Convenience – it’s close to places you want to visit
Comfort – how many stars has it earnt?
Consumables – toiletries, wi-fi access, TV, what else?
Contract – terms are fair, is booking refundable?
Congress – what’s the noise from nearby night life?
Coffee – drinkable or suspect?
Compromise – needs versus wants, what do I want?
Condition – do the rooms look decent, is there space?
Coordination – is it a nightmare of chintz or smooth corporate blandness?
Choosing – bookmark a wish list, how to decide?
Colour scheme – it shouldn’t be important,
but this hotel in Seoul has a room with a feature wall,
floral not the peony or national hibiscus,
but in Golden Lily, designed by John Henry Dearle,
a man under William Morris’s shadow who never
knowingly left England. What choice brought it here?
Emma Lee’s publications include “The Significance of a Dress” (Arachne, 2020) and "Ghosts in the Desert" (IDP, 2015). She co-edited “Over Land, Over Sea,” (Five Leaves, 2015), reviews for magazines and blogs at https://emmalee1.wordpress.com.