What to do and see in Hanam, Gyeonggi-do: The Best Things to do

Reviewed By HopALongHari - Sacramento, United States

Starfield is a very welcome addition to the otherwise peaceful suburb of Hanam-si. (At last, peaceful by Seoul standards). Be careful if you take public transportation here, there is another, completely different neighborhood in Seoul called "Hannam dong" that is full of expats and foreigners. This area is called "hanam-SI" pronounced SHE to denote it's a separate city. If you've ever visited a mall in the Philippines, this is kinda up that alley but fancified. This isn't your typical US shopping center, not even your typical high-end outlet mall. There is literally something to do for everyone, including your canine friends. Once you enter the sparkling clean gates of Starfield Hanam, you can spend all day at the water park and attached Korean style bathhouse. You can also get your hair styled in the latest fashion, get an intricately designed gel manicure, learn to cook(the anchor store, Shinsegae, has a a full-working teaching kitchen with classes), take virtual flight and a ropes course (MonsterBox), watch the newest movies on fully reclining luxury RESERVED seats while drinking beer, check out the newest Tesla and Hyundai EVs or if diesel motors are your things there's Mini Cooper and Harley Davidson, ogle dogs (unfortunately, puppy-milled, but they're so dumb and small they're very cute at Molly's Pet Shop) and even buy a pet. The mall is especially geared towards kids and dogs which is very unusual in Korea. There's at least 2 different kids zones (1 in the general mall area and 1 at Shinsegae), an entire wing dedicated to kids shopping, and lots of places to get a snack. I also see kids riding motorized scooters a lot, perhaps you can ask the help desk to rent one? For food you will find Chinese, Japanese, and Korean high-end as well as casual eating. And lots of western style pub and fast food fare. There's even an On the Border serving Americanized Mexican food. Anyone who's lived in Asia a long time will tell you, it is VERY hard to get good tacos here, so that's someting. If you're visiting from America, especially the more cosmopolitan parts, about 70% of the stores will be familiar to you. If you're looking for something different, it might not be as interesting for you. However, if you're willing to REALLY explore, enter stores, nooks and crannies, people watch, and sip and snack, and take advantage of the adult entertainment areas (not tha kind of "adult", I mean the sports center, water park, and movie theater) you can definitely spend the entire day here. If shopping isn't really your thing, as other reviewers have noted, you should pass. Even if you don't like "malls" you have to admit, this place is BEAUTIFUL and ridiculously clean and pleasant for shoppers. There are large bathrooms and rest stations with ice cold water easily found on each floor and each wing. And yes, all the luxury brands are here in one place. I think it's a bigger concentration of names than even Rodeo Drive. Including a random Tom's coffee shop and a Mercedes coffee shop.