There are many hotels in the area that are similarly priced and just as well located. The difference this hotel has are as follows:

1. The hotel is a stone's throw away from Deoksugung - compound of traditional palace buildings.
2. Its basement leads to an underground shopping arcade that connects you directly to the underground train system and other shopping malls in the area. It also connects you directly to Myeongdong (about a ten minute walk) - an amazing cacaphony of street food, fashion shops and cosmetics stores.
3. The airport limousine bus drops/picks you directly at the hotel doorstep (albeit the sidedoor).
4. Hotel is a ten minute walk to Nandaemun (do check out the ginseng wholesale centre - it's located on the second floor of a dodgy looking building).
5. Some rooms have a chic, designer layout that is different from what you get at other hotels.
6. Rooms are automated: curtains, lights, thermostat, toilet can all be controlled via buttons.
7. Nespresso coffee machine in the room (you have to request for it - only 1 free capsule a day, although they give you three capsules a day. Only the first capsule is free.).
8. Faces the noisy, City Hall ice-skating rink. Could be a plus or a minus, depending.
9. Morning newspaper delivered to your door.

If night-time shopping and street food is your thing, then I would suggest staying at Myeongdong instead. Otherwise this hotel is a pretty nice option.

The hotel decor is cool and trendy. Rooms maybe smaller than other 5 star hotels in Seoul but it's by no means small. Overall very good service. Walking distance to Myeong-dong too.

i stayed at the Plaza last Sept 2011 together with my co-managers for pleasure, the rooms are small but it is enough for me, i love bed, linens..everything, i really got a nice sleep everynight, our room is overlooking the football field and everything inside the room is automatic (push button) even inside the comfort room. the staff are very courteous specially the concierge that always give a nod and smile, they are very helpful. the housekeeping staff also are very nice, one more thing that i love with them, is they didn't discriminate old people but they give opportunity for a job. the hotel also is the central of everything, you can even just walk to go for shopping and if you need to go somewhere else, the reception are very helpful to give directions with korean translation. i highly recommend this 5 star hotel!

We arrived very early in Seoul and upon arrival at the Plaza, were told check-in was at 2pm and that the current guests hadn't checked out yet as check out was at 12pm. The friendly concierge apologized seeing our tired faces, and suggested we have breakfast first and to check later as we wanted to get into the room as soon as possible. The hotel's bufft breakfast is very good- a wide variety of food and the omelettes are delicious! Staff all speak various degrees of English which was helpful. There is also a regular airport shuttle bus if needed.
The Premier suite we were in was modern in decor like the rest of the hotel. Two flatscreen tv's, a fluffy queen-sized bed, sofa, Nespresso coffee machine, Molton Brown or Hermes toilettries... Heated toilet seats (truly a blessing in winter), bathtub, rainshower.... Needless to say we were very comfortable.
The concierge staff were excellent and were always willing to provide directions-whether written on paper or on a map-to places we wanted to visit and helped out greatly in an unfortunate incident we had in a restaurant outside (Tosokchon near Gyeongbukgung palace, famous for its Samgyetang) where my shoes were stolen.
The location of the hotel is convienient with sights such as Gyeongbukgung palace and the Cheonggyecheon stream nearby, in addition to shops such as Lotte Department store (which can be reached by underground walkway), Shinsegae and Namdaemun market. It is also fairly close to one of the Nanta theatres.
We enjoyed the hotel so much we ended up cutting our ski trip short and returning to the Plaza which was definetely more comfortable with much better service. Every one of the staff from the bellboy to the receptionist was extremely helpful and there were no problems in communication. I would definetely stay there again on my next trip to Seoul.