Utopia Tourist Hotel in Busan

On the outside this place looks nice enough, but once you get in to your room you'll notice that the lobby and hallways are the only parts that have been updates since what seems like maybe the 80's. The rooms were quite dated, and a love motel seems to have more class than these (and about the same size too). It was a bit hard to find given the directions they provided. It's actually one street over from where the subway exit is.

The rooms claim to be air conditioned, but that's a lie. Aircon runs from 8pm to 11am, or so they say. We found that the aircon was usually turned on around 9pm and in one case was even turned off at 4am. Given how hot Busan is in the summer, we were up by 5 and out heading to the beach quite early. I can't speak to the hotel bar or any other services, as we were pretty desperate to get out of there every morning, and stayed out very late every night, though the bar looked quite empty and dead every time we walked by. The japanese restaurant called Sumo right across the street was be a better choice for something crawling distance.

The area surrounding the hotel is alright, but there are hardly any stand-out establishments there. It should keep you entertained for one night at least, maybe two. You're about a 45 minute walk from Gwang-ali beach, and out of walking distance from Haeundae beach, so be prepared to take everything you need for the day with you. Go to Gwang-ali, it's easily the best beach of the two, though Haeundae is worth checking out for an afternoon or so.