Palace intrigue

The latest hotel opening in Seoul provides the city’s richest district, Gangnam, with a suitably sumptuous place for visitors to lay their head. Part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection, Josun Palace (marriott.com; doubles from US$390) occupies a 36-story tower on buzzing Teheran-ro, the hub of South Korea’s IT industry. Interiors by Monaco-based design firm Humbert & Poyet combine classic Korean design elements with modern European elegance; each of the 254 rooms and suites also benefit from Frette bed linens and a private bar for in-room cocktail making. Dining is next-level too, from refined Cantonese cuisine at the Great Hong Yuan to Eatanic Garden’s contemporary Korean dishes — think black cod with a sauce of white-lotus-leaf liquor.