Hotelier (Korean Version)
I finally had a chance to finish watching Hotelier, a Korean drama about a bunch of hotel workers reacting to a merger. I reviewed the Japanese version of this drama here. Although I enjoyed the Japanese version a lot, the original Korean version was far superior.
The story remains the same: After the death of the Seoul Hotel's Chairman, feisty hotel manager Jin-Young (played by the appealling Song Yoon Ah) is sent to fetch back a former co-worker (and former lover as well) Tai-Jun (the manly Kim Seung Woo), to become the hotel's General Manager. Tai-Jun, who left the hotel after being accused of scandalous behavior with a female guest, is living the low life in Las Vegas and doesn't particularly want to come back. Jin-Young, however, convinces him. He brings along with him a teen-aged girl that he took in at the request of his pastor, Jenny (Kim Na Rae).
While in Las Vegas, Jin-Young comes across a Korean-American lawyer, Frank Shin (Bae Yong-Jun). Frank is immediately smitten by her.
Meanwhile, after the Chairman's death, Evil Chairman Kim Bok-man (Han Jin Hee) is determined to acquire the Seoul Hotel by any means, fair or foul. He hires Frank Shin and his law partner to do the deal. Frank agrees and heads to Korea.
Meanwhile, Chairman Kim's daughter, Yun-Hee (Song Hye Gyo) has met and fallen for the much older Tai-Jun, and finagles her way into a job at the hotel as a waitress. The hotel owner's son, Young-Jae (the very handsome Park Jung Chul), falls head-over-heels for Yun-Hee, which sucks for him because Tai-Jun is like an older brother to him.
Still with me? Good, because it get even more complex.
Tai-Jun is an excellent General Manager, and he soon uncovers Frank Shin's covert attempts to buy the hotel. The two men become rivals in business as well as in love. Meanwhile, Jin Young is torn between her loyalty to her work and her love for Frank.
Mix into this a lush setting, adoptions, lost siblings, backstabbing office politics and inoperable cancer, and you have yourself one heck of a riveting drama. Really, it was much better than it sounds!
The Korean version, at 20 episodes as opposed to 9 for the Japanese, had time for far more character development and outrageous sub-plots. The acting of the entire cast was superior, especially the three lead characters. The dialogue seemed witty from the subtitles (although unlike Japanese, I speak absolutely no Korean, so I can't get a good feel for that aspect of it). Although I must say that whoever subtitled these used far too much English slang for characters that wouldn't possibly speak that way--it felt a bit weird at times. The last episode was a two-hankie tear-jerker. Very highly recommended and available on Region 1 DVD.
