126Mansion

In the first stages of planning for the #sœursinseoul trip, our initial idea was to go on Airbnb to hunt around for a nice, comfortable accommodation. We had actually narrowed down to just a few choices when somehow, somewhen, we chanced upon 126Mansion and it was love at first sight. 

Travelling out on the days of our stay here were easy. Set somewhere in between the Gyeongbukgung and the Bukchon Hanok Maeul, in close proximity to the Blue House - South Korea's equivalent of the White House, it was not the nearest from the metro station yet still convenient enough for us to travel to multiple places all in one day. 126Mansion is so near to the Blue House that whenever we returned home we would pass by the policemen standing guard there who would, following procedures, question if we lived there. To assure you even further about the safety - there is a resident pup - Shiru the Shih Tzu, who I would say is a great dog, unless you approach to pet him while he's in his sanctuary that is his bed under the table.

126Mansion is a B&B, a cafe, a shop, a gallery and a hosting site for events all at the same time. On ground level is the shop and the cafe, on the second the rooms and on the third the rooftop. Run by a family of friendly ladies, the 2 sisters govern the overall managing of the B&B from bookings to queries, while mom prepares the traditional Korean breakfast every weekday morning and takes charge of the laundry. During our time there they were not hosting any events, but I learnt that they were preparing for guitar lessons the following week after.

The choice to stay here was one governed by the heart; it is pricier than other options we had in mind. There were some minor lags and gaps between the photo gallery offered online and what we saw for ourselves during our stay. The room was not as comfortable or bright as pictured and the rooftop - a place we thought could be a nice place to chill and have a beer or two, was mostly a site for doing the laundry. Even so, with so many of my favourite places surrounding it and with how serene the vicinity was, the neighbourhood 126M is set in is still one that I love dearly.