The Plaza Hotel, Seoul-首尔广场酒店，首尔

The guests at Seoul’s 400-room Plaza Hotel often get treated to the most dramatic views in Korea, and no, the drama has nothing to do with the skyline.
有400间房的首尔广场酒店的宾客时常获得最戏剧性的韩国景观，不，戏剧跟天际线无关。

It all started during the 2002 Korea/Japan World Cup, when almost 100,000 screaming Red Devils filled the piazza in front of Seoul’s City Hall to cheer on the national soccer team on its epic path to the quarterfinals. Since then, the City Hall location has been established as the gathering spot for crowds with a purpose.
这全都在2002日韩世界杯开始的，当时接近10万名韩国队粉丝布满了首尔市政厅前的广场并且为国家队在八强赛艰苦的路而喝采。自此之后，市政厅那个地点成为群众大型活动的聚集之地。

Whether the occasion is a national candlelight vigil, a presidential funeral procession, or an impromptu idol concert, Koreans turn out by the tens of thousands a couple of times a year.
无论那个大型活动是国民烛光晚会、总统葬礼游行，或是偶像即席演唱会，每年都有几次过万韩国人出席。

Often, they are decked out head-to-toe in clothes befitting each occasion, providing a spectacular sight for the hotel’s patrons who have a front-row bird’s eye view of the piazza -- The Plaza’s 22-story panoramic view of Seoul’s skyline isn’t exactly shabby either.
通常他们因应每个活动由头打扮到尾，同时为该酒店住客提供一个壮观的场面，住客可以有前排的机会鸟瞰那个广场——该酒店的22层首尔天际全景并不完全是差的。

The hotel itself is also quite a sight, re-opened last November after six months and a 75 billion (USD$69.825 million) makeover; it is one of the most expensive in Korea’s hotel history.
酒店自己也是一个胜地，它经过六个月及750 亿韩元 （$6,982.5 万美元）的装修，并于去年十一月重开，它是韩国史上其中一间最贵的酒店。

Italian-designer Guido Ciompi, who masterminded the reconstruction, pursued a boutique concept. The result is a fluid, chromatic exterior and interior design, which differs considerably from other five-star hotels in Seoul.
意藉设计师Guido Ciompi策划了重建并追求小商店的概念。结果是优美的、颜色鲜艳的室内外设计，让它从其它首尔五星酒店比起来颇为突出。

For a secret rendezvous, check out the basement level of The Lounge, tucked behind a floating wooden staircase, a Ciompi trademark.
秘密约会的话，试试地库的The Lounge，在其背后有一条漂浮的木制楼梯，是Ciompi的设计特色。

Insider tip: The Plaza is located where the Jicheonsa Temple used to be during the Chosun Dynasty, where the King would hold ancestral rituals during times of misfortune or when stars fell from the sky.
内幕消息：广场酒店位于从前朝鲜王朝时期Jicheonsa庙的地点，皇帝会在灾祸时或流星掠过时在那里举行祖传的仪式。