4 days ago
Surak Hyu, Seoul's 1st urban forest retreat offers treehouse stays, digital detox
Surak Hyu invites urbanites to unplug, unwind and rediscover wonder among the trees – all without leaving the city
Nestled at the foot of Suraksan in northern Seoul, a new forest retreat is offering city dwellers a chance to reconnect with nature without leaving the city.
Surak Hyu, officially opened Thursday, is Korea's first urban-style forest recreation facility, combining serene woodland experiences with modern, minimalist accommodation.
Operated by the Nowon District Office, Surak Hyu is just 2 kilometers from Bureamsan Station on Seoul Subway Line No. 4. Despite its proximity to the city, the moment visitors cross the wooden bridge over a gentle stream into the facility, the scent of phytoncide from the trees welcomes them into another world.
The retreat consists of 25 rooms, including three elevated treehouse-style accommodations perched 14 meters above ground, each accommodating up to four guests. All rooms are named with poetic themes, such as After the Rain Comes Sunshine, A Day Like a Picnic and A Slice of Sunlight, and are decorated in natural wood and white tones.
Large glass windows on the walls, ceilings and balconies offer panoramic views of lush greenery, enhancing the feeling of being immersed in nature.
Guests check in at the visitor center, which faces a well-tended garden filled with hydrangeas, herbs and fairy-themed decor. '
It feels like a little village of forest fairies,' one visitor who was invited to a preview one-night stay event on July 9-10 noted, talking about the whimsical fairy houses hidden throughout the garden.
Visitors are encouraged to write down their worries and float them on the spring at the fairy houses — a small detail that adds to the magic of the place.
Rooms range from triple to seven-person occupancies, with weekday rates starting at 120,000 won ($85) and weekend rates starting at 150,000 won. The largest seven-person rooms go for 145,000 won on weekdays and 180,000 won on weekends. Treehouses cost 200,000 won on weekdays and 250,000 won on weekends. Check-in is at 3 p.m., and check-out is at 11 a.m.
One key element of Surak Hyu is its dedication to digital detox. There are no TVs in the rooms. Instead, guests can borrow books and vinyl records from a cozy cafe adjacent to the visitor center. The collection ranges from jazz and pop to K-pop, along with several books by Nobel literature laureate Han Kang.
There are also board games available at the cafe. Guests simply provide their room number to borrow items and return them upon check-out. With music, literature and the forest just outside, Surak Hyu encourages a slower, more mindful pace of living.
Meals are served at the retreat's sole dining facility, Seasons of Seoul by Hong Shinae, a nature-inspired restaurant specializing in traditional Korean vegetable wraps and wholesome meals. A standout dish is the Hong Shinae Signature Kimchi Stew, priced at 22,000 won.
'The food is clean and decent in flavor, but the price point is a bit high and there's only one restaurant, so it feels limiting,' a visitor in her 50s told the Korea Herald.
Evening meals are exclusively Korean, but the late-night snack menu, available from 8 p.m., includes fish and chips.
A campfire zone near the visitor center opens at sunset, offering an ambient spot for forest bathing under the stars. Even during summer, the retreat remains comfortably cool thanks to breezes flowing through the trees.
Several outdoor programs are currently in development, including stargazing with telescopes, forest interpretation walks and traditional Korean archery.
The facility also plans to launch a range of new experiences by the end of the year, including a barrier-free forest trail, a creekside picnic area and a children's forest playground.
Three additional treehouses designed for children's play are under construction, and the construction of a forest healing center equipped with wooden wellness baths and foot spas is scheduled to begin next year with completion expected in 2027.
Suamsa Temple, a 1,000-year-old Buddhist temple, lies just behind the retreat and offers a quiet space for contemplative walks.
Reservations for Surak Hyu are managed via On the 7th of each month, 50 percent of the following month's rooms are released exclusively for Nowon-gu residents, while the general public can access the remaining inventory starting on the 10th. When bookings opened in June for the retreat's inaugural month, all rooms, including weekday slots, were snapped up in under three minutes, signaling intense public interest.
'We paid attention to every little detail so that people would be amazed not only by the forest, but also by the facilities and activities,' said Oh Seung-rok, chief of the Nowon District Office. 'Surak Hyu's evolution will continue until it is recognized not just as Seoul's first, but as Korea's best forest retreat.'
He added, 'We hope guests will feel the truth of the phrase 'Everything comes from the forest' with their whole being and enjoy a day of complete harmony between nature and culture.'
