Hotelier (2001)

I stumbled on Hotelier by chance, looking among the most famous dramas of 2001 and it was the best thing that could have happened to me.
The story is very well written above all. No free events that appear out of nowhere as it does happen in many of the latest dramas. It's a classic story (the good ones will never happen to be the bad ones or vice versa) but with very interesting dramatic twists and well constructed characters learning important lessons for the final.

It's assumed that the main characters are 4, but from the beginning it seems that the main couple is that of the hotel managers and their complicated love story; however, when Frank and Yun Hee appear the story gets complicated, and that's great XD
I have to confess that I fell totally in love with the "Yoon Ah-Yong-joon" couple , I never had seen them in any other drama and seeing them here made me their number one fan, they are one of the best couples I've ever seen. On the other hand, I must say that during the first three quarters of the drama I didn't like the character of Hye Kyo because she was very arrogant, but in the final episodes, her character was more sensitive and I ended up liking her.

About music, there are two songs that I found great and that's why I qualified music with 9: "For Love" and the lovely "The Day You Come to Me" by Kang Chul. Although the drama hasn't a very diverse soundtrack and usually repeated this last song for all the romantic scenes, the melody and lyrics are as beautiful to me that I don't think that devalues the drama in any way.

In short, I think this is definitely one of the best classic dramas out there and should not be missing on your watchlist, especially because you will be satisfied with the end... although it leaves something to the imagination XD. Highly recommended!!!

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I disagree with the other review. For me this drama is just one of the bests! The love story was certainly there. You can feel and smell it. The subtle and obvious ways of Frank to show his feelings to Seo Jin Young melted me down to my feet. He is just soooo romantic. The scene in the employee entrance' door where Frank closed the glass doors in their left and right sides so Seo Jin Young can focus to only him as he told her he loves her was.. oh my gosh! It was just so beautiful you would suddenly want to be a Hotel Manager and look for an M and A Hotel Guest Guy to fall in love with. This is a really good romantic drama. I promise!

I would have given this an overall 10 but because the music didn't get to me like the OST of the recent dramas did, I thought it needed improvement in that area.

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I wasn't planning on watching Hotelier just because it was so old and none of the mains were actors I was that interested in. However, Ive seen most of the best dramas out there and out of desperation I resorted to giving the first ep a try...

Story: Hotel politics and romances= nothing new but it had great pacing, which is key to keeping me engaged. Great ending!

Acting/Cast: So I'm going to start with Bae Yong Jun who plays Frank. Ive heard so many things about this actor and did find him attractive in his small bit in Dream High, but his acting in this was quite disappointing. He had no charisma, and I never managed to connect with his character, therefore rooting for the female lead to be with the other male lead. The rest of the three leads, who I am familiar with all were great as I expected them to be. I really liked all the supporting characters, they made the drama much more enjoyable.

Music: What you would expect from an oldie.

Rewatch: I had a good time watching this so I wouldnt ming rewatching again sometime in the near future.

Overall, Hotelier might be old but its one of the better dramas out there.

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Hotelier's story dances with the concept of being or becoming a hotelier. The drama spends a tremendous amount of time portraying the livelihood of individuals who work for this very prestigious hotel - telling their stories of what it means to them to be a hotelier. What makes this drama captivating is not so much the romance/love relationships, but rather the thrilling twist and turns of espionage between parties. Love/romance is really only the icing on the cake - complimenting the overall story line.



Overall this drama was enjoyable, but don't count on this one as being one of those touchy-feeling type of series. It feels more of a fast-pace action roman drama since it doesn't dwell too much on the love relationships between the main characters - in another words, don't expect to cry your eyes out .

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Hotelier is a 2001 drama, set in the Seoul Hotel, a five-star fictional hotel, subjected to extremely expensive expansion and renovation. The word "hotelier" means "a person who owns or manages a hotel." A new Japanese version was presented in 2007 by TV Asahi. (Synopsis by Wikipedia)President Choi, the hotelier of Seoul Hotel, died of a heart attack, hours after his old friend Kim Bok-man informed him that his company Hankang, was buying shares in Hotel Seoul in preparation for a handover. Choi is succeeded by his wife, Yoon Bong-sook, who had never taken a management position in the hotel before. His son, Choi Young-Jae is a dissolute youth who refuses to work and is all the time partying. To fend off competitors, Ms. Yoon sent to one of the employees of the hotel, Seo Jin-young, to the United States, to try to hire a former director of the Hotel, Han Tae Jun again, who was forced to resign after a scandal, despite his innocence. Tae Jun is taking care of Jenny, a Korean-American, drug-addicted girl. To assist him in the purchase of shares of Hotel Seoul by any means possible, Bok-man hires Frank Shin (aka Shin Dong-hyuk), a wealthy Korean-American lawyer, businessman and a specialist in mergers and acquisitions. Frank only agrees to take the job after meeting Jin-young in America and is fascinated by her. He travels to Seoul for the first time, since leaving the country as a kid. Frank and his loyal assistant in business, Leo, move to a villa in Seoul Hotel, in order to effectively carry out their business dealings secretly. Through the double dealings of Frank, Bok-man has problems. But Frank is falling in love with Jin-young, and she is at the crossroads of deciding between Frank and his old friend and colleague Tae-jun. Meanwhile, Young-Jae falls for Kim Yoo-hee, melancholy heiress and daughter of Bok-man, after meeting her in a nightclub. But Yoon-hee is attracted to the mature Tae Jun, whom she had met at a birthday party held at the hotel. Tae Jun is overwhelmed by his many responsibilities: defending the hotel from its competitors, protecting Yoon-hee from his abusive father, preventing Jin-young fall in love with suspicious Frank, and helping Young-Jae to straighten his ways. Frank soon discovers that Jenny, whom Tae-jun had rescued, is his biological sister. Together, they go to see their father, who calls them by their Korean names, Dong-hyuk and Dong-hee. His reconciliation with his family and love for Jin-young results in a change of heart for Frank, and he decides to switch sides and help Seoul Hotel. Tae-jun and Frank work together and succeed in re-establishing Seoul Hotel's reputation as a top hotel. Bong-sook is diagnosed with cancer and dies. Frank and Jin-young get engaged. Yoon-hee goes to Las Vegas to study business, and Tae-jun follows her abroad; in a scene after the ending credits, Tae-jun and Yoon-hee are shown reuniting on a highway road.


My review:

I watched Hotelier, after watching Winter Sonata, when I was looking for more dramas of who will be my eternal oppa, Bae Yong Joon.

This is the first acting work of Bae Yong Joon, after starting studies at the legendary and historical Sungkungkyan University. This is the "after" in his acting career. From this point, we see the evolution of Bae Yong Joon. We see him more on his character, his movements, gestures, and dialogues. Definitely, his emotional maturity and his acting maturity are evident here. He demonstrates everything he learned in his studies. Many have not realized that Frank Shin is not the protagonist of this drama, but Tae Jun. Nor, many have realized that, in this drama in particular, the story was written, episode after episode. For this reason, Frank Shin ends up "stealing" the leading role, masterfully. One of the "veiled" issues that manifest itself in this drama is "the dysfunctional family" and "racism." Frank regrets what his father done with him and his sister, and was painfully for both to reconcile. Money is also spoken of as a weapon to acquire power. But it gives us the lesson that, while it is true that money gives us power, that power can be used to do good deeds, like Frank's, who bought the Seoul Hotel, but was left out of Bok Man's revenge, leaving the hotel in the hands of Tae Jun, and without dismissing any of the employees, who felt like a family. And that love is above money. The music is beautiful, the stages are spectacular. I praise Bae Yong Joon's effort to try to express himself in English, with a strong Korean accent, which should not be interpreted as meaning that Bae cannot speak the language, but his character, who despite being raised in the United States, still retains his estate. Also the effort of speaking a little Spanish, trying to pronounce the Spanish surname "Rodríguez". My favorite scenes are the gift of the scarf, the 300 roses, the pool, the dance, the kiss in the basement of the hotel, the anger with which the bottle of wine breaks and the end of the drama. What was going to be a trip to earn millions of dollars, and never return, became the return home and find love. I give a BIG 10!

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Wonderful classic drama of all time! This is one of the best love stories on Kdramas I have ever watched.
Destiny brought Frank Shin and Jin Young in the middle of the desert on their way from Las Vegas to Los Angeles.
Frank is a Harvard graduate, a wealthy Korean-American lawyer and businessman. He specializes in the merger and acquisition process, he came to Seoul to assist a tricky businessman Kim Bok-man to acquire Seoul Hotel. But Frank's real interest coming to Seoul is purely to chase Jin Young whom he met in the United States and instantly falling for her freshness and assertiveness.
Jin Young is a manager at Seoul Hotel, she is a loyal and hard worker at work.

The character of Frank Shin is smart, calm in work and passionate in love. He pursues his love-Jin Young by flying around half the world from the United States to Korea. I never forgets his statement "I didn't fly half the globe for a hotel". Gosh such a deeply and romantic words.

Bae Yong-Joon’s charismatic took my breath away in this drama, compared to his performance in Winter Sonata, his role in Hotelier affected me the most.
I give two thumbs up to female lead Song Yoon Ah in this drama, her performance is so good portraying Jin Young's character who is very open minded, energetic, hardworking, and a loyal Manager to Seoul Hotel and her colleagues.

The flow of the story goes so well, naturally and dynamically.
The cunning of the business and hospitality world is displayed professionally.
The ost The Day You Come To Me is so lovely.
The upside down Frank and Jin Young's love story is very memorable and the ending is very pleasant.

I rewatched this drama countless time and never get tired watching over and over again. Like a bottle of wine, the older the wine the better. Excellent drama of all time!

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Amor e Ambição nos Bastidores de um Hotel Luxuoso

"Hotelier", transmitido pela MBC, é um dorama ambientado no mundo sofisticado da hotelaria de luxo. A trama segue a vida de gerentes, funcionários e hóspedes de um grande hotel, enquanto enfrentam dilemas profissionais e pessoais. Com um enredo que equilibra romance, drama e a competição acirrada no mundo dos negócios, "Hotelier" é um retrato fascinante dos bastidores de um hotel de elite.

O romance é central na trama, mas o dorama também foca nas complexas relações profissionais e nas tensões entre ambição e moralidade. O ambiente luxuoso do hotel adiciona um toque de glamour à série, enquanto os personagens enfrentam desafios tanto no amor quanto na carreira. As atuações são sólidas e os relacionamentos entre os personagens são ricos e envolventes.

"Hotelier" é recomendado para quem gosta de histórias sobre o mundo corporativo, romance e a luta pelo sucesso em um ambiente de luxo.

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