Brief: Ski Resort trip driving from Goeje Island, traveling with our dog, stayed at Holiday Inn in Alpensia Ski Resort during Covid-19!

Pyeongchang is where the 2018 Winter Olympics are being held in South Korea…it’s a famous spot that we’ve been told to visit at least once while living in South Korea…

We thought we couldn’t make it due to Covid-19.  Good thing they can open for 30-50% of the capacity of the facility!

In fact, Skiing during Covid-19 is a good idea! (if they operate everything like normal), it’s not too crowded, no line for ski lift – the perfect time for a beginner like me!  

Only you do have to wear the mask at all times!

*It was snowing when we’re driving there

The only thing that we didn’t like at the ski resort during covid-19 was that the restaurants were not all open, just 50% open.

Normally, The ski season runs from November to early April (but it’s good to travel all year long – there’s also a Water park during summertime.

The one restaurant that is open only had about 30% of their menu available…and the food they had, it made us sick!
We were sick for the first night after we ate food at the restaurant in the resort.  

*Food that made us sick!!!  —> This restaurant is in building 201 Holiday Inn

For almost all of our trip during covid19, I had instant noodles and boiled eggs!

Thinking about ski resorts in Pyeongchang, where to go/stay?

Pyeongchang is about 2-3 hrs away from Seoul, and it’s about 5-6hrs away from Geoje Island where we live.

There are so many ski resorts in Pyeongchang but the top 3 are Alpensia, Yongpyong, and Phoenix.

*We can see the Ski Slopes from our balcony*

We picked to go to Alpensia because two of our friends went there the 2-3 weeks before and they recommended it.
At Alpensia there are two big hotels, Intercontinental and Holiday Inn (The same phone number for reservations and they speak English very well, Tel. 033 339 0000).

The resort is very convenient, there are some shops for Ski gear, clothes (but it’s a little pricy).  Also, they have convenient shops, Food Lounge, Lotteria, Domino’s Pizza, Korean Food, Japanese food, Coffee shop (Angel-in-us), etc. 

In the long walking distance (~1-2kms), you can find some restaurants nearby the resort (they looked very quiet for me, not sure they open during Covid-19) 

*Resort Parking Lot

But we were traveling with our small dog, the pet-package is only available at Holiday Inn which is closer to the Ski Slopes and all Ski Resort facilities!

We were charged about 191,751won per night for a Condo Standard room type (living room, kitchen area, one-bedroom, and one bathroom). It’s a good size for the room and it’s CLEAN!

In our room type, there is a tv only in a living room, NO TV in bedroom – but that’s ok.

The pet package included a pet bed and cushion, food & water bowls, and pet shampoo.

The funny part was, the guy was trying to set up the pet beds when we entered the room and it took him a few tries to get it right. And he took a lot of pictures of the room when we checked-in to assure any damage done by our dog would be charged accordingly.

And he told us to call the office 30mins before checking out so he could come to check everything in the room again before we leave – but we still have to stop to check out at the check-in office.

There are very small towels available in the room, kind of a one butt cheek towel –  Hahahaa…

But the 2nd day that the hotel housekeeper saw us and she recognized we are not Korean, she gave us bigger towels!  So the big towels are available in the room but you may have to request them.

*Left: the towels that available in room       Right: The Room service lady gave us the bigger towels*

If you book the room on other websites, you will have to call Reservations to bring a pet with you, they will charge more for the pet. So it’s better to book the room directly on the phone with them.

*we don’t have to pay any extra for bringing one dog for this room rate, but it’s about 35000won per additional dog (only 2 dogs allowed per room).

*Required only rabies vaccination certificate (by Korean Vet only). We showed them only a small vaccination book of our dog’s vaccination record (in Korea), and it works!

*If your dog got rabies vaccination outside of Korea, you have to visit an Animal Clinic in Korea to get a rabies certificate, it costs about 10,000won – 25,000won (~$10-$25).

We received 30% off for Ski lift pass and Equipment for ski resort guests during our stays…(1/18/21-1/21/21)

*We showed our room keycard to get 30% discount – this is the promotion during our stay!

I paid for a 2hrs ski lesson at 270,000won (no discount), this is NOT included ski lift/clothes/equipment.

*Ticket office is all in Korean Language information but most of the people speaks very well English.

*Cloth and Ski Equipment  for rental

*We are required to wear the mask at all times while skiing too!

This is my 2nd-time ski lesson in 2years apart, I felt like I started all over again. The slope for beginners is nice and it’s NOT crowded!

–> Read more about my first time skiing at Eden Ski Resort nearby Busan

My husband tried the high slopes, he said it’s nice and pretty challenging too.

For our 3nights trip, we did play skis 2 times (one time a day). There was no line for the ski lift, we could play as much as we wanted!

Like we all paid 120,000won for 4 hrs skiing (from our receipt), we did go round and round on the ski lift 11 times. We made it about 5,000-6,000won per time per person LOL!

But we were exhausted!!!

I wish I can try to ski at night – but once a day was quite enough for our ages 😀

There is a sled next to the bunny (beginner) slop, this is about 5000won per one ride (or 20,000won for one day pass).

I was trying to ask them, can I slide on a sled with my dog? They said NO! HAHAHA.

*My sled was stuck, the resort guy had to run to push me a couple of times to make me slide down. Then they offered me one more ride but I asked them to try a baby sled instead.

There is also the Cross-Country ski and Ski Jump Tower in the Alpensia Resort.

The best part of Alpensia Resort is, we feel more private but a bit smaller to compare with Yongpyong and Phoenix.

Yongpyong Ski Resort

This is about a 10-15mins drive from Alpensia. It’s huge! and it’s got a cool cable car that you can take to the top of Mt.Balwangsan SkyWalk for 360c view!

We went there for the cable car ride only (Read more). If we had more time, I would like to try to ski here. It looks very awesome.

I saw they took the cable car to the top of the mountain and ski all the way down!!!

Read More about Cable Car to SkyWalk at the peak of Mt. Balwangsan (발왕산 기 스카이워크)

Phoenix Ski Resort

This is about 25-30mins drive from Alpensia.
I was about to book the condo at Phoenix for the first time but I found some bad reviews talking about how dirty it was for the pet-friendly room type. So I give up and I’m glad I didn’t stay here with my dog!!!

The Phoenix Ski Slope looks as big as Yongpyong from my eyes. I heard they have a snow land but it’s closed during covid.

The area is filled with big condos around, more shops for ski equipment all the way we drive in-out the Ski Resort.

We stopped to have a burger at Santa Burger, they have a good burger (More likely an American burger).

The Santa Burger Set menu is 13,000won (~$12), and the Hot Wings is 9,000won (~$8).  They don’t have a big menu, it’s only one kind of burger available here but it’s fresh!

Cafe Santa Handmade Burger 강원 평창군 봉평면 태기로 431 싼타클로스 http://naver.me/xB4qABNd

If you don’t have to worry about the dog (like us), I don’t think any ski resort in Pyeongchang will disappoint you! They are all looking great!

For our ski trip in Pyeongchang, we were so happy to stay at Holiday Inn with our dog.

“Pet-friendly ski resort in Pyeongchang South Korea”