In her post KoreaMaria also brings up good points regarding the lack of quality accommodation in Gwangju and what that means for its aspirations to be a "Hub City of Asian Culture":
What conventioneer (for example, someone invited to present or come to the September Asia Culture Forum - another brain child of Gwangju city - have it during the week - what a great idea! doh!) will spend the time (Gwangju is NOT a hub, it is a backwater, it takes forever to get here) and money when there is probably a better opportunity to share or educate themselves in some place like London, Tokyo or even - heinous for me to say it, Seoul which has several price ranges for accommodations, better transportation systems, and wider array and quality of things to do.
I love Gwangju, but it has little to offer if it wants to be included in a Zagat guide or as the "Hub of Asia". I am all for a better economy and a reverse of the brain drain that occurs in marginalized communities like Gwangju. But I do have my feet on the ground. Why can't Gwangju just be Gwangju - freedom fighters, artists, and foodies all?
Last year I received an email from an Australian man looking for "budget accommodation" for his family attending the 2010 World Paralympic Table Tennis Championships, to be held in Gwangju from October 25th through November 3rd. While I've always championed love motels over more expensive tourist hotels, it occurred to me then that about the only place in this city of over one million people, and with even bigger ambitions, that could conceivably meet his expectations as a foreign visitor and a traveller with special needs would be the Ramada, where rooms start at 171,000 won per night.
4 comments:
There's a Ramada in Gwangju? I have only been to Gwangju once, but I stayed in some place that was okay, it wasn't a Ramada, and I think the price was only around 110,000 or something like that, I forgot the name though.
You are right though there aren't many places to stay except love motels.
I agree with you that love motels can be nice, but they can also be rather horrible. I stayed in a place once where they didn't empty the trash buckets. There is no way that I am going to sleep under the blankets of a bed in a place like that. Don't forget the habit of love motels to have half used tubes of tooth paste and used bars of soap.
Also probably wouldn't be good for disabled people, not every love motel has an elevator. (Korea in general doesn't have a lot of infrastructure for disabled people or infrastructure for fire emergencies.)
Post a Comment