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401248
Wed, 03/23/2016 - 02:57
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Four Seasons Seoul stands tall on global stage after Go match

By Kim Eun-jung SEOUL, March 21 (Yonhap) -- It usually takes five years for a new hotel in Seoul to make its presence known among the sprawling metropolitan city's taxi drivers. But the brand-new Four Seasons Hotel Seoul has managed to cut the get-to-know period by more than a tenth thanks to an unexpected bonanza event. The 25-story, five-star hotel, which is owned by the luxury Canadian hotel brand and South Korea's Mirae Asset Financial Group, opened in the heart of Seoul, dotted with symbolic cultural, political and business places, in October last year and has since passed for one of the downtown area's high-rises among the public, let alone taxi drivers. That abruptly changed early this month after the hotel hosted a significant global event -- the historic five-game match between South Korea-born world Go grandmaster Lee Se-dol and Google DeepMind's AlphaGo on March 9-16. "You don't always get mentioned for hosting an international event, but media were picking up the fact at the very beginning that the event is taking place at Four Seasons Seoul, which has created a whole of wave," Lubosh Barta, general manager of Four Seasons Seoul, said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency. "This was totally unexpected for us. Of course, we appreciate the global coverage of this hotel." During the match period, the hotel received a five-star rating from the state-run Korea Tourism Organization, officially becoming one of seven top-rated hotels in the nation. Although the man-versus-machine match created international media frenzy, hotel officials neither knew their client was Google nor that it was about an ancient form of chess. At first, Internet behemoth Google used an alias when signing the contract and announced its showdown plan later. "We kind of knew that it was technology-related because of the requirements. We found out who the actually our client is when they (Google) announced the game a month prior," the native of Czech Republic said. As the high-profile match needed tight security and technical requirements, Barta said advanced technology and infrastructure and its convenient location may have led Google to pick his hotel for the event. Although Four Seasons was "a very big target" of cyber attacks and hacking during the period, the official said the game proceeded smoothly thanks to watertight preparations by Google technicians. "They (Google officials) double tested and triple tested with backups, everything you can imagine. So there was absolutely no room for error," he said. "Nevertheless, there was a lot of nervousness to make sure. Once it started, everything worked OK." After AlphaGo trumped Lee three games in a row, some even pessimistically said that turning off the self-learning software's power would be the only way for Lee to win a match. For those who were involved in security, it could have been a nightmare: "It is a joke, but for some, it was not a joke." Barta said he cheered for both players as one was his client and the other was a human being, recalling his lifted sentiment following Lee's first win at the fourth match. "When Lee Se-dol won, the excitement was great through the hotel," he said. Now the game is over, but the fever just didn't go away. The hotel has been receiving numerous requests from Go fans about which room Lee stayed during the tournament, but Barta wouldn't tell anyone to protect his client's privacy. "We hear that people like to come here and stay as they are fans of Go," the hotelier said. "I don't think you will ever know which room he precisely was in and all that." Another exciting moment may come as the Michelin Guide, an international benchmark of good food, is set to publish a guide of restaurants and hotels in Seoul later this year. Four Seasons hosted the media conference of Michelin on March 10, which brought Michelin officials and food journalists, but Barta said it doesn't necessarily point to a better chance of getting stars from the independent judges. Though it's not a goal, Barta didn't hide expectations for being mentioned in the little red book for hotels and restaurants. "We will let them (Michelin inspectors) judge what we do and let them tell if it's good or no," he said. "But of course, it's nice to have stars." As a fourth-generation hotelier who has served in several countries including the United Arab Emirates, Thailand and Australia, Barta likes to explore things wherever he goes to get a taste of exotic culture. Here, he goes around a traditional neighborhood inhabited by Seoulites and cozy coffee shops and watches the change of guard at the Gyeongbok Palace from his hotel: "To me, this is absolutely magical. And it's a strong statement for the culture." Although his home is known for great beer, Barta likes to hang out at local restaurants and small bars to have Korean barbecue that comes with local beer and soju, the most popular Korean liquor. That's what his guests also want when business is over at the end of day, he believes. "Even travelers at Four Seasons want to have local experiences, so we tell them to try little restaurants and bars where a lady is playing the guitar," he said. "Customers later say that's what travel is about. This hotel environment allows customers to explore what the culture is." ejkim@yna.co.kr (END)

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