Hotel-themed K-dramas to check into, from the upcoming ‘Spooky in Love’ to ‘King the Land’

Park Eun-bin’s Cheon Yeo-ri in Spooky in Love isn’t the first K-drama CEO to run a hotel filled with restless ghosts and spirits. Back in 2019, IU gave an iconic turn as Jang Man-wol in the hugely popular supernatural romance Hotel Del Luna.

Elegant and sophisticated yet notoriously fickle and temperamental, Man-wol is an immortal cursed to run a mysterious hotel that caters exclusively to the dead. Her lonely existence is upended when Goo Chan-seong (Yeo Jin-goo), a highly skilled hotel manager, is forced to join the staff as Hotel Del Luna’s sole human employee. He not only proves himself indispensable but also holds the key to freeing Man-wol from the centuries-old curse that has kept her from moving on to the next life.

See more: From ‘Perfect Crown’ to ‘Princess Hours’: K-dramas featuring romance between royals and non-royals

From director Oh Choong-hwan and the Hong sisters—the acclaimed creative team behind Hotel Del Luna—comes Grand Galaxy Hotel, a brand-new supernatural hotel K-drama. Starring Lee Do-hyun (who had a small but memorable role in Hotel Del Luna), newcomer Shin Si-a, Lee Soo-hyuk and Lee Su-hyun, the drama—a spiritual successor to the 2019 IU-led fantasy series—exists in the same universe and is bound by the same mythology.

In the highly anticipated Netflix original, Lee Do-hyun plays Eun-ha, the mercurial hotel CEO who takes over after the previous one mysteriously disappears. Shin Si-a is Sang-soon, the human manager who has an easy rapport with their dead guests. Lee Soo-hyuk portrays Baek-gi, a grim reaper tasked with cleaning up wayward souls, and Lee Su-hyun is Seok-san, an enigmatic woman whose origins and motives are shrouded in secrecy.

Not all K-drama hotels cater to guests from the afterlife. In the Netflix hit King the Land, there’s not a single ghost in sight. Instead, the story revolves around the romance between a resourceful hotel employee with a winning smile and the King Hotel chaebol heir who despises practised smiles.

Despite his prejudices, the aloof and icy Gu Won, played by Lee Jun-ho, finds himself hopelessly falling for the charms of Cheon Sa-rang, played by Lim Yoona. As their feelings for each other grow deeper, they are forced to face a hostile corporate war and the unresolved childhood trauma that threatens to tear them apart.

Fans of the two leads, who have long been waiting to see the pair star in a romcom K-drama together, were not disappointed. Their sizzling onscreen chemistry—and steamy kissing scenes—made the romance believable and left audiences hungry for more.

Encounter brings together Song Hye-kyo and Park Bo-gum, two of the most globally recognisable Hallyu superstars. In the sweeping romantic K-drama set against the backdrop of the luxury hotel industry, Song Hye-kyo stars as Cha Soo-hyun, the CEO of Donghwa Hotel, whose life is upended when she encounters Park Bo-gum’s warmhearted Kim Jin-hyuk during a trip to Cuba.

Still dealing with the fallout from her highly publicised divorce, Soo-hyun’s budding romance with the much younger Jin-hyuk couldn’t have come at a worse time. Complications mount when he joins Donghwa Hotel's PR team. Yet despite pressure from her family, her former in-laws, the media and shareholders, Soo-hyun decides to follow her heart and—for the first time in her life—put her happiness above everything else.

See You in My 19th Life, the tvN reincarnation K-drama, stars Shin Hye-sun as Ban Ji-eum, a woman who is cursed to remember all of her past lives, and Ahn Bo-hyun as Moon Seo-ha, an executive director at his family’s hotel.

The two meet and form a deep bond during Ji-eum’s brief 18th life. Reborn in her 19th life with her memories intact, she decides to apply for a job at the hotel where Seo-ha works, keen on rekindling their connection. As they grow closer, their reunion forces them to confront unresolved trauma, long-buried secrets and the mysterious connection that has bound them together across multiple lifetimes.

Long Vacation, an upcoming Netflix original K-drama set in a seaside hotel, follows the supernatural love story between a powerful demon accustomed to getting his way and a resilient hotel attendant whose life rarely goes according to plan. It stars Choo Young-woo, best known for his award-winning turn in The Trauma Code: Heroes on Call, and Lee Se-young, who gave a memorably heartbreaking performance in The Red Sleeve.

Having lived for centuries without the slightest inkling of what love is, Demon 3375 has little interest in romance. But when he becomes a VVIP guest in an idyllic coastal hotel, he repeatedly crosses paths with Deul-pan, its most resourceful staff member. Before long, he finds himself struggling with emotions that he can neither understand nor ignore.

In the tvN and Netflix period K-drama Mr Sunshine, the Glory Hotel, a Western-style establishment run by Kudo Hina (Kim Min-jung), plays host to a diverse cast of characters—from Korean-American Marine Corps Captain Eugene Choi (Lee Byung-hun) and aristocratic Lady Go Ae-shin (Kim Tae-ri) to Goo Dong-mae (Yoo Yeon-seok), the local head of a Japanese sword guild, and Kim Hui-seong (Byun Yo-han), a Korean nobleman who grew up in Japan.

Set during the turbulent final years of the Joseon dynasty, as Korea finds itself caught between competing imperial powers, the drama follows this unlikely ensemble as they fight for their country's freedom. The Glory Hotel serves as the epicentre of the action and intrigue, where romance blossoms, alliances are forged and destinies collide.

From haunted hotels and luxury hospitality empires to seaside retreats and historic landmarks, these hotel-themed K-dramas showcase just how versatile a setting a hotel can be. Whether you're looking for romance, fantasy, comedy or period drama, these K-dramas set in hotels deserve a place on your watchlist.

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