Some notes about South Korea

Old Jul 20th, 2016, 06:01 AM
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Some notes about South Korea

I dont intend to write a full trip report ( I have never managed before so doubt it would happen!) but rather just bits and pieces about South Korea accumulated over a number of visits. I hope they might help someone.

This was my 5th trip to South Korea and my husbands 3rd. I will add a little information about us and why we go. I am a potter. South Korea has a wonderful and long history of making ceramics and is the home of very fine bluish green celadon glazes usually decorated with an inlaid design. (China is also well known for celadons but they are a much greener colour) The tableware and decorative ceramics in South Korea is very good all round and well supported by the public. Along with other arts and crafts the goverment actively support the industry to keep their heritage alive. With my own work focused on carved celadons and supported by making tableware you can see what draws me there.

Each year amongst many ceramic festivals held around the country there is a Celadon Festvial at Gangjin in the south of the counrty. This is on the site of the original 1000 year old kiln site and home to many contemporary celadon artist. Along with a number of other international potters I have had the good fortune to be invited to attend the festival twice. Opportunities to work with a master carver in a different part of Korea have taken me back twice more. This lastest trip was to return to that studio yet again.

I've also had the chance to travel extensively in the country both with a group and also independently by bus and hire car. This trip we were staying with our friends at the studio and mostly travelling in their car so a "real" trip report doesn't work very well. Also my trips are very focused on ceramics so probably of little interest to others. I will try and add bits of information that might help and please just ask anything - I may or may not know the answer.

Firstly though, I will also advise anyone intending to travel around South Korea to take the time to read the very enjoyable and thorough report written by Kja as it comtains a wealth of information.
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...outh-korea.cfm

TIMING A VISIT My trips have each been 3 to 4 weeks at a time in June, July/August, October and most recently May. By far the standout for weather was October with lovely warm sunny days, cool evenings and just a bit of rain. The bonus for me that time was the autumn foliage which we see little of in my part of Australia. June was pleasant and quite warm, July /August was very hot and humid with the odd typhoon and unless there is a good reason to go at that time I would avoid it. May this year was nice with a few days of rain but otherwise sunny and warm. We were lucky to avoid the Yellow Dust days with can be a problem at this time of year.

This year we were too late for cherry blossom but the azaleas were out and the mountain foliage beautiful with the pines in flower and interspersed with masses of white Acacia blossom. I had not known previously but these acacia were introduced from Japan. The odd purple magnolia also dot the forest. The mountains are beautiful at any time and being a country of mountains and valleys whenever you travel outside the cities you will see them.

USEFUL THINGS - maybe.

●Time through Incheon airport.
I had read recently that there were long waits going both in and out of Incheon airport. I have always flown in at around 7.30 to 8.30 am and because of the airlines used have had to take the train from the outer concourse to the main terminal. It is a 5 minute shuttle train but can be crowded and may mean waiting for the next train but they are every 5 minutes or so. It can be a long walk to get there depending on the arrival gate. Once in the main building you need to line up for immigration and this is where it can get slow. My first 3 trips were very quick but the next was a fair wait. So this trip I took note (particularly for Thursdaysd who asked). From our plane to immigration took 20 minutes (there were a lot of people at the shuttle train) then immigration was packed so 40 minutes more. Our bags were already out when we got to the carousel and it was straight customs through to the buses. So plane to bus 1 hour. Not so bad. If you landed at the main terminal it should be quicker of course.
Leaving through Incheon has also had reports of delays getting through immigration and security checks. Our flights depart around 11.00am. Last trip it was really busy but we got through with time to spare. This time we were staying the last night in Seoul and so made sure to catch an early enough bus to allow for Monday morning trafic as well as potential delays at the airport. The bus left Insadong at 6.40am and is scheduled to take around 100 minutes and, as we beat the morning rush, thats what it took. Check-in and immigration were both quick so we were at the concourse by 8. We had lounge access so no problem hanging around. Its a pretty good airport if you do have to hang around though.
So I guess timing is the luck of the draw. Sometimes slow but more often okay.

●Maps.
We used the following apps for getting around. maps.me, google - earth, street view etc, plus if you can read a little Korean, Naver and Daum maps. Maps.me is offline so while not everything is on it its really handy when you don't have internet. We used Daum and Naver maps a lot in the cities as it has all sorts of info on places - food, hotels etc. It takes a bit more work as its in Korean but not too hard. If you open Daum maps in Chrome browser rather than using the app, it will to translate to english. When Searching you will probably have to enter the name in Korean so copy and paste or better still get a korean keyboard and practice the alphabet by copying the name of what you are looking for.

On that note learning the korean alphabet is very easy and while you may not be able to actually understand all the words you see written it definitely helps with checking which bus you want etc. As with any country if you have something written in the language it makes it a lot easier to get help with directions. I can read just enough to get by and write a name if I need to and it has really helped. Try as I might my spoken Korean is still useless but a can be polite and greet, thank and ask for basic things.

●Transport
Outside of Seoul I have used buses and hire cars for getting around but not trains. I understand the trains are great but we haven't used them. Buses vary from standard intercity to express. I've travelled on standard intercity ones that are like ordinary city buses but going out to country towns - they have 4 seats (2×2) across the bus. Not all that comfy for a longish trip but okay. They tend to do more stops- for instance they leave Seoul with no stops but as they get close to the end of the trip will stop at a number of places for people to get off.

The Express service is usually a slightly better bus but they still have the standard 4 seats to a row. There are also "Excellent" buses on many express routes between big towns/cities. These are like business class with only 3 seats ( 2/1) to each row and lots of leg room. They cost more but its not a lot. For instance I was travelling between Gwangju-si in the south and Seoul which takes around 3.5 hours. There is a bus every 10 minutes and 2 out of 3 are Excellent ones. The regular bus cost approximately 19,000won and the excellent 26,000won. They all seemed to fill up. Unless I was down to my last cent I'd take the Excellent as its really comfy. You can use google and daum for bus numbers/ stops etc in towns.

Hire car - outside of the cities. I certainly wouldn't consider driving in Seoul - the traffic is horrible and finding parking a hassle. Actually I left the driving when we did hire a car to my husband as its the opposite side of the road for us so I did the navigation since I can read a bit of Korean. Most signage is also in English. You need an international license, your country's license and a credit card to hire. You can use Hertz etc but we joined Lotte Car rental - its associated with Hertz or Avis - but by joining on the website and booking on the website we got a huge discount making it very economical.

We hired out of Gwangju which is also a huge city but we were getting out of town as soon as we could. Driving in the countryside is easy and we tried to avoid the motorways as much as possible. Its not that the motorways aren't good - they are and have great service areas but are busy and we prefer to wander around and look at odd bits.

The hire car made it so much easier to get to a number of spots that while sometimes possible by bus would have taken much much longer. We also chanced on many small places that we simply wouldn't have gone without a car. This last trip we intended to hire again but given we were with our friends a lot of the time we were travelling with them in their car.

In Seoul itself we mostly used the very good subway and for some journeys, taxis which are pretty cheap. To and from the airport and Seoul we used the airport limousine buses which are good. There are a mix of standand and excellent buses on different routes costing 10,000won for standard and 15,000 on the routes using the excellent models.

To be continued
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 07:53 AM
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Hi, Mary, nice summary! We have only stopped at Incheon on our way to other places, but I've been thinking we should take advantage of a stopover and spend some time there.
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 05:20 PM
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Lots of great info, MaryW! Thanks for sharing these observations and thanks so much for recommending my trip report. (blushing)
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 05:48 PM
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Kathie - I'm sure you would enjoy South Korea for the culture. The temples and palaces are very nice and there are masses of photo oplortunities. Food's great too. Really you need to get out of Seoul although there is plenty to see there too.

Kja - how could I not recommend such a wonderful report!

So heres a bit more. Please excuse me if I rattle on but there is little said about the country usually.

●Check out the festivals. Korea has masses of festivals for all sorts of things. Lots of ceramic ones like the Celadon one at Gangjin that I mentioned but also lots in other areas. This May I got to many with 3 in the Icheon/Yeoju area alone and another at Mungyeon not fair away. This last one is held at a reconstructed castle/village that is used as a film site and quite interesting in itself as well as being a lovely area of the country. There are Kimchi, Mud, fish and many other festivals around the country as well as the biennial in Gwangju- contemporary art- and another in Icheon - ceramics. Lots of Buddhist celebrations too. Worth checking the VisitKorea website for information on these things. Many happen every year but check the dates in case they are linked to the Lunar calendar which means the "normal" dates will change. I've been caught out with the Lunar calender when sending Birthday greetngs as older people still go by Lunar dates and younger ones by the Sun/ Western dates. So if you really want to be at a Buddhist festival check the dates.

●Korean people are wonderful. They really look after you and want to show you their country. Many will drop everything to run you around, feed you etc. I called someone I had previously met and just asked if I could drop in to see him and see his new studio as the last time I saw him he was in the middle of building. We agreed on a time and had a good look around and a coffee. We thanked him ready to leave only to be told no we are going to lunch now. Okay that was really nice and we had a great lunch. Back to the studio to pick up our car and say goodbye but no we will just go and visit a temple high in the mountains for tea - then the tea plantations. A few hours later we got back and ready to say goodbye again only to find we were heading up another mountain for dinner. A fabulous day with such generosity at short notice. Like many other times at different places we were not allowed to pay or contribute to costs. I always make sure I have some gifts to give before we leave.

Depending on the situation you have to be careful with gifts. They are a very important part of the culture and when visiting friends we take a long time deciding on what to take. You need to do a bit of research as some things really aren't considered appropriate. For instance Knifes represent a cutting of the friendship and unbrellas are for tears/ sorrow so also tricky.

Generosity also comes from people you don't know. On a rainy day we were going back to our friends new home in an estate being built exclusively for artist studios/galleries/homes. Its very much under development and not yet on the car navigation systems. The taxi driver couldn't get the position on his satnav but we explained in the usual charades that happen with limited common language that we could direct him. We got there easily and went to pay. I handed him the money but because he didn't have the correct change he simply rounded down the amount. He would not take more than the meter showed. We headed into the home at the back of the gallery only to find the driver hurrying after us. He could see the place was not yet open and was worried about us being left there with no one around. Once I explained we were staying there with our friends he lit up with a smile and said goodbye. Things like this happen all the time. A young boy once sat down beside me at a museum,smiled, and said please take this and enjoy and handed me a wrapped rice cake. While sitting in the car waiting for my friend, I watched a man making large popped ricecrackers with a hot air/ steam press. Moments later he pushes a handful of the crackers through the window and disappears off. And there are so many more stories of this sort.

Sometimes I hear people say Koreans are not friendly. Thats not something I have found at all. People will make an effort to look out for you, stopping to make sure you know how to get to where you want or alert you to something interesting - generally just be kind. Usually these people have at least a little Engish. Those without any English are understandably more reticent but will often still try. Those that become friends will always be very good ones.

To be continued.
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Old Jul 20th, 2016, 06:29 PM
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Hi Mary,

Thanks so much for the great info!

Entirely agree that the Korean people are wonderfully helpful.

I'm headed back the end of September. I fly into Seoul on Asiana, so will not have to take the train to the terminal building. Scheduled arrival 8:50, so will no doubt be at the back of the immigration queue. However, I will leave from Busan (to/from Jeju-do and to KIX).

I plan to take the train from Seoul to Andong, haven't decided whether to take the train or bus onto Busan. The train stations would be much more convenient but the train is much less frequent.

I leave Andong for Busan the day the mask festival starts so hope to see some of that. Then will be in Busan for the Jagalchi fish market festival, and plan a day trip to Jinju for the Namgang Yudeung festival.

I never mastered the alphabet last time, will have to try harder... Although I got by without it.

Any pottery recommendations for Busan or Jeju-do?
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Old Jul 21st, 2016, 05:01 PM
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I, too, found South Koreans to be incredibly helpful, friendly, and generous -- you've brought back a ton of wonderful memories with the stories of your encounters. Thanks!
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Old Jul 21st, 2016, 07:08 PM
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Thursdaysd - I've still not made it to Jeju-do (it will have to be another trip☺) however there is unique pottery there. The Jeju Black pottery - onggi - those big storage jars - are made with the local clay which has a lot of volcanic material in it giving a black colour.

There are potters around Busan but its not the most prominent area and I can't recommend anywhere specific however there is Gimhae Clayarch in the city of Gimhae which is only slightly west of Busan and easy to get to - around 30/40 mins by bus. It would be pretty much on your way to Jinju if you could factor it in. Its a museum of architectural ceramics with changing exhibits but the thing I like best about it is the building. The whole complex of buildings is clad in fantastic coloured "tiles". They are actually glazed kiln shelves done by Shin Sang Ho who is often called the Korean Picasso. http://english.clayarch.org/index.do I had the privilege of visiting this man at his studio on one of my trips. He also makes wonderful animal sculptures and additionally like most Koreans is very kind and hospitable. I'd dearly love to own a price but sadly thats not likely to happen.

Right next door to The Clayarch is another small but very nice museum of Puchong Ware ceramics.
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Old Jul 21st, 2016, 07:10 PM
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Sorry I meant "own a piece" not price - but price certainly has something to do with it!
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Old Jul 21st, 2016, 08:44 PM
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Thanks Mary, that sounds very interesting.
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Old Jul 24th, 2016, 10:53 AM
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Thanks for posting your very interesting look at Korean culture, especially from the aspect of a potter. The juxtaposition of the traditional and the modern in Korea is startling, and the interest in keeping traditional/folk art alive is impressive.

It was also good to hear from another traveler who had positive experiences with renting a car and driving in Korea. What was your impression of other drivers when you were out in the countryside?
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Old Jul 24th, 2016, 08:47 PM
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I, too, noted your report of positive experiences with driving. Those of my Korean friends who visit South Korea every year or two told me that they REFUSE to rent a car while there -- too many accidents! too dangerous! But IIRC, shelemm was pleased to be able to rent a car to show his children some things that really could not have been conveniently seen by public transportation. I'm glad that I found more than enough to see and experience without a car, but am intrigued by these varying views....
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Old Jul 25th, 2016, 12:31 AM
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Shelemm and Kja. Driving out of the cities was no problem (and its the wrong side for us) the small roads were very quiet and other drivers just fine. There are frequently small tractors on these roads and often rice/chillies etc are laid out on the roads to dry so it can be an obstacle course. Understandably they don't like their crops to be driven over but sometimes they take up a lot of the road. We didn't do much driving at night and avoided motorways where we could.

I was worried about driving because of the accident rate although I have only seen I think 2 minor accidents in all the trips. However the owner of one of the bars we use to go to was killed in a traffic accident one night a couple of years ago.

There are certain rules about moving vehicles after an accident so its important to get it right or you will be booked. The hire company give you a phone number to call immediately should you have an accident all be it tiny.

On motorways I find it a problem that there are speed cameras at set points. Everyone goes flat out from one set to the next warning signs and then slams on the anchors. The systems gives you a count down until you get to the correct speed and then says thank you!

The other thing that both really annoys and worries me is the constant use of mobile phones while driving. Koreans seem to be firmly attached to their phones at all times. Its illegal to use them while driving but they all do. It they see a police car they just drop them in their lap. Even if the car has Bluetooth they seem to prefer to hold the phone. We drove hundred of miles with our friend busy with the phone. My husband said why not use the Bluetooth so she would for one call then revert. Same with everyone we drove with.

I imagine there are a good few drunks on the road at night as they do drink heavily. The first night I was out with friends for a night I was thinking I'd never get back in one piece and how should I get around it. When it came time to go there were a number of completely legless drivers but that was easily solved. Someone simply rings for a substitute driver. One or more arrive with a driver/car of their own. These substitutes drive your car and you home and the other car follows to pick up the substitute driver. So both you and your car get safely home. Its also only about the same cost as a taxi so very affordable. I was told its gone up a lot recently though which may mean people take more chances.
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Old Jul 25th, 2016, 04:27 PM
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Thanks, MaryW!
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Old Jul 31st, 2016, 07:13 PM
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I will continue with a bit about hotels but have had problems posting so there is something the forum doesnt like - I will post in small bits until I find the offending words.

●Hotels

I love a good hotel but for some reason we don't worry in Korea. The resorts don't appeal and we are usually moving around a fair bit. So we choose much cheaper places.

In Seoul we usually stay at the Sunbee in Insadong. Its a small simple place but has quite large rooms. They have been recently renovated and are pleasant. One drawback is that the shower is in the bath and there is no curtain/screen so things get a bit wet but its a big bathroom so not a big problem. Being a small hotel it only has a cafe which produces a simple breakfast in the morning and coffee etc during the day. However there are masses of restaurants, bars, bakeries and convenience stores all around Insadong so there is no problem getting anything you want. The staff speak good English and are very helpful. I like that the hotel is tucked in a small lane behind Insadong-gil which makes it very quite plus its a good price at around 95,000won on a weeknight. I book direct for the best price although looking at the website you would think its dearer but the rate on their main page is rack rate. They have been very helpful with swapping things around for me when plans have changed.

I like the area around Insadong and Jongno. Its close to lots of palaces and temples, galleries, museums, restaurants etc. And plenty of shopping handy. Its easy to get to from the airport and easy to get around the city. Perhaps the main drawback is getting to the Express bus terminal which is about 45 minute by subway to Gangnam area across the river but its not like you do that trip everyday with luggage.
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Old Jul 31st, 2016, 07:33 PM
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I like that area, too, but stayed at a much less expensive place a few blocks further east.

I trust you know how to get around the posting glitch? You need to cut and paste from a word document until "preview" shows a problem, then tweak, try again, tweak again, etc. Painful! But it works. Here's a LONG thread with some of the issues....
http://www.fodors.com/community/foru...rope-forum.cfm
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Old Jul 31st, 2016, 09:25 PM
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Thanks Kja I had been looking at one of your posts and so found the info. I've found anything I pasted in simply would not preview at all but am now working it out. So far it seemed a silly little punctuation mark upset it. Hopefully I will now get the rest done.

As for the Sunbee - there are many much dearer places near by as well as many very good hostels like the one you stayed at.
At 95K for 2 people it was quite good and a nice big room. Ive got kind of use to it now and its like home in Seoul. If I was alone I might change to the hostel you used. What I dislike about a lot of double rooms is the bed pushed against the wall. Pathetic I know but I like to be able to get out easily. Of course I could just get DH to use the wall side but it doesn't seem fair.
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Old Jul 31st, 2016, 09:49 PM
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Oh my, I wasn't trying to criticize your choice of places to stay! I was just agreeing that the area is a very good one, even if I chose my words very badly. Sorry!

Yes, the tiniest things can cause posting problems, or even two tiny things widely removed in a long post. Complete PITA. Consider adding a post to that long thread, just so the editors know the problems continue.
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Old Aug 1st, 2016, 02:38 AM
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Really Kja I didn't for a minute think you were criticizing the choice. I think it was me that chose my words very badly as I had reaĺly only meant to point out to anyone else that there are actually lots of hotels and prices and in fact the cheaper ones (both hotel and hostel) are usually very good as well as being a good place to get the feel of Korea.

I met some folk staying around the corner from me at a much more expensive hotel that had a tiny room and really nothing more to make it that much better/expensive except a restaurant and function centre but they chose it because the higher price meant it should be good and were nervous of cheaper places. I can understand how they felt and just grateful that I have previous experience there.

I very nearly did book the hostel from your review this time but just ended up going with the known place. They know me now and are very kind - sort of like comfort food☺
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Old Aug 1st, 2016, 05:27 PM
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Sounds like you found a gem of a place (which I will look at, should I have the good fortune to return to Seoul), and thanks for being so understanding!
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Old Aug 1st, 2016, 09:17 PM
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Outside of Seoul we tend to wing it for hotels. Usually I prefer to know where I'm going to stay but there are so few hotels listed on the normal booking sites and they tend to be the high price ones (and sometimes not very good). In small towns there will be no listings leaving you thinking that there is nowhere to stay at all. In reality every town has motels and often a lot of them. These are the ones Koreans use. They are quite often simple but usually clean. They probably can't be booked but if you go in and ask they will most likely have a room - if not there will be another motel down the street. Ask to see a room just in case you don't like it. Some of them can hurt you eyes.

There will always be a cluster of motels near the bus or train terminal. Usually there is little English spoken so go prepared by translating a simple sentence like "can I see a room please" into written Korean. You may be asked if you want a western bed or korean (on the floor) Since you probably won't understand, again translate what you want ahead. These motels range in price from as low as 30,000won per night to 200,000 for a flash suite in one of the best ones. They usually cost more on the weekend. 50 to 70k is probably average. It is unusual for them to do breakfasts but there will be a coffee shop or 3 nearby.

They are often termed love motels and some are really over the top. There are usually photos of the rooms outside so you have an idea before entering. We have stayed in some basic but clean ones and some lovely quite elegant ones like one at Suncheon where we had a beautiful room with a skylight over the bed to watch the stars for 70,000 won. (Bit different to quite a few that go in for mirrors instead of skylights). Although this one did function as a love motel, letting rooms out for a few hours during the day, you really wouldn't think so if you stayed there. The giveaway is usually screening in the carparks to obscure the car number plate. Actually apart from the really highend city hotels lots let rooms during the day or evening and many have loyalty clubs that you can join. I haven't felt uncomfortable in any of these places but I do look first to make sure they are clean.
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