What to Buy in Seoul; Hotel Dawson

New Year, new scent. That’s the saying, isn’t it?

One of my recommendations when shopping in Korea is a fragrance. It’s hard to put my finger on what it is, but Korean fragrances just hit different. And it’s not just the fragrance. It’s the packaging, theming and concept that goes into the whole package. Shopping for a fragrance in Korea is a whole experience in its own right and Hotel Dawson is no exception.

Tucked away, down the trendy alleys of Sinsa-dong is a tiny shop on the second floor of a very unassuming building that’s easy to miss. You’d never know from the outside that the interior looks like the lounge of a swanky European 1920’s hotel. The vibes have a roaring twenties touch with its use of deep brown woods, stylistic art deco flair and just a hint of post-Edwardian thrown into the mix with the delicate hand-drawn labels and wall art.

The classic hotel branding is central to Hotel Dawson’s entire line of fragrances. You get musky, sweet cherry notes like you might find in a lobby to a heavy smoke-filled bourbon aroma from a whiskey bar. Or, you could settle down to something fresh and citrusy, like a well-made hotel bed. I was surprised by how easy it was follow and well the scents suited the theme. It was a nice departure from the regular floral and fruity scents I’m used to.

Hotel Dawson is most known for their diffusers, but they also have lip balms, hand creams, hand & body wash, fabric sprays and just last year they launched their perfumes. I caught a whiff of one that had notes of chocolate, vanilla and dried plums called “Roll the Dice”. It basically smells like dessert and I’m here for it.

Apparently, Hotel Dawson is Crush’s fragrance of choice. Enough so that his 3rd album release party was held at the store. The mirror has his signature as a nice reminder of the event. And if you’re looking to follow in his foosteps, his favorite fragrance is Jardin Midnight which has this really light, fresh, dewy quality to it with notes of pine, jasmine, sandalwood and vanilla. It’s actually a pretty romanic scent, not at all what I would’ve expected.

While the fragrances are very lovely, what I love most about this brand in particular is the careful attention to detail and presentation. From the tiny white bellhop collars on the diffusers, to the art-deco inspired perfume bottles and the gorgeous gold leaf embellished packaging. So you end up with a beautiful product from start to finish.

Honesty it makes for a beautiful gift, whether it’s for yourself or someone else. You can even get any purchase personalized with their free engraving service. My only issue is that the packaging is too pretty to throw away. I mean, I know I don’t NEED to keep these boxes, but they might actually look really nice on my bookshelf or maybe as repurposed storage?

Where is Hotel Dawson?

Hotel Dawson is located in the Sinsa district of Seoul. You might recognize it as the home of Garosugil and trendy shops like Polene, Tamburins, and Brooklyn the Burger Joint.

The easiest way to get there is to take the subway to Sinsa Station (line no. 3) and go through exit 8. Walk straight and take the second left. From there, you’ll walk one block, turn right and then immediately turn left and walk for another 10 minutes. Of course, we’d definitely recommend using the Naver Map or Google Maps links below to find your way there more easily.