Location
Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae is located one street away from the famed Haeundae beach. The hotel is around 7 mins walk from Haeundae subway station and 4 mins from Gunam-ro and Haeundae Market, where there is no lack of food options. There are numerous convenient shops around Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae, with the nearest in the next building and another one just across the road of the hotel. Busan Sea Life Aquarium is 3 mins walk from the hotel. Being located in Haeundae district, Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae is rather far from Busan Train Station, which takes more than 1 hour by subway. The main lobby of Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae is located on the 20th floor of the hotel. There is a relay lobby by the main entrance to the hotel, however, this lobby is never manned throughout our three nights stay at Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae.
There is a cafe on the ground floor of Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae
The lobby on the ground floor of Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae
The relay lobby that was never manned on the first floor
Reception on the 20th floor
The Room
The Standard Room with 1 Queen bed is the smallest room in Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae with a total floor area of 20m². Despite staying in the room alone, the small room feels full after my friend opens her luggage.
Minibar
The minibar is located next to the door to the bathroom. The minibar fridge is placed in the bottom-most shelf in the open cabinet. Above the shelf where the fridge is where the in-room safe is placed, maximising the small space the Standard Room with 1 Queen bed. An electric kettle and complimentary coffee and tea are placed on the top of the shelf. There are two power outlets strategically installed by the top shelf for guests for boiling water as well as an alternative spot for guests to charge their lifestyle devices.
Minibar area in the Standard Room with 1 Queen Bed
Sleeping Area
As one walks into the room, space opens up to the sleeping area. The centrepiece of the sleeping area is the queen bed. The sleep quality on the bed is good, but the pillow is a tad too soft. Only two pillows are provided by Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae, however, one can always request for more pillows from the hotel concierge. Bedside tables are placed on either side of the queen bed, providing guests with space for them to charge their lifestyle devices. I thought the mounting of the bedside lamps on the headboard is a good move by the hotel as it frees up space on the bedside table for guests to put more things on. Above the bedside table are the powerpoint outlets with international plugs, meaning guests do not need to bring along an international adaptor.
View of the room from the entrance to the room
The Queen bed in the room
Facing the queen bed, mounted onto the wall, is a 42″ LCD TV allowing guests to watch TV whilst lying on the bed. The wall where the TV is mounted is painted with shelf graffitis, which makes the room feels cosier. A full-length mirror is found on the wall space next to the TV. By placing the mirror here makes the room looks larger than it is.
TV and a full-length mirror in the Standard Room with 1 Queen Bed
Tucked into one corner of the room is a small wardrobe. The wardrobe is so small that it is not possible to stow away clothing for two pax. The queen bed occupies a bulk of the room, leaving little space for one to walk around or even have their luggage opened up and placed onto the floor.
Wardrobe in the room
Sitting at the far end of the Standard Room with 1 Queen Bed, next to the wardrobe, is the work desk, placed by the only window in the room. The table is rather small but is sufficient for one to do some decent work on it. There is a table lamp and some powerpoint outlets fixed onto the wall by the work desk, allowing guests working on their laptops to charge.
Work desk by the window
Power outlet by the work desk
Bathroom
The bathroom in the Standard Room with 1 Queen Bed in Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae is small but functional. One can see the entire bathroom from its entrance. The sink is located right next to the entrance of the bathroom with little space for guests to stow their toiletries. Next to the sink is the toilet with bidet function. Towels are found on the rack above the toilet. The walk-in shower surrounded by glass panels is located diagonally across from the sink. The walk-in shower is equipped with both a regular and rain shower head. The bathroom amenities provided Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae is very basic and limited to the shower gel, shampoo, conditioner and toothbrushes. The hotel does not provide body lotion.
Bathroom in the Standard Room with 1 Queen Bed
Service
The service my friends and I received at Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae has more misses than hits. Before our arrival in Busan, I called up the hotel from overseas to enquire about a few things, one of the things that were brought up during my call to Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae was the possibility of an early check-in. I was assured by the staff whom I spoke to that our rooms will be ready by the time we arrive at the hotel at around 10.30am. However, we had a rude shock from the only female staff who was manning the reception on the 20th floor during our arrival at the hotel. She insisted that check-in was only possible at 3pm, the hotel’s official check-in timing. Despite telling her my previous conversation with one of her colleagues, she did not even bother to check and was adamant that we can only check-in at 3pm. At one point, she even told us to show email proof of the arrangement. I had to tell her a few times that the arrangement was done via phone call before she told me to show her proof of my call to the hotel. Without such proof, the staff refuse to check us into our rooms despite having an earlier arrangement. From the moment we met her during our arrival to our leaving the hotel to explore Busan, there was no smile on the said staff. She was pulling a long face throughout our conversation.
My friends and I returned later in the evening to check-in. As an Accor member, my friend is entitled to welcome drink. Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae was very miserable in handing our welcome drink. We had another rude shock to find out that the hotel only provides one welcome drink for the three of us. The reason given was that the welcome drink is only provided to Accor members. When we told the staff who handled our check-in that all three of us are Accor members, only that the rooms are booked under one of my friend’s name for the convenience of our arrangement for our trip to Korea. Only at this point, we were told by the staff that welcome drink is only given to the member whose name the rooms were booked under. My friend and I often stayed in Accor Hotels during our overseas trips, this is the first hotel we met that was so stingy in providing only one drink and expect us to share. The other hotels (including the hotel we stayed in Seoul during the same trip) give welcome drinks to the number of guests checking into the hotel. This gesture does not only show that Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae does not even bother about service, their action of giving only one welcome drink seem to suggest they only pay lip service (to the requirement of Accor Group) in providing a welcome drink. We end up leaving the hotel without even bother having the so-called welcome drink.
Having said that, there are staffs in the hotel who were understood what service is all about. The elderly staff at the carpark knows what is service. When we drove into the carpark, the staff not only guided us to a very good parking spot, with his limited knowledge of English, he gave us clear directions on what we should be doing with the parking ticket. On the next night, he assured us that we do not have to pay any more parking as he was told that we had made payment for two nights of parking. All these time, he interacted with us with an assuring and warm smile across his face.
Hotel Facilities
Gym
There is a small gym on level 20 of Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae equipped with a couple of treadmills, a step machine and a stationary bike. There are some free weights and weight machine as well in the gym. Despite its small size, guests are able to get some decent workout in the gym.
Sauna
The signage Sauna as stated in the hotel’s lift lobby as well as outside the changing room is confusing. Instead of a sauna, I found a jacuzzi pool inside the changing room. There are no saunas found in the hotel.
Overall
Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae is well located in a very convenient spot in Haeundae, with no lack of restaurants, shopping and 24-hour convenient shops around. However, the hotel is far from the Busan Train station. The Standard Room with 1 Queen Bed ais comfortable but a tad small for two pax. The service is what makes us avoid the hotel should we decide to return to Busan. The staffs at the reception behave more like divas and only paid lip service to guests. Providing only one welcome drink to the three of us checking into the hotel felt like the staffs at the reception are only interested in putting a tick in the box to Accor’s requirements according to their members. I would not recommend anyone to stay at Ibis Ambassador Busan Haeundae lest one wants to be treated badly at the hotel.