Hotelier is a 2001 drama, set in the Seoul Hotel, a five-star fictional hotel, subjected to extremely expensive expansion and renovation. The word "hotelier" means "a person who owns or manages a hotel." A new Japanese version was presented in 2007 by TV Asahi. (Synopsis by Wikipedia)President Choi, the hotelier of Seoul Hotel, died of a heart attack, hours after his old friend Kim Bok-man informed him that his company Hankang, was buying shares in Hotel Seoul in preparation for a handover. Choi is succeeded by his wife, Yoon Bong-sook, who had never taken a management position in the hotel before. His son, Choi Young-Jae is a dissolute youth who refuses to work and is all the time partying. To fend off competitors, Ms. Yoon sent to one of the employees of the hotel, Seo Jin-young, to the United States, to try to hire a former director of the Hotel, Han Tae Jun again, who was forced to resign after a scandal, despite his innocence. Tae Jun is taking care of Jenny, a Korean-American, drug-addicted girl. To assist him in the purchase of shares of Hotel Seoul by any means possible, Bok-man hires Frank Shin (aka Shin Dong-hyuk), a wealthy Korean-American lawyer, businessman and a specialist in mergers and acquisitions. Frank only agrees to take the job after meeting Jin-young in America and is fascinated by her. He travels to Seoul for the first time, since leaving the country as a kid. Frank and his loyal assistant in business, Leo, move to a villa in Seoul Hotel, in order to effectively carry out their business dealings secretly. Through the double dealings of Frank, Bok-man has problems. But Frank is falling in love with Jin-young, and she is at the crossroads of deciding between Frank and his old friend and colleague Tae-jun. Meanwhile, Young-Jae falls for Kim Yoo-hee, melancholy heiress and daughter of Bok-man, after meeting her in a nightclub. But Yoon-hee is attracted to the mature Tae Jun, whom she had met at a birthday party held at the hotel. Tae Jun is overwhelmed by his many responsibilities: defending the hotel from its competitors, protecting Yoon-hee from his abusive father, preventing Jin-young fall in love with suspicious Frank, and helping Young-Jae to straighten his ways. Frank soon discovers that Jenny, whom Tae-jun had rescued, is his biological sister. Together, they go to see their father, who calls them by their Korean names, Dong-hyuk and Dong-hee. His reconciliation with his family and love for Jin-young results in a change of heart for Frank, and he decides to switch sides and help Seoul Hotel. Tae-jun and Frank work together and succeed in re-establishing Seoul Hotel's reputation as a top hotel. Bong-sook is diagnosed with cancer and dies. Frank and Jin-young get engaged. Yoon-hee goes to Las Vegas to study business, and Tae-jun follows her abroad; in a scene after the ending credits, Tae-jun and Yoon-hee are shown reuniting on a highway road.


My review:

I watched Hotelier, after watching Winter Sonata, when I was looking for more dramas of who will be my eternal oppa, Bae Yong Joon.

This is the first acting work of Bae Yong Joon, after starting studies at the legendary and historical Sungkungkyan University. This is the "after" in his acting career. From this point, we see the evolution of Bae Yong Joon. We see him more on his character, his movements, gestures, and dialogues. Definitely, his emotional maturity and his acting maturity are evident here. He demonstrates everything he learned in his studies. Many have not realized that Frank Shin is not the protagonist of this drama, but Tae Jun. Nor, many have realized that, in this drama in particular, the story was written, episode after episode. For this reason, Frank Shin ends up "stealing" the leading role, masterfully. One of the "veiled" issues that manifest itself in this drama is "the dysfunctional family" and "racism." Frank regrets what his father done with him and his sister, and was painfully for both to reconcile. Money is also spoken of as a weapon to acquire power. But it gives us the lesson that, while it is true that money gives us power, that power can be used to do good deeds, like Frank's, who bought the Seoul Hotel, but was left out of Bok Man's revenge, leaving the hotel in the hands of Tae Jun, and without dismissing any of the employees, who felt like a family. And that love is above money. The music is beautiful, the stages are spectacular. I praise Bae Yong Joon's effort to try to express himself in English, with a strong Korean accent, which should not be interpreted as meaning that Bae cannot speak the language, but his character, who despite being raised in the United States, still retains his estate. Also the effort of speaking a little Spanish, trying to pronounce the Spanish surname "Rodríguez". My favorite scenes are the gift of the scarf, the 300 roses, the pool, the dance, the kiss in the basement of the hotel, the anger with which the bottle of wine breaks and the end of the drama. What was going to be a trip to earn millions of dollars, and never return, became the return home and find love. I give a BIG 10!