Kdrama Review: Hotelier (2001)

Hotelier
호텔리어
7/10 ♥

Hotelier is the story of… wait for it… hotel personnel in fancy Seoul Hotel. They lead a ‘charmed’ existence looking after the wants and needs of the ridiculously picky wealthy, smiling through every crisis and their days never end. But it’s a family-run enterprise, so everyone basically loves everyone. Until their patriarch dies, and it’s up to his [very large hotel] family of managers and staff to save the business from falling into the hands of an evil corporate money-maker, and his incredibly ruthless M&A specialist attorney.

Except the attorney might just be wooing the floor manager, and the corporate boss man’s daughter might just be falling for the general manager. Throw in another lazy chaebol son, devious employees, birth secrets, miscommunication, more secrets, lies, more lies and love, and you’ve got yourself a Kdrama. 

"A drama plus ME!"

The Four Parts of the Square

Bae Yong Jun plays the attorney Shin Dong Hyuk, a whole year before Japanese housewives began passing out due to his stint propelling the Hallyu wave in Winter Sonata. This might’ve been his rehearsal drama. The same romantic gestures, overly long look of the eyes, and occasionally merciless nature typify his role here against a nearly helpless female manager Seo Jin Young (Song Yoon Ah). I say helpless, because what is a girl to do when she accidentally falls into the pool and is rescued by the speedo-wearing Yong Jun?

To complicate everything is Jin Young’s relationship with the GM Han Tae Jun (Kim Seung Woo). He’s a beloved, efficient, and eminently capable manager, and unlike most dramas, an exact equal in measure to his rival in love and business. So what if he doesn’t possess any of Dong Hyuk’s wealth, or the ability to smolder in dorky glasses. He’ll stop at anything to protect Seoul Hotel, and the ladies most attached to him, including an ignored rich daughter Kim Yoon Hee (Song Hye Ko, a year after her swooning forbidden romance in Autumn in My Heart). 

Why It Works

Because the recipe is timeless. Back then it might have sounded halfway original, but regardless Hotelier was enjoyable in its own way, like a portal to another world.  Within the scope of the hotel life is a giant, living, breathing anthill of people with their own stories, worries and woes, and between working out the kinks of hotel business they lean on each other in good times and bad. From the biggest role to the smallest, be it the GM, the head cook, or the two ever inseparable housekeeper ahjummas, Hotelier breathes life into the family of completely Hotel Seoul, and into the despair of keeping the hotel afloat.

More up on this decades-old drama, and a look at its somewhat surprising stance on gender roles. ALMOST NO SPOILERS.

Kdrama Review: That Winter, the Wind Blows (2013)

That Winter, the Wind Blows
그 겨울, 바람이 분다
6/10

I suppose I should address it, because after all this drama did capture the attention of most drama watchers I know – for better or for worse. In my case, it’s definitely the latter scenario. Perhaps I’m just not feeling the melo these days. Innocent Man captured my heart, and then I was done. By the time I Miss You came around, it was an automatic skip. I actually thought skipping one Kdrama ‘season’ would be enough, and was ready for a new dramatic show – ready to be swept away by the atmospheric wintery landscape and stunningly gorgeous leads. Jo In Sung wasn’t someone I’d seen before, but Song Hye Kyo still gives me fond memories from her performance in the tragic makjang of 2000 Autumn in My Heart. On top of that, she’s so beautiful it almost makes my eyes hurt. (He is too, for that matter.) What’s not to love?

The Plot, oh – Lord the plot. In a reverse rich girl poor man situation, add a blind girl, and… not much else. And what do you get? Loan sharks and mobsters more dangerous than most, mistaken identity and enough fauxcest to get your feels all in a tangle (until you start feeling the ick factor). Jo In Sung as Oh Soo wheedles his way into tricking Song Hye Kyo’s Oh Young that he is actually her long lost brother. His aim? To cheat her out of money, of course. In a nicely done drama set-up though, Oh Soo isn’t just a bad guy with aims of making it rich. He’s desperate and his life is literally on the line if he doesn’t pay back a serious debt that an ex-girlfriend (that b****) managed to invent. 

Heads up - I'm going to make some weird decisions in the drama.
그래요? I'll count myself as warned. 

Seems legit, right? It’s actually a plotline that I bought for a while. However I think I was just mistaken by the beauty of the scenery and leads into thinking the writing would hold up to the end. What started out as a nice, romantic melodrama ended up annoying me to no end. I guess it’s just a case of the drama wanting to take itself so seriously, for too long. 16 episodes of does-she-know/doesn’t-she-know and I just want everything to be revealed and have them kiss for real! Get on with it already! – says me with a not so enthusiastic tone. 

Spoilers Ahead! 

Note: This isn’t really a great review. It’s just me showing some appreciation for the good stuff, and ranting about the rest. /End Note