Tentative trip to Seoul for Semis and Finals and not forgetting some shopping. Anyone knows where to play some baddy? Have not played there before... just shopping.
Hi ants, There is nothing in English. If you have a translator who can help you, get them to find something at this link. If not, if you give me a location, I might be able to find something. I have posted some ideas for certain areas of Seoul elsewhere on this forum. You could also check there. If you need my help, be sure to post early as I have to get to the stadium at noon tomorrow.
How far is Oakwood Premier Coex Center Hotel to the KO stadium? I'm more familiar with the place since i stayed there few times before. And any badminton clubs around Gangnamgu area? Another option is Grand Hyatt at Itaewon area. I think it should be nearer to the stadium.
Well, you seem to be at Samsung Station near the Hotel Intercontinental. The subway system site says its 14.1km by subway and that the travelling time is 29 minutes. You go west to Gyo-dae station and transfer to northbound #3 and get off at Dongguk University Station. The stadium is right outside Exit #5. As for where to play, I could suggest two places. One is close, the other is far. I don't have any firsthand knowledge of either. The first is at a place called Jinsun Girls' High School (眞善女子高等學校) near Seolleung Station. It's the closest to your hotel: just one subway stop and then half a kilometre walk. There is a club that plays there and they have a 40,000W per month membership fee that includes the cost of shuttles. I've found most clubs will let me play there once without being asked about membership intentions but I've never been to a club where I didn't have to bring my own shuttles so I don't know whether that would make it easier or harder to crash the party, so to speak. The gym has 6 courts. The other place is much farther but it seems to be a public facility. It is about an 8.5km drive from your hotel although it is also within walking distance of a subway stop that would involve a bit of transferring to reach. The clubs that play there charge very little in membership so that suggests to me that the sports complex charges an admission fee. Most such fees that I've seen outside of Seoul are between 1000 and 2000 won. I can't guarantee that this place would be open on a holiday but there is a good chance that it would be. There are apparently 5 courts there in the 3rd-floor gym and the club says that they play there from 7:30 to 10PM. If you take a taxi, tell the driver to go to Gomduri Sports Centre or Gomdoori Cheh-yook-sen-tuh (곰두리체육센터). There is also a YMCA just two subway stops from you but the club there says they play from 6 to 9AM. They also might not have a daily rate. It's hard to say. There is also a half dozen other clubs that play at schools or youth centres within 10km of your hotel but I don't have firsthand knowledge of any of them so I thought I'd pick out these two. The other thing is, considering that you're at a hotel and they might have people who make calls for your and such, I'll leave these numbers just in case: Jin-sun Club treasurer: 011-225-3211 Gomduri Club: 02-406-8325 Gomduri Club Treasurer: 011-325-1653 Songpa YMCA: 02-424-7511 There is a dedicated badminton facility in Seoul but it is way out toward the old Kimpo airport near Balsan Station on line #5. I don't think you'd want to go way out there even though it might be cheap.
