Continuing Mushrooming of New Love Hotels Day After Day

A new breed of the "love hotel" has been springing up in the commercial as well as residential area in Gangnam of Seoul. This type of hotels has earned the name since couples enjoying extramarital affairs frequent them. The most outstanding feature of the brand-new hotels is the "inability" to identify them. For example, their names are like **ville, **cybertel, gallery hotel, art hotel, multimediatel, to name just a few.

These hotels have equipped their rooms with PCs, VCRs, and computer game hardware, attracting the teens. The police have found out that some of these hotels have served as the venue for teenager prostitution.

▽ New love hotel town = A new hotel that has just opened is located right behind the Yoksam subway station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, which is only 8m apart from an apartment complex.

This hotel has been distributing ad leaflets around the complex, which contain obscene photos of women and promote massaging. One complex resident said, "These leaflets are winding around on the street when the kids go to and from school. I feel worried about the impression kids will get from them."

The area covered within 300m radii from Yoksam Dong to Teheran Road bas watched some 10 love hotels remodeled and renovated, and 6 new hotels.

The Olympic Park in Bangi Dong, Songpah Gu, Seoul, has been being turned into a love hotel town, too.

This new breed of love hotels, dotting the street across large apartment complexes, feels totally different from the "old generation counterparts." The new type of hotels looks more like a café than a hotel. Of course, their names are like **ville, **cybertel, and multimediatel.

According to the Office of Songpa-gu, for the period of 2 years from 2000 to 2001, only three hotels were built up. This year, 10 hotels have been set up only from April to October.

One architect said, "The existing 20 hotels in this area have remolded themselves. But, in substance, it would be more fair to say that they were newly built up."

This trend also continues along the alleys in Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. 10 new or remolded hotels have opened. Also the alleys across the Seoul Arts Center are packed with 20 remodeled "new love hotels."

▽ Attracting customers of PC and Video rooms = One businessman specializing in love hotel interior decoration said, "Let`s take a love hotel in Bangbae-dong with 30 rooms. The owner invested \300 million and watched his profits increase four times. The hotel is targeting at `part-time` customers of the rooms, who stay just 3-4 hours. In addition, a customer can enjoy the Internet and VCR at the same time. Therefore, the number of customers has shot up, customers who use the room in the afternoon only."

A hotel in Yoksam Dong hangs a placard reading, "All in one: chatting, Internet games and home theater." Its suites are equipped with everything: DVD player, Karaoke player, wooden bed, luxury shave, LCD TV, just to name a few.

It costs \40,000 – 90,000 to use a room of this type of hotels for three hours. Nonetheless, no vacancy is available after 8 p.m. even on weekdays.

▽ Regulation loophole = In the face of mushrooming of the hybrid hotels, the Office of Gangnam-gu, which has the jurisdiction over most of them, does not even know the current status.

Park Hong-ki, an official of the office in charge, said, "From 1999, the law allowed hotels just to register themselves. Previously, they had to get the permission. Under these circumstances, it is hard for us to get the hang of the current status. Until the revised law takes into effect, it is impossible to fine them. In fact, there is a loophole, but we can`t do anything about it."

The office believes that business-persons are rushing to build or remodel their hotels prior to February of next year when a toughened law is scheduled to take effect.

In-Jik Cho cij1999@donga.com