Hotel del Luna

Strong fantasy set-up and dynamic between leads with ultimately unsatisfying conclusion

I came into Hotel del Luna with several biases, but I enjoyed it for the most part (except for the ending, which I really found unsatisfying). Usually, the fantasy tag is an automatic skip when I'm looking for prospective dramas, since I think the extra layer of contrivance often sets up ridiculous plotting and a lot of fat a show could trim off. I didn't find this to be the case with Hotel del Luna, overall. I'm also not a fan of frequent flashbacks, which this has, but here it makes sense given the nature of the fantasy and the premise. The way they're interlaid into dreams makes sense and so the majority of the setup in the beginning and middle is pretty artful. More superficially, I think the costuming and set design was a definite aesthetic draw - it reminds me a lot of It's Okay to Not Be Okay in how it's used as a supplemental pleasure to the main drama. The music is also nice throughout. Overall, there's a lot of visual and auditory appeal in this.

(General spoiler) I really like IU, as most going into this probably do. She does a great job, as does the ML; they have strong on-screen chemistry and their characters' dynamic works well. I do wish their romance was more intimate, though; much of their relationship is threaded through teasing banter, on the one hand, and long-term promises and commitments on the other. As the conclusion was coming up, I felt like the reality of the romance (indicated by the former) faded for the sake of the fantasy-driven resolution (the latter). They flirt but their relationship is weirdly desexualized because IU's character is somehow a 1,300 year old prude when the chips are down and the ML shows even sarcastic interest. Usually, I think shows can verge too far towards fluffy/intimate, but here I felt like the weight of their choices actually called for the sex/marriage institutionalization more than so many lighthearted shows I've seen that pursue that direction. She kisses him like 3 episodes in - or so it seemed - but that's basically the extent of their romantic intimacy besides some nice chaste hugging. Instead, we get extremely heavy romantic statements of commitment at the expense of fluffiness. Though I typically don't find it necessary (or even desirable to include it), I think having sex and more moments of intimacy in this show could've better shaped the drama at the end and added more levity as well (I think of how that would've fit within the pseudo-gossip the hotel workers had between them). In short, I think the desire to be true to the show's fantasy premise overwhelmed the desire to have a satisfying romance (with all the attendant intimacy), which is ultimately why the ending didn't work for me at all.

(Spoiler) Halfway through, my rating probably would've been closer to an 8.5 or a 9, but the ending made me rethink the parts of the show that I enjoyed from the beginning and middle. My central question throughout the run was, "are they going to be able to stay together in the real world?" But as I got to the end, the creators clearly thought more in terms of "what's the right way for IU's character to atone and thus for us to wrap up the fantasy side of things?" As someone who watched primarily for the romance, the ending was very unfulfilling and frankly didn't make sense to me, especially the ML's actions and what he says to the FL about moving on. I think having reincarnation as a facet of this drama was a fundamental mistake, though one the creators relied a lot on for conflict in the middle and end. Rather, I think the drama of losing immortality and reintegrating into society while dealing with lingering grudges would've been more compelling narrative. I don't think fated relationships - something established in this show via reincarnation - have any real stakes or emotional fulfillment (because choice is circumscribed by destiny), so having the resolution based on some nebulous possibility of meeting again in a reincarnated future does nothing for me. Here, they overcome and change in substantial ways only to lose what's most meaningful to them. Ultimately, the fantasy side of this drama, which I didn't mind for most of the run, led to this kind of unfulfilling conclusion (and on a shameless cameo no less). Like the show's creators, in the end, the main characters are more concerned with an imagined future than with the material reality of living and cultivating romance out of tragic circumstances.

(Spoiler) Rather than romantic or cute, I found the ending to be a weird mix of cynicism and idealism emerging out of the religiously-inflected fantasy. IU's character never lived a real life, never got to be someone because her life was conditioned by the cruel machinations of fate and the stain of vengeance. Once she meets someone with whom she can live and be free, she has to say goodbye because a gaggle of mercurial Fate bitches basically say so. In such a case, it's not clear what the ML should do in his regular life afterward. He falls in love with a gorgeous millennium-old demigod who he makes eternal promises to, but after she moves on, he's supposed to just live basically a regular life? His whole existence at that point is conditioned by the knowledge that his deepest happiness is contingent upon dying and meeting someone he won't remember in a reality he can't fathom. That's not the leap of faith that makes a good romance, but a religious deferral and rejection of the joy of living. The structure of the show really made me think the ending was a punishment of the FL (and the ML by extension), rather than the struggle to move on from her grudge (as it's presented). So the problem, to me, wasn't that the ending is sad (which it is), but that the basis for the resolution - reincarnated future hope - is nonsense and unfulfilling.

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WOW I was SO pleasantly surprised by this quirky, emotional, heartfelt, and CUTE show!

After admiring the ultimate puppy-dog-of-the-Korean-Industry Yeo Jin Goo in Beyond Evil, I IMMEDIATELY started watching Hotel Del Luna because I was SO DAMN EXCITED to see him in a cute romantic show.

I just wanted to see him be cute and in love and act cutely with a girl and act like he was in love and smile and giggle and be sexy and hot and funny and HE WAS ALL THAT AND MUCH MORE IN THIS SHOW!
He was absolutely adorable and the PERFECT companion to the cute little firecracker that IU was throughout, they compliment each other SO perfectly, and one thing I kept noticing was the difference in their hand sizes! Yeo Jin Goo has giant hands, specially when compared to IU's tiny ones, and I absolutely ADORED every scene which showed them hugging/holding hands etc. etc.

The ghost stories of all the guests at their hotel kept me engaged and interested and emotional. The staff all had compelling back-stories, enough to fuel me to cheer for their happy ending as well.

And another special thing about this show is that I usually end up skipping elaborate backstories of any character, specially if it relates to the Joseon Era, but for this show I saw every second of their pasts, and not just IU's, but also the staff had an unique stories and were extremely interesting to watch!

The only two people I didn't care much for were the receptionist and his girlfriend, although the little sister of the receptionist was ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE.

The fantasy element in the show was beautiful and stunning, with an extremely memorable soundtrack to boot, beautiful songs and OST. Also all the cameos were such a pleasant surprise.

In short, this show was like a hidden treasure for me, and I extremely enjoyed every element of it.

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How to make a bad ending look good.

This drama made me cry like no other before. The last episode was a complete tearjerker.

Until the very end, until the last minutes, I was expecting it to not really end badly. Even before the beginning, I found out whether it was a bad ending or a good ending, but after the opening episodes, I really didn't believe that it could end as a bad ending story.

The cast and acting were perfect. The costumes and soundtrack were unforgettable. Some of the songs are still on my playlist.

The drama was almost perfect in every way, but I don't know if I'll go back and watch it again.

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A Drama you will never forget

I just watched a beautiful drama of monumental proportions. I was immersed from the first episode to the end. I’ve never watched a drama quite like this one. It was thought provoking, emotional and romantic. In total it’s about 22 hours long. I watched it in three days. It was that good.

The cast was fantastic. The story was built around IU’s character Jang Man Wol as the owner of Hotel Del Luna. She was gorgeous and portrayed her character to perfection. The ML, Yeo Jin Goo, was great as the hotel manager, Goo Chan Sung. Together they supported the main flow of the story and found love as the story progressed. It wasn’t a love story of unbridled passion but it was a heart wrenching, emotional romance across generations.

The drama brought in side stories of the other characters that gave purpose to the entire storyline. There was the present and the past in every story. The characters were well constructed and supported. The script and the directing were amazing in my opinion.

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Sanchez Deserved Better

It took me around 5 months to complete this show. That isnt to say that its bad. its just to say that i was busy and that i may have some alzheimers, so this review maybe inaccurate.

Goblin is a show where ghosts check in for therapy, and we check in for trauma. Ridiculous tsundere romance, a thousand-year-old angsty main lead, and random side plots that exist for no apparent reason other than to pad out the runtime and a swaggy grim reaper with a jawline like the jaw titan from aot.

Honestly, I came in expecting peak. Instead, there was alot of kdrama padding as usual. However it did make me think about alot of things like why are these dead people paying ghost money for five-star ghost room service? Does this hotel serve other nationalities or is it south korea only? can north koreans make it? How did Sanchez's girlfriend get tp summoner spell? The tiger made it, how come none of the other north koreans make it? Who’s managing the ghost economy? Is this going to impact inflation in south korea?

Our female lead is John Man Wol, not to be confused with The moon embracing the sun's sha-man wol. For a good ten episodes, she treats everyone around her like dirt. Whether they’re alive, dead or in transit. She eventually pivots to being a bit nicer, but she’ll still scam your ghost grandma for a lambo. Her character is abit over the top but ig thats kdrama. like yea. thousand year old angst tends to do that to someone. probably. idk ive never seen anyone live that long.

The male lead, Gucchi Sung, is pretty chill. He’s a polite, smart, hard working but did get trapped by the crusty old scam queen despite her literally treating him like a hotel bellboy with no union benefits and threatening to kill him on multiple occasions. He does have a strong character and actually stands up to the fl and sees past her facade of being a bitch. he is also sassy and funny. good fellow. The romance was ok. honestly good that they died. they def need a soft reset on the relationship

Side characters were goated. well cooked. Sanchez deserved better. Man comes in with pizza for everyone. Nice as hell. went through heaps of shit and landed a very nice girlfriend. Only to have that nice life snatched away from him. It just aint fair. Bro was the biggest tragedy in this show. Shits just fucked up with ghosts and angst, and all he wanted was a nice girl and a peaceful life. and he actually processes everything pretty nicely. like damn. he chill as fuck. The ghosts themselves were pretty nice. Dead people with regrets? Classic. Dead people who need to accept change to move on? omg. Some of them def had some over the top obsessoins, like, bitch, you died in the Joseon Dynasty. why are you still out here beefing with your ex's descendants? Surprised the hotel wasnt just full of people like that.

the way they deal with characters regrets and wants was actually really interesting. often times they wanted things their way, like how things were before they died or before something terrible happened before they died (their regrets)/ but to move on properly they needed to forget about that and accept something new. something related to their regret to like replace or help them cope with that feeling. And then they accept it and can finally accept their death. which i find is a pretty nice and relatable message that many shows dont really tackle that well.

Ending was fucking pretty peak. It’s the ending Violet Evergarden deserved. Sad, emotional, and satisfying. K-dramas never do that shit. Sure, it took a couple episodes of padding to get there, but it was just making space for it to hit different. especially how they used the ost. . "Can You See My Heart?" Yes, I can, and it’s weeping in moderation. enough to feel the peak. but not enough to get destroyed like more than blue or how to make millions before grandma dies. IU also epic (i dont actually know her too well and i forgot the song name).
Visual effects def looked goofy at times, but props for trying to experiment like with the borders of the screen. The briar scenes were pretty nice. also a shame what happened to that character, and the other like 4 that got brutalised by that one random dude that exited the server when he got chat banned (self inflicted mute/stabbed in the neck).

This show was pretty entertaining. Could have been alot shorter but it is what it is. The good parts were great. It’s not the most peak K-drama I’ve seen but its pretty nice. especially how they actually tied up loose ends in the ending.

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i liked it very much but I wish I liked it more

hotel del Luna was on my watchlist for a while. finally I decided to give it a go reading the wonderful review and let me tell you, It was worth the watch.
even though I liked it some things still bothered me.

first of all... del luna hotel. I know Italian and some Spanish... del Luna is definitely the wrong preposition. but this is just nitpicking for the sake of being annoying 😅

the story is really compelling. a bunch of resentful soul run a hotel helping other souls with their departures and unfinished businesses on earth.

the characters are pretty much all likeable, even the grim reaper who made me laugh out of the blue with his expressions. I don't know why. I just love him.

the staff member were initially marginal but got more flashed out towards the end. the last episodes I cried like a fountain.
unfortunately during the series they don't get that much depth. only the final episodes give us the real juice about them.

the main star is obviously IU. great performance and marvelous outfits even though I sometimes struggles identifying her angelic face with a 1300 old resentful soul. she looked too innocent.

the human manager was ok. I didn't dislike his character but I didn't love him. he was very Plain in my opinion.

i liked their initial relationship as manager and hotel owner/mentor but I didn't completely bite their love story. they didn't have THAT chemistry. they looked more like pals than lovers.
I think the love story, which we get literally crumbs of, was completely unnecessary to the plot and that's coming from someone who watches mainly romance.

the other characters were just there. especially the best friend Sanchez. we know nothing about him and then bam... he gets strucked by tragedy. i don't know.. they could hace done way more with him or others.

the manager mother story was also kinda meh. why bring her up anyway?

speaking on the drama itself I must say that the music choice was great.
the aesthetic was pleasant.
the only thing that annoyed me a bit were the long ass transitions. too many effects, camera changes etc.. a hug would last 1 minute. I skipped a lot.

end....
I was emotional but not gut wrenching as goblin. I compare the two because they have a similar Story/vibe
they both leave you with a somewhat open ending but goblin was just better.

this drama leaves you also with many questions.

why does the hotel need to disappears? do they have to build everything from ground? who will be the next owner?

if a resentful soul stays too long on earth the entire staff of the hotel should have become an evil spirit...
etc etc.
it is a good drama don't get me wrong but I wishing we got a bit more.

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30% Great, 70% Boring

Plot: Unresolved pasts of old ‘ghosts’ plus a human hotel manager with some sprinkles of other ghosts stories. The premise is quite interesting and cool but the execution was poor because of too much flashback, too much slow motion and too much focus on visuals.

Acting: Decent acting from main leads and some side characters.

Music: I did like some of the music, mostly by female but not sure if IU sang them.

Rewatch Value: Quite disappointed with how it turned out after episode 4 so no, i won’t be rewatching it.

Overall: 6 for concept, visuals and efforts of the actors. I think the director/producer focused on how visually appealing the drama is rather than the flow of the story. It was all over the place. The amount of flashbacks they keep on showing every episode made me lose interest. It took me more than a month to finish this even though I was fast forwarding a lot. I was not emotionally invested and most of the time bored with their scenes, I just wanted to know about the past and how it will end. Today, I decided to finish the 16th episode which took me less than 30 mins to finish because it was predictable and rushed. I’m quite sad because this has so much potential and I expected a lot on the first few episodes however it felt flat most of the time. What a waste of a good concept.

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Fantasy story with love and resolving grudges

Grim reapers, deities, ghosts - nicely woven together with romance and perfectly timed reveals. The music played a bit part in setting the correct mood and I found myself tearing up at many moments when words were not even spoken.

The drama was extremely well written with many interesting little stories being introduced and solved all the while having flashbacks of the FL’s past life which made me feel so sad for her. Watching her fall in love with the ML was heart wrenching since it was already revealed early on that she would be leaving him in the end.

I loved the FL’s character, gorgeous outfits and stunning manicured nails! She had wonderful chemistry with the ML and their bickering was cute and natural. Although she puts forth a cool and strict front with her staff, she cares for them immensely as is revealed in the way she protects them and the way she is engulfed in sadness when they leave her.

The deity concept here (Mago) was interesting and it was fun to see them all look like identical sisters but with different personalities, hairstyles and dressing to suit their different responsibilities - the strict one dressed in black, the beggar-looking one in charge of poverty, the perky one dressed like Queen E and so on.

The ending was done nicely in several stages. It was good that the drama didn’t just end when the FL’s grudge was resolved (as most dramas usually do) and it went on to do very nice closures for each of her staff before coming back to end on the FL and ML. Not the happy ending I would have liked but one that fits this storyline.

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Grudges, Ghost, Friendships, Family, Laughs, Sadness, Past and Present

I like to watch things that have ghosts or mystical story's for Halloween and I am happy that I watched this drama! It didn't disappoint, it had everything that I love in a drama. It had friendships, relationship, family, comedy, sadness. One minutes I could be sad and the next smiling and laughing at what was being said or done. Yes it has ghosts and one or two may of been a little scary but for the most part when you meet the ghost you found out more about them and their background which didn't make them as scary. The story revolved around things that happened and in the past, grudges and working through your grudges to forgiveness or moving on, with your life. It even had romance in it which was sweet, and the ending had me sad but that is what the story was about moving on to the afterlife, once you are ready!

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A 1300 Year Old Cycle.

My review comes three years late after finally getting a chance to rewatch it.
I had followed the drama while it was airing and remember losing interest half way, watching the final episode and skipping through the scenes around Episode 11 - 14. It was this rewatch that finally made me understand why I found certain parts less than interesting.

A young prodigious man is tricked into the service of a supernatural being, Jang Man Weol, after his father was conned into making a deal with her 20 years ago.

Then, we get to see an exclusively detailed view of how Gu Chang Sung's entire life gets turned upside down as a result. I admit, he was an unsuspecting and unconventional male lead --- half of the drama, he is stuck in a state of constant dilemma, attempting to make decisions and also learn about his mysterious master, Jang Man Weol, the owner of Hotel del Luna where he is forced to work.
Jang Man Weol had a lot of "pecadillos" rather than being a genuinely evil being. But, I consider her very first decision of tricking Chang Sung's dad into selling his son to her the most cruel one. Burdened with the punishment of running the Hotel for 1300 years, she awaits to serve vengeance to the ones who had forced her through this dark path. It is now upto Chang Sung to see that she crosses the afterlife safely and remove her resentment.

I loved the three ghosts who served the hotel -- Miss Choi, Mr. Kim and Hong Joon. They were humourous. I also adored the rapport between Chang Sung, Sanchez and Mi Ra. I sometimes wished that the story focussed more on the humans than the ghosts. The ghosts whose tales were prominently followed were all emotionally depressing. I did not find them boring, as each one had a pivotal role in changing Man Weol's view on life.

The major events in the story are pre-planned by the 'deities'. And everyone of them managed to get on my nerves except for Police woman Ma Go and Medicine Ma Go. The way they dealt with the lives of living beings like cards was difficult to watch.

Last, but not the least... I could feel why Jang Man Weol sought revenge for centuries. This was also the weakest point in the drama for me. The backstory of a very important character was almost laughable. It was a moment that I waited for as I wished that it would make me find him redeemable, but in the end, he sounded like a coward.
I suddenly understand why Chang Sung was the male lead instead of him. He might not have anything heroic happening around him, but he definitely had enough intellect and loyalty in him.

I wonder how hard it was for IU to act as Jang Man Weol. She had around more than three outfits per episode and I can't imagine how exhausting it was for her and the stylists of this show. (I loved JMW's style though!)

The soundtrack of this drama is absolutely unforgettable. I can remember almost all the songs even after three years.

I do find the drama absolutely delightful and enjoyable. It's not a masterpiece, but the brilliant performances by the cast, beautifully shot scenes and a story that completes a satisfying circle is definitely worth giving a try.

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Hotel Del Luna - A Five Star Experience

I started watching this show as something to pass time whilst writing an essay but it quickly grabbed my attention and ensured it would never leave my memory. The concept of the story is very unique and it was really interesting seeing how the show addressed themes of guilt, forgiveness, redemption and death by making some of the main characters fallible to mistakes. The story progressed and though the first five or six episodes were certainly enjoyable, they were more about building chemistry between characters with those "ghost of the week" episodes and giving us snippets of Jang Man-Wol's past. But once we reached episode 8, everything after that was really just 10/10 episodes. I found the last scenes of the finale very difficult to watch to the point where I'll revisit the entire show but never rewatch that final episode.

It also became clear by the end that the show was telling us this very crucial message: death isn't the end but merely one stage of someone's life. Separation by death doesn't diminish the value of love and relationships, but makes living through those moments all the more special knowing that they are finite moments that can end at any point. This isn't an easy thing to make peace with for a lot of people, but Hotel Del Luna beautifully crafts the message that often the journey can be as beautiful as the destination. Things come to an end but can last forever if they're moments that are lived well.

What I really like about this show is that the overarching arc of the story doesn't reach its resolution until very well near the end, with an incredible amount of tension generated along the way, but it also gives what some might call the "calm after the storm". The pacing isn't quick but I feel it's better this way. Understanding Jang Man-Wol's history over a number of episodes rather than too quickly early on protects the intrigue around her. It is also reflective of how we come to understand new people in our lives as real human beings. Hotel Del Luna, in that sense, is truthful to the human experience of fraternity and relationships.

I also really think there's a particular episode near the end that deserves an article of its own. It was one of the best episodes I've watched in a Kdrama show. It also mattered, after so much deliberating and agonising, that Jang Man-Wol came to the decision that she did during that episode. It was important that the writers had gone with it how they did because it ascribed agency and emotional weight to the significance of her decision, rather than a situation where her choices were resolved for her by the truth being revealed to her. That would have made her angst redundant and wouldn't have been ultimately Jang Man-Wol making a choice but it being made for her. The writers were conveying quite clearly to us that this was both her decision and also their way of answering a question that would have been forming both within the heads of the characters and the audience itself from the show's beginning once Jang Man-Wol's backstory became increasingly revealed.

The stories of the support cast are also quite devastating in their own rights. Really, this is one of those kinds of shows.

The acting is extraordinary in reflecting the show's main themes, and I mean genuinely extraordinary. IU is stunning and steals the show in every scene of every episode. Her character is genuinely one of the most memorable characters I've ever watched in TV. Even if you find the show difficult to enjoy, it's difficult to not appreciate just how good she was. Yeo Jin-Goo was also really good as the lead male in the show, and his character had a really good compassionate aura that contrasted well with IU's character. His morally steadfast approach could appear boring once you realised there was no room for growth seeing as he already began as this perfect, loving guy, but it made him the perfect riposte for IU's character. Whenever the two shared a screen, the show never lacked for it. They enjoyed an incredible chemistry that will live long in the memory and made those final scenes all the more beautiful.

The music. Just wow. Find me a better OST from any show, I'll wait! They enriched the tone of just about every scene, complementing perfectly. There are particular highlights from Episodes 6, 9, 12 and 14 that stand out for helping deepen the beauty of some stirring and moving scenes. They were nearly as memorable as the characters of the show themselves.

Can I just reiterate again how marvellous IU was? She might have inspired a new generation in fashion.

All in all, this is one of the best k-dramas I've ever watched, with a finale that will remain glued to your brain for a very long time afterwards.

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ESSA COISA DA IU E FINAIS ABERTOS

Levei 3 anos para terminar esse drama (mais por preguiça mesmo e porque acabei priorizando outros). Ele não é ruim, pelo contrário amei a história, amei os visuais (principalmente os da IU), amei o enredo, a ost muito marcante, e o elenco tem um entrosamento muito fluido e maravilhoso. Essa coisa de a IU sempre pegar enredos super intensos de dramáticos é ótimo porque ela entrega muita atuação, mas os finais abertos é o que mais me incomoda. Eu anseio o dia em que ela fará um drama em que a protagonista tenha realmente um final fechado e isso fique explícito, porque pra mim eu fiquei com mais um sabor amargo de "porque eles não tiveram o tal final merecido". No mais, é uma produção dramática de fantasia que vale muito a pena. E aquele final, me deixou com vontade de conhecer a história do novo dono da "BLUE MOON" (mas que sabemos que não vai acontecer T_T).

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