Where to Stay in Unseo: My Experience Staying Near Incheon Airport | South Korea

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After taking the KTX train back from Busan To Seoul before flying home from Incheon Airport the following morning, I debated between having a final night in Seoul, or staying closer to the airport. Incheon Airport is actually around 1 hour from Seoul, so rather than do that last journey on the morning of my flight, I decided just to stay in Unseo instead! Here’s why I’m happy with my decision!

Is Unseo a Good Place to Stay Near Incheon Airport?

Rather than staying at an expensive airport hotel, where you are then restricted to either the hotel itself, or the airport terminals, I thought Unseo would be a nice compromise of being close, but still feeling like I was ‘in Korea’ for my final night, instead of feeling like my journey home had already begun! I stayed at Incheon Airport Guesthouse L*!

Pros of Staying in Unseo

✅Convenient airport access

One of the biggest pros!

Getting from Seoul to Unseo

Unseo is on the All-Stop AREX line between Incheon Airport and Seoul. The Express services just whizzes through Unseo, but not only is the All-Stop train cheaper, but you can also charge it to the T-Money card. (This is what I used for my metro and local bus journeys in both Seoul and Busan). The journey time from Seoul to Unseo was approximately 50 minutes.

Getting to Incheon Airport From My Hotel

My flight out of Incheon was from Terminal 2, and the only stops between T2 and Unseo were Terminal 1 and the Cargo terminal. It took around 10 minutes. My accommodation was then another 10 minute walk to/from the AREX station.

Something you may need to consider is that the AREX isn’t a 24hr service. However, my accommodation did offer a private airport transfer for an additional fee.

✅More than just airport hotels

Compared to the hotels directly around the airport, I found that there was a larger select of accommodations for different budgets. Although my guesthouse WAS the most expensive hotel of my trip, it was still over half the price of the ones directly at the airport.

As Unseo is mainly a residential area, therefore there is more than just the hotels! Either side of the train line there are restaurants, cafes and plenty of convenience stores!

✅Hiking trails

A big bonus for me, were the hiking trails in Unseo! This is part of what made it feel like it was still part of my trip, rather than just spending the evening at the airport!

I really loved the World Peace Forest, very close to Unseo station. This was a well signposted 3.5km flat hiking trail that took me around 45 minutes in one direction.

It had free mosquito spray at either end of the trail, outdoor gym equipment, a bird hide, free leading libraries (although of course the books were in Korean!), benches, shoe cleaning ‘dusting machine’ and was quite popular on a Friday evening! You could also crossover one of the highways via a bridge to reach the waterfront (mudflats rather than beaches, so you do need to stick to the path).

There was a large map showing ways you could make the trail longer. With the loop back to the train station, Route 1 (the one I did) was a total of 5.6km. On the map below it is the purple trail on the left hand side near the pink trees. The AREX station is the green icon next to the purple trail, and my hotel was located approximately where the white text is under the station icon.

Opposite my hotel was Eungol Park. This area was more hilly and more like typical woodland tracks. I didn’t really have time to explore around here as it started to get dark, so I had to turn around before I lost day light!

Cons of Staying in Unseo

Not so much a con, but something to be aware of, is Unseo felt MUCH quieter and more residential than Seoul and Busan, and therefore wasn’t as tourist-oriented. Personally I loved the slower pace.

During the rest of my trip, English was widely spoken, restaurants and cafes had English translations on menus etc, but in Unseo I found a lot of places I walked past were only in Korean. Again, NOT a con, this is of course what I expected when visiting Korea, but you will need a translator app or data available.

I ate at Burger King near the train station. In all honesty I was craving a burger and once I saw it, that’s where I knew I would be heading as a reward after my hike! They did have the self-service kiosks which could be translated into English (as well as a different menu from what we have in the UK!).

❌It’s not an ideal base for sightseeing in central Seoul.

As mentioned, Unseo is around an hour from Seoul, and it’s still quite far from Incheon city too! It’s located on Yeongjong Island, the same island as the airport. It is quite a large island with some things to do but they are quite spread out.

For example, there is a rail bike attraction on one side the island (but there were no direct buses there), and Cimar swimming pool and spa complex is on the opposite side next to the airport!

I was VERY tempted to get on the AREX, then a separate metro branch, and go to Cimar for a few hours. But I had already visited Spa Land in Busan, which was cheaper, and for it to have been worth the money I would have needed to have left Busan earlier as that’s where I was travelling from.

❌You still need to travel to the airport rather than simply walk to your terminal.

My flight was around 12.30pm, even though I was staying ‘close’ I still gave myself the standard 3 hours before (I also knew I wanted to do one of the free cultural workshops after security and this took 40 minutes!). I left my hotel in Unseo at 9am to arrive at Incheon Airport T2 by 9.30am.

Where I Stayed in Unseo: Incheon Airport Guesthouse L

The AREX rail line splits Unseo in half. But while the train is running (until around midnight), the station has 2 exits so you can cross the rail line this way. Incheon Airport Guesthouse L* is on one side, but the majority of things I did that evening was on the other side.

I reserved my room through booking.com* and I was sent a message with the door code for the bell and detailed instructions of how to get from Unseo station to the hotel. (I just used Naver maps). If you are arriving outside of the check in time, you do have to let them know so you can self-check-in. There is also an elevator/lift.

Why I Chose This Hotel

• It was one of the most budget friendly options in the area.
• Only a 10 minute walk from Unseo Station.
• Proximity to restaurants and convenience stores.
• Free breakfast included in the room rate.
• Close to hiking trails so I had something to do for my final afternoon/evening.
• Outside rooftop terrace

My Room: Deluxe Single Room

I had a Deluxe Single Room and in all honesty, yes it was £10 more than the other accommodations I booked in South Korea, but it was definitely the nicest. They also had other room options, including family rooms.

It had the largest bed, which was very comfortable, and the biggest bathroom, which was NOT a wet room and very clean. The bathroom had dispensers with shampoo, conditioner and body wash, as well as a toothbrush and mini toothpaste.

There was a small table and chairs, plus a TV (although I never turned it on, so I can’t say what the channels were like) and a plug socket was right next to the bed. No problems with the WiFi either, it was fast enough to watch YouTube videos without any problems.

My room was on the upper floor, next to the communal kitchen area which you could use until 11pm. As far as I could see, there were 3 rooms on this floor. There was a little bit of noise from people talking in the evening, but it was very quiet once I wanted to go to sleep.

If it was a little warmer (and not dark by the time I had finished my hikes!), the rooftop area would have been a lovely place to hang out in the evenings!

Like several accommodations in South Korea, you are expected to remove your shoes on entry. Each room had a little shoe locker and you were provided with comfortable sliders to wear during your stay, along with a second pair you could use in the bathroom. (Not disposable ones that you could keep).

Free Breakfast

In the morning, a free breakfast was included in the room rate. It was very simple but enough to not go hungry: cereal, bread/toast, butter, jam, tea, coffee and milk. Guests are also asked to wash up anything you get dirty as it is a shared space.

Check booking.com for Incheon Airport Guesthouse L current rates & availability*

Unseo vs Staying at Incheon Airport: Which Is Better?

Stay in Unseo if…	Consider an airport hotel if…
You’re looking for more budget friendly accommodation options	You may be arriving or departing late at night or early morning
You want nearby restaurants and shops	You want to minimise transfers
You’d like to explore a little	You don’t plan to leave the airport area
You’re comfortable using the AREX or hotel transport	Terminal proximity is your main priority

Final Verdict: Would I Stay in Unseo Again?

Yes! Especially if my flight was departing at a time when I could simply just jump on the Arex.

When I arrived in South Korea, my flight landed at 9am, so I just went straight into Seoul. I had 4 nights in Seoul, then went down to Busan for 7. Rather than try and get an early KTX back before my homebound flight, it was either stay close to Seoul Station or make my way back closer to the airport, for an easier journey the following day.

Unseo is such a convenient place to stay before flying out of Incheon! I’m kind of sad that I didn’t have longer there! By the time I left Busan at 10.30am and then travelled from Seoul to Unseo, I arrived at my hotel just before 3pm, so only had a couple of hours to explore before the sun went down.

If I had longer, I would have liked to have gone to a cafe and checked out some more of the hiking trails (or at least done them at a slower pace!).

Alternatively if the weather wasn’t great, I probably would have gone to Cimar, but staying in Unseo would have at least given me budget friendly options for places to stay. (For example, with a quick look on booking.com for a random weekday night in December, the hotel where Cimar is located was £300 a night for a solo traveller!).

The next morning I woke up at 8am, had a quick breakfast and then went the airport stress free, without a mega early start. Perfect when I had a 14 hour flight with a couple hours on top to then get home. I would be more than happy to stay at Incheon Airport Guesthouse L* again too!