/Jong-No/?M=Facility&L=1

http://www.aroundseoul.com/images/seoulSubwayMap.gif

As #1 said, getting a cab from Hongdae to Jongno is easy and cheap. It would take maybe 15 minutes.

Cheers guys, Insadong looks like a great area. Guest house Korea looked good but its booked out. Is it easy enough to just arrive and get a place to stay or do you recommend booking a place? We seem to have left it a bit late and all the places we like the look of are booked out.

Did you try the Crown Hotel in Itaewon?

http://www.mytravelguide.com/hotels/profile-19487603-South_Korea_Seoul_Hotel_Crown_Itaewon.html

You should book ahead.

We managed to book into the Namsan Guest house. Its in the Jung-gu district and after looking at some decent maps its not far to walk to Insadong from there. I have not read anything positive about Itaewon as an area. Obviously I am going to check it out for an evening and make my own judgement. Guide books are after all only one persons opinion.
Cheers again for your help.

Itaewon is perfectly fine in broad daylight, but might be a bit sleazy after dark. It does, however, have a good range of international restaurants, if a diet of kimchi bores you. The Crown Hotel is not actually in the main tourist street of Itaewon, but around the corner on the main road. I stayed there in August. It was better than I expected.

I dont think the wife would appreciate the sleazy side of things. But I will definitely go for a meal over there. No matter where you go travelling, the local diet always gets a bit boring after a while. I come from Scotland and dont eat haggis and chips every day! Or deep fried mars bars.

The only thing wrong with Itaewon is that it isn't Korea. It's an ex-pat ghetto. While for visitors that might be a waste of valuable time, it's great for those of us who live here permanently. You can have a great night out there, and it's the one part of Seoul where you are guaranteed to be able to meet and talk to large numbers of other non-Koreans. There are some absolute gems there - such as the Reggae Pub, which is 90% populated by Africans, and then also some great Irish bars, and places that sell good 'pub grub' as we'd call it in the UK. If, as a visitor, you spent all your time there, you'd be a Philistine, but it's a cool area, and safe at any hour of the day or night.

Hey carruthers! I love my dub and reggae.But see those irish bars. They do my my Nut in. For sure for sure for sure(JOKE). Pub grub! Come on. I get that tena penny back home. But no doubt I will be dancing to the irish rover at some point in my visit.A few whiskeys and who knows what can happen. I'm Scots, we invented that psycho juice.Why do you think the romans built a wall to keep us out their empire. I think I'll get on OK with the locals.And I appreciate where your coming from. You need time to be able to talk on a level that others can understand when your falling under a table with a half pint of malt getting poured down your throat. Classic.