Nostalgia Hanok Hotel in South Korea marries traditional architecture with unique designs and experiences

After checking in at Nostalgia Hanok Hotel, I did not head into the elevator up to my room. Instead, the hotel’s welcome master Maxime Labarthe led me out of the street-side welcome centre, across busy Jongno-gu, and winding lanes before I reached my hanok.
The surrounding vernacular architecture was charming; sweeping black ceramic roof tiles stacked on circular rafters rise above stonewalls, textured with geometric tile patterns and deep red paint. The lanes were animated with the cacophony of selfie-taking tourists but once I stepped into the hanok’s madang (central courtyard) and closed the ancient heavy timber doors, all was quiet and still.
I was in Slow Jae (Jae means house in Korean), one of Nostalgia Hanok Hotel’s six properties scattered throughout Bukchon Hanok Village. The hospitality brand founded in 2022 has become a considered choice for guests who usually head to luxury hotels like the Four Seasons Seoul or The Shilla Seoul.
These guests are used to the discretion, upscale service and elevated design of five-star hotels but want the rare experience of staying in a hanok, or traditional Korean house that originated from the Joseon dynasty. “We aim to be the Aman of Korea in how it provides unique experiences in exceptional natural settings, but with content that embody Korean sentiments and philosophies that make it distinct from Aman,” said CEO of Nostalgia Hanok Hotel, Paul Park. Rates range from 770,000 won to 2,200,000 won (approximately S$752 to S$2,148).
This is his first foray into the hospitality industry. Park’s main business is running branding agency Brandingcom Inc, which he founded 25 years ago. “After developing brands for various global companies, I wanted to create my own. Seeing the increasing popularity of various aspects of Korean culture such as K-beauty, K-food, K-music, K-drama and K-movies, I decided to start Nostalgia Hanok Hotel – a luxury hanok hotel aimed at providing tourists visiting Korea with a more immersive experience of Korean culture,” Park explained.
The hotel’s branding is in line with the city’s goal to be a destination for luxury travellers who are willing to splurge on authentic and unique experiences while being well taken care of. According to an article in The Korean Herald, the global luxury travel market size, valued at 2,301 trillion won in 2022, is expected to reach 3.7 trillion won in 2032. 
The demographic of Nostalgia Hanok Hotel’s guests is encouraging; almost 60 per cent are foreign tourists and alongside architects, designers and influencers, many are CEOs and directors of global companies.
Before starting the business, Park checked into hanok stays in Seoul and across South Korea for research and to brainstorm unique selling points. Nostalgia Hanok Hotel’s chosen location was Gahoe-dong within the Bukchon Hanok Village, close to the centre of Seoul and a few minutes’ walk from the picturesque Gyeongbokgung Palace.
“It consists of old hanok built from a few decades ago to as long as a century ago,” said Park. As the hanok in this area were traditionally the homes of nobility, scholars and government officials, they are better maintained. Many have been remodelled into restaurants, cafes and teahouses, but some are still used as private residences, evidenced by signs outside gates requesting for considerate noise levels.
It was not easy for Park to find and acquire hanok that were suited for conversion to hotels. In fact, it was not easy to gets his hands on these traditional buildings in general due to their scarcity. Over the past century, they were consistently demolished for urban development.
A 2011 report by France-based International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS) recorded 128,766 hanok in the early 1960s in Seoul; by 2008, only 13,703 remained. An article in the New York Times about hanok listed the number in 2020 to about 8,000. It was only when the Seoul Metropolitan Government initiated the Hanok Regeneration Project in Seoul in 2001 that hanok villages started being conserved.
Park is always on the look out to extend Nostalgia Hanok Hotel’s portfolio. He has managed to get another four units of hanok, which are currently being renovated. One will be ready in September, another by year’s end, and the last two in 2025.
Unlike other hanok hotels in Seoul such as Rakkojae that tries to replicate every traditional detail down to the decor, Park does not believe in simply treating the hanok as an artefact. Instead, he wants to provide a modern spin and relevant amenities. To do this, he engaged Seoul’s brightest and most progressive creatives to give their personal interpretations of old-new hanok living.
On why he engaged a different interior designer as well as gave a unique concept for each hanok, Park said: “Each Nostalgia Hanok has its own story; no two are alike.”
For example, Hillo Jae (Hello House) embraces its attractive location as one of the Eight Scenic Views of Bukchon. Local design firm Kilyeon brought the scenery in with large rock-like elements, ranging from a smooth ceramic dining table by Korean artist Lee Hun-Chung to an installation by artist Huh Myoung-Wook that looks like an oversized pebble.
Park explained his criteria for choosing his collaborators: “We not only consider their ability to create top commercial spaces in Korea, but also their passion and curiosity for hanok. We place significant importance on the designers’ communication skills, as it is essential to maintain a relationship and receive continuous feedback even after completion.”
This is necessary. Unlike conventional hotel rooms, each hanok comprises a compound with an entire house requiring substantial effort in upkeep and management over many years.
I got a peek into Blue Jae, which is capped with dark, denim-coloured tiles – the same used in the Blue House where South Korea’s presidents resided from 1948 to 2022. It is refurbished by acclaimed interior designer Dongil Lee of Studio Unravel, who is behind the sleek store designs of South Korea’s most avant-garde fashion brands like Mardi Mercredi and Post Archive Faction (PAF).
Lee preserved the hanok’s 1930s features, which include gobang (bumpy) pattered glass crafted with age-old techniques, and handmade, decorated wooden ceiling panels. On the walls, antique paintings and the dynamic work of modern artist Lee Jung-Woong enhance the dialogue between tradition and modernity.
“Blue Jae was very old and required numerous improvements. Modernising the basic construction was a challenge. However, through this project, I learned how traditional architecture can be transformed meaningfully to coexist in the present,” Lee observed.
Slow Jae, where I spent a night in, was designed by Studio Lee Hae Inn. It is the only Nostalgia Hanok that incorporates a ceramic studio, housed in a standalone, glassed pavilion. For a fee, guests can partake in the meditative activity of making vases or bowls under the guidance of a teacher.
The hanok has its own music created by renowned South Korean composer and K-pop music director Jeon Ju-Hyun, as well as scent created by fragrance artist Han Seo-hyung that burns from incense. Above the dining table on a crossbeam, a kinetic art installation senses movements and sounds in the hanok to create patterns on a sheet of paper that is gifted to guests when they leave.
These features are intended for Slow Jae’s guests to ‘slow down’ from the everyday bustle in order to revitalise their bodies and souls. The interior provides a calm environment to do so: Like artwork on canvas, rough purlins and beams snake across white ceilings; corn and sage surfaces mimic nature’s colouration; bespoke textile screens and timber lattices softening the daylight are reminiscent of traditional paper window panels made from mulberry bark.
Subtle details showcase South Korea’s creative culture: Organically shaped quartz doorknobs by Bae Min of The Empathist bring delight to the simple act of opening and closing internal doors, while fashion designer Jaden Cho combined a salt-dyeing technique and traditional persimmon dyeing method (Kakishibu) to create floral patterns on silk fabric that wrap stools and cushions. In the main bedroom, he also used silver beads to shape botanical patterns on a fabric panel.
In every hanok, guests are welcomed with traditional Korean snacks comprising walnuts, balloon flower roots and jeonggwa pecans. They are also gifted a comprehensive skincare set from Korean brand Yunjac, made from nourishing, healing natural ingredients.
Breakfast is served at the hotel’s Bukchon One Cafe. Here, old chopstick-thin columns exude a wabi sabi vibe, amid mirrors and sleek metal tables. The menu is simple: Western staples like baguette complemented with Korean ingredients. Come teatime in summer, pop in for omija tea, vanilla ice cream and Gijung bread.
To enjoy the hanok at dusk, order the hotel’s two-tier platter dinner set that will be delivered to the building at 6pm. It comes with Nostalgia’s custom Bukchon makgeolli. Rent a Polaroid camera to capture memories during the day and a telescope at night for stargazing in the madang (courtyard).
Park is continually coming up with new ideas to let the guests experience local South Korean culture. Guests can book excursions to enjoy a Chimaek (Korean fried chicken and beer) picnic by the Han River while watching the Rainbow Fountain light show or take a pedicab tour through famous sites in Bukchon, including those featured in popular South Korean dramas.
In May this year, the hotel introduced the K/artCraft store in front of one of the hanok, where guests can bring home So Hye-Jung’s textile-like pottery and Sohyeong Han’s moon jars, carved from Jeju cedar.