''Hotel King'' () is a 2014 South Korean television series starring

Lee Dong-wook Lee Dong-wook (; born November 6, 1981 ) is a South Korean actor, host, model and entertainer. He is best known for his leading roles in the Korean drama, television dramas ''My Girl (2005 TV series), My Girl'' (2005), ''Scent of a Woman (TV ser ...

Lee Da-hae Lee Da-hae, or Lee Da-hey (born Byun Da-hye on April 19, 1984) is a Korean Australian actress. She is best known for her roles in Korean dramas such as ''Heaven's Fate'' (2004), '' My Girl'' (2005), ''Green Rose'' (2005), ''The Slave Hunters'' ( ...

Im Seulong Lim Seul-ong (Hangul: 임슬옹; born 11 May 1987), also known by the mononym Seulong, is a South Korean singer and actor. He debuted as a singer in 2008 as a member of the K-pop boyband 2AM. He made his acting debut in 2010 in the Korean dram ...

Wang Ji-hye Wang Ji-Hye (born December 29, 1985) is a South Korean actress best known for her roles in Protect the Boss, Friend, Our Legend, The President (South Korean TV series), The President and Personal Preference (TV series), Personal Taste. Filmogra ...

Lee Deok-hwa Lee Deok-hwa (born May 8, 1952) is a South Korean actor. Career Lee Deok-hwa studied theater and film at Dongguk University, and made his acting debut in 1972. He and his father, movie star Lee Ye-chun starred together in the 1975 horror film '' ...

and

Kim Hae-sook Kim Hae-sook (; born December 30, 1955) is a South Korean actress An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such ...

. It aired on MBC from April 5 to July 27, 2014 on Saturdays and Sundays at 21:45 for 32 episodes. Lee Dong-wook and Lee Da-hae previously starred together in '' My Girl'' (2005).

Synopsis

A love story between a heiress who tries to save her father's legacy, the one and only seven-star hotel in the nation, and a

hotel manager A hotel manager, hotelier, or lodging manager is a person who manages the operation of a hotel, motel, resort, or other lodging-related establishment. Management of a hotel operation includes, but is not limited to management of hotel staff, bu ...

who becomes his mentor's enemy in order to protect her.

Cast

Main characters

as Cha Jae-wan/Jayden/Baek Hyun-woo :The cool-headed, polished

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

of Hotel Ciel. Jae-wan hides a painful past; his unknown father had abandoned him and his mother to a life of poverty. Yet Jae-wan rises from his miserable beginnings to become the youngest ever general manager with such steely competence that he earns himself the nickname of "hotel monster." A succession battle ignites when Jae-wan is told that his biological father was Chairman Ah, the recently deceased owner of Hotel Ciel. *

as Ah Mo-ne/Bok-Soon :Mo-ne is an heiress, the only daughter of the chairman of Hotel Ciel, the only seven-star hotel in Korea. Upon her father's death, she becomes the hotel's primary successor. But Mo-ne is utterly unqualified to take over the business, having lived a pampered, sheltered life, coupled with her flighty, unpredictable personality which makes her cheerfully barge into the executive ranks with nary a care for propriety or tact. But once the hotel faces a crisis, she must rise to the occasion and struggle to protect it. *

as Song Chae-kyung :The owner of Hotel Ciel's Hamill restaurant, and Jae-wan's ex-girlfriend. She is the widow of the former chairman of the wealthy GR Group. Regretting her choice of marrying another man for money, Chae-kyung tries to win back Jae-wan's love. *

Lim Seul-ong Lim Seul-ong (Hangul: 임슬옹; born 11 May 1987), also known by the mononym Seulong, is a South Korean singer and actor. He debuted as a singer in 2008 as a member of the K-pop boyband 2AM. He made his acting debut in 2010 in the Korean dra ...

as Sunwoo Hyun :An optimistic, loud and hard working hotel concierge, Hyun is often at odds with Jae-wan. Hyun is assigned to help out Mo-ne when she first comes to Hotel Ciel, teaching her the ropes and bailing her out of scrapes. As he grows to care for her, he becomes even more determined to help Mo-ne save the hotel. It is later revealed that he is the son of the owner of a farm. *

as Lee Joong-goo :Vice chairman of Hotel Ciel. He tells Jae-wan that he is the biological son of Chairman Ah, owner of Hotel Ciel, and takes the young man under his wing, promising to turn Jae-wan into the best in the business and make him king. It is later revealed that he is, in fact, Jae-wan's biological father. *

as Baek Mi-nyeo :Training manager of Hotel Ciel. It is later revealed that her real name is Baek Mi-yeon, and that she was Ah Sung-won's former lover and Cha Jae-wan's biological mother. She schemes to destroy Hotel Ciel in order to avenge the death of her real son (Hyun-woo/Jae-wan). *

Jin Tae-hyun Jin Tae-hyun (born Kim Tae-hyun on February 15, 1981) is a South Korean actor. Personal life In December 2014, Jin announced his engagement to his ''Pure Pumpkin Flower ''Pure Pumpkin Flower'' () is South Korean television series starring Le ...

as Roman Lee/Lee Ju-han :A prospective investor of Hotel Ciel, who is later revealed to be Baek Mi-nyeo's son and a blood brother to Cha Jae-wan. He shares the same past as Cha Jae-wan and is a brother figure to him.

Supporting characters

Gong Hyun-joo Gong Hyun-joo (born January 7, 1984) is a South Korean actress. Personal life Gong married a non-celebrity 1 year older than her in March 2019. In January 2023, Gong's agency announced that she is pregnant with the couple's first child and ex ...

as Cha Soo-an :The highly educated hotel VIP supervisor, who looks up highly upon Cha Jae-wan. One of the four specialists brought in by General Manager Cha Jae-wan from his former workplace in Las Vegas to assist him in the hotel. Later, she helps Jae-wan and Mo-ne to retrieve the hotel again. * Alex Chu as Yoo Joon-sung :The Food & Kitchen Team Leader, who is friendly and flirtatious. One of the four specialists brought in by General Manager Cha Jae-wan from his former workplace in Las Vegas to assist him in the hotel. It is revealed later that Joon-sung has been secretly helping to Manager Baek Mi-nyeo, much to the dismay of his friends. *Kim Sun-hyuk as Hong Joon :The Guest Room Team Leader, who has a bad temper. One of the four specialists brought in by General Manager Cha Jae-wan from his former workplace in Las Vegas to assist him in the hotel. *

Go Yoon Go Yoon (born Kim Jong-min; September 12, 1988) is a South Korean actor. He is perhaps known for his roles in the television series ''Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created an ...

as Park Do-jin :The Concierge Team Leader, who often uses English to taunt the locally educated employees. One of the four specialists brought in by General Manager Cha Jae-wan from his former workplace in Las Vegas to assist him in the hotel. *

Park Chul-min Park Chul-min (born January 18, 1967) is a South Korean actor. Career Park Chul-min began acting in his high school drama club at Chosun University High School, and though he majored in Business Administration at Chung-Ang University, he spen ...

as Jang Ho-il :The Guest Room Manager who is narcissistic and often spreads rumours. He was under the assumption that So Moon-jung had a crush on him. *Jung Suk-yong as Go San :Fondly known as "Captain Go", he is a concierge at Hotel Ciel. In a relationship with So Moon-jung. *

Ji Il-joo Ji Il-joo (born November 7, 1985) is a South Korean actor. He is known for his role in the drama series ''Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-joo'' (2016–2017) and '' Hello, My Twenties!'' (2016) Directing In 2018, Ji is making his debut as a dire ...

as Jin Jung-hyun :A front-desk concierge at Hotel Ciel along with Yoon Da-jung, with whom he develops a romantic interest in. * Kim Ye-won as Yoon Da-jung :A front-desk concierge at Hotel Ciel who dreams of marrying a rich suitor. *

Yoo Se-hyung Yoo Se-hyung (born May 12, 1992) is a South Korean actor. He is best known for his main role in ''Tomorrow Boy ''Tomorrow Boy'' () is a 5-episode South Korean web drama starring N, Kang Min-ah, Yoo Se-hyung and Moon Ji-in. Produced by the Nati ...

as Eun Joon-jae *Kim Sung-young as So Moon-jung :A maid at Hotel Ciel who constantly creates rumours and gossips about people in the hotel. In a relationship with Go San. *Kim Kyu-sun as Ha So-yeon :A maid at Hotel Ciel. *Goo Bon-im as Madam Kim :A maid at Hotel Ciel. *

Cha Hak-yeon Cha Hak-yeon (, born June 30, 1990), better known by his stage name N (), is a South Korean singer, actor, presenter, and radio host, signed to 51k. He debuted as a member of the South Korean boy group VIXX in May 2012, he began his acting care ...

as Noah :A bright and lively hotel employee. *Lee Do-yeon as Lee Ip-sae *Lee Sang-mi as Yoon Ji-won :Lee Joong-goo's wife and Lee Da-bae's mother. She is a well-known philanthropist and poetry writer. *Seo Yi-an as Lee Da-bae :Lee Joong-goo's daughter and Cha Jae-wan's half sister. She is a jovial girl, who enjoys helping society. *Choi Sang-hoon as Ah Sung-won :The deceased Chairman of Hotel Ciel and Ah Mo-ne's father. *

Yoo Gun Jo Jeong-ik (born 21 January 1983), better known by his stage name Yoo Gun, is an American-born South Korean actor. Early life Jo Jeong-ik was born in Arizona, United States to Korean American parents. He came to South Korea in the 1990s as a ...

as John Howard * Cho Yoon-woo as Yoo Joo-min ( cameo, ep 17) *

Lee Joo-yeon Lee Joo-yeon (born March 19, 1987), formerly known mononymously as Jooyeon, is a South Korean actress and singer. She is best known for being a former member of the girl group After School. Since leaving After School, she has focused primaril ...

as Chae-won ( cameo, ep 31-32) :A proud and bossy top celebrity. *Kim Ha-rin as Baek Mi-yeon

Production

The first script reading took place in February 2014.

Original soundtrack

The official soundtrack album for ''Hotel King'' was released on July 25, 2014. It was the debut foray of the famous Korean online auction and shopping mall

Inter Park Interpark is a South Korean company launched as an online auction website and shopping mall. In 2014, it entered the Korean music industry as a record distributor. History 1996 - Established the first online shopping mall, Interpark, by Lee Ki Hy ...

to the music industry business.

Ratings

In the tables below, the blue numbers represent the lowest ratings and the red numbers represent the highest ratings.

Awards and nominations

International broadcast

The series became very popular in China and has recorded the second highest TV ratings among Korean dramas on

Baidu Baidu, Inc. ( ; , meaning "hundred times") is a Chinese multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products and artificial intelligence (AI), headquartered in Beijing's Haidian District. It is one of the la ...

during its run. It has also been the number one Korean drama on iQiyi, a Chinese video website, reaching more than 200 million views, and the 5th most popular drama in China during its run. It aired in Japan on cable channel KNTV from May 5 to September 15, 2014. It aired in Thailand on

Workpoint TV Workpoint TV is Thailand's television station, owned by Workpoint Entertainment, broadcasting on channel 23 of Thailand's digital television. History Workpoint Entertainment began to test their satellite TV broadcasting Channel for Workpoin ...

beginning July 23, 2014. It aired in Vietnam on VTV and on

HTV2 HTV2, officially Vie Channel - HTV2, is a general entertainment channel broadcast by Ho Chi Minh City Television, in cooperation with the private entertainment brand Vie Channel. History HTV2 was born and broadcast experimentally on October 10 ...

cable channel with a local title of Vua khách sạn from April 2, 2015. It aired in Taiwan on GTV starting May 6, 2015. It aired on Oh!K, a subscription pay cable and satellite television channel currently available in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei. It is airing on

NTDTV New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD Television) is a multilingual American television broadcaster, founded by adherents of the Falun Gong new religious movement and based in New York City. The station was founded in 2001 as a Chinese-language ...

KXLA 44.7 starting on March 25, 2016, 11:00 pm (''localtime'')

References

External links

''Hotel King'' official MBC website

at MBC Global Media * *{{IMDb title, 3737080, Hotel King 2014 South Korean television series debuts 2014 South Korean television series endings MBC TV television dramas Korean-language television shows Television series set in hotels South Korean melodrama television series South Korean romance television series