Hotelier

Hotelier featured Bae Yong Jun, Song Yun Ah and Kim Seong Woo.

Bae Yong Jun's role as a Merger and Acquisition Specialist fits him as the role called for a handsome, fit, rich, reserved and protective portrayal. Yong Jun's acting in this drama was not as good as his portrayal as Jung san in another Korean drama, "Winter Sonata", in 2002. There are certain times you can almost sense that in Hotelier, he was struggling to act! I understand from another site that the role of Shin Dong Hyuk, the M&A Specialist from USA, was the first role that he took up after giving the entertainment world a rest for 3 years to pursue his universitiy studies. It was reported that he took up personal training in the US to polish his English in order to play the role of Dong Hyuk. Unfortunately, his English still came out "HORRIBLE" in the drama. Most of the time, when he spoke English, it was inaudible and faint. Nevertheless, he is a good method actor and did justice to the role of Shin Dong Hyuk, whose persistence in the pursuit of Song Yun Ah's character "Seo Jin Hyung" did materialise into success in the end.

Song Yun Ah's portrayal of Seo Jin Hyung was VERY GOOD and her acting won her the best actress award for this particular drama. Seo Jin Hyung was a manager in Hotel Seoul, a hotel in financial trouble, and she was a very dedicated worker whose untiring work, sweet smiles and personality made every other staff happy to work in the hotel. Her kindness and gentleness really shone through and she had a really soft heart, albeit a tough exterior (sometimes a lot of us can testify to having as well).

Seo Jin Hyung was a very innocent and naive girl sometimes and this was seen in the way that she did not grasp that Shin Dong Hyuk sent her 300 roses because he wanted to pursue her. She in turn thought that the 300 roses were a way of thanking her for her tour guide services rendered to him the day before! Her innocence was also portrayed in the way she ate her food (the scenes in the noodle house and McDonald's were really memorable).

Kim Seong Woo is a polished actor. He is a real natural in front of the screen. His portrayal as Tae Jun, the Hotel Seoul's General Manager is a perfect fit for him and he acted as the ex-boyfriend of Seo Jin Hyung. It is obvious even from the beginning that he carried a torch for Jin Hyung, but he lacked courage to express his feeling and did not do much to show his affection. In the end, he lost his love to Shin Dong Hyuk. His character of Tae Jun was the opposite of Shin Dong Hyuk. Where Tae Jun was unable to profess his love to Jin Hyung, Dong Hyuk was very vocal and expressed his love to Jin Hyung repeatedly! Tae Jun left Korea for USA when his job was on the line after a scandal and had no intention of returning, but Dong Hyuk came back for Jin Hyung after being forced to leave Korea.

The other supporting characters were equally good and well portrayed, and the whole drama really showed the workings of a hotel and how the people behind the scenes work together through thick and thin to make the hotel what it is.

**3 DVDs.. (Hotelier)
**B.Malaysia subtitle..