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We have visited seven or more minbaks, motels, hotels in Wando and surrounding area – and then we have seen this one:||||This place is awesome.||||It is awesome, because there are so many awesome things with it: The nice property, the villa-style, the location (at the hillside), the view, the style, and paintings. It is outstanding compared to other places in the Wando area. And it is close to a very nice beach, so if the weather is sunny, it is perfect. It has its price, but if you count also the included breakfast, it is kind of comparable to hotels in Seoul or Busan.||||It is actually on the island Shinji “in front of Wando” and it might take 15 minutes to reach from Wando port by car (there is a new bridge connection, do not search for a ferry, as the ferry service had been closed to this location recently. You may see other tourists asking from where the ferry departs. There is no ferry anymore, instead, there is public bus service right from the beach to Wando). ||||The pension is very close to Myeongsasimni Beach, a very nice beach. Koreans say one of the nicest in Korea. It is pretty good, as the water is very clear, sandy ground with almost no stones or anything you could accidentally step on, the sand is kind of clean and the beach is long inviting for a decent walk. There is some tide and that is actually fun to search for seashells. The beach has some services, so you will find at about five dressing stations with showers and rest rooms. These are not connected to any of the hotels or pensions. From 9ocean you can easily walk to the beach, I would not say in three minutes, but for sure less than ten.||||The property is very stylish and the design is well done in terms of colours and things. There are amenities such as pavilion for/with grill (with moskito-mesh sliding doors), rice cooker, a decent bath room and most impressive: beamer with screen (and subwoofer) right in front of the bed. ||||Except from two rooms, all “rooms” are actually in a villa-style, offering two levels connected by stairs. See the photos. The stair walls are made of glass and seem to be very robust (one of my first concerns when I have seen it). The houses have big window doors with moskito-mesh doors in addition on the ground level - from inside you can enjoy the nice warm breeze in summer evenings.||||All villas have a pool. While this is certainly nice to look at, we were not so much happy about it, because we feared that our kid could accidentally fall inside it (he cant swim). That is maybe the only downside for families with small children. ||||One of the other surprises was the impressive “brunch-style” breakfast, which makes lunch almost obsolete. Everything was tasty and made of decent quality. Staff was friendly and very helpful. When we arrived, a person was there who was not able to speak English, but he pulled his Galaxy and used Google translate … awesome Korea!||||In summary, if you walked into the Benikea in Wando and walked immediately out again, this is your place. Check trip reports about the Benikea in Wando that complain about the condition the hotel is in. We found the Piano motel then which is OK for a nearby “solution”, but when it comes to “vacation” you will end up with the 9ocean anyways. I am happy to write the obviously first review here on Tripadvisor.||||Some maybe useful info because the lonely planet is very short about it: We arrived with rental car, maybe perfect as the bus appears to go every hour (off season). If you drive beware of two speeding cams on the road – as in the rest of Korea they have them also in Wando area every few kms. And 60km/h can be easily passed on a country road. Cab is maybe affordable. There are some convenience stores around, but the best might be the NH super in Wando city or the supermarket opposite to it. There is one “Global ATM service” at some NH branch close to the larger school in Wando. However, this does not work. We and other frustrated tourists found eventually out that the Wando ATMs are not software updated and thus cannot work with global ATM card or credit cards. They say there are just too few international tourists in this area that justifies the software upgrade. Fun that these ATMs are still listed on the Maestro Website and have according stickers on it. We went for Heanam to get some cash after some days (Kookmin bank near the river) - which is a nice city to visit anyways.
