Hotel del Luna (2019)

I love a good romance spiced with ghosts and mystery!

Hotel Del Luna is one of the first dramas in a long time that has been able to pull a strong emotional reaction out of me. I have seen a lot of good, emotionally impressive dramas before, but it's been a long time since I last saw a drama like that before watching Hotel Del Luna.

The story of Hotel Del Luna is very interesting, and I was very intrigued by it right from the start. I personally really like dramas that handle the topic of ghosts, for example "Master's Sun" and "Oh My Ghostess" are some of my favourite dramas of all time. The story overall was good and interesting, but in my opinion it was a little draggy/messy/confusing at some points, which is why I scored the story 8.5. There was a lot of mystery in this drama, and I would have hoped that the mysteries could have been solved a bit more evenly during the drama. Also, there were a lot of scenes, where they used like 7 different camera angles just to show Man Whol (IU) sitting on a chair or lying under a tree for like 3 minutes straight for example, and I found that a bit unnecessary lol.

The cast of HDL was amazing. The main leads did a really good job, and all the supporting actors were amazing as well. I especially want to give a "shoutout" to Block B's P.O. aka Pyo Jihoon, I was very pleasantly surprised by his acting and I absolutely loved his character. I actually loved all of the characters that were the main hotel staff, they were so great. The only thing about the casting that I found odd, was that why on Earth was one of the ghost actresses dubbed?? I have no clue.

The music in this drama was good, I mean nothing was mindblowingly good or extremely memorable, but I didn't think any of the songs were particularly bad either. Just some quite standard drama OST songs. "Another Day" by Punch & Monday Kiz, "Done for Me" by Punch, "Can You Hear My Heart" by Heize and "Only You" by Yang Da Il were probably my favourites.

I personally never rewatch dramas anymore, but I honestly feel like this one could be entertaining to watch again some day, but not right away though. Maybe if I get my spouse to watch some dramas with me, this could be on our watchlist :D

Overall I scored this drama a solid 9. I liked the plot, I liked the cast, and even though there were some moments/people in this drama that I really disliked, (like Man Whol's personality at some points,) they didn't overshadow this drama's greatness. I would happily recommend Hotel Del Luna to anyone, especially if you like supernatural dramas with a good dose of romance and mystery (:

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ONE OF THE BEST FANTASIES!! GREAT WORK HERE!! ALERT OF MASTERPIECE!!

This was pretty much ➡️ AMAZING!

Great chemistry between both leads and the storyline has a development (this is almost impossible to find in almost any drama nowadays, everything is too repetitive and dull now).
The storyline goes back and forth between the past (from her POV) to the present. It centers mainly in the romance, the fantasy theme such us, helping ghost cross to the other side by letting go of their grudges, the mystery of the past story with her past lover and the also death (as she wants to die but she can't).
The characters are well constructed, my favourite is her (IU's character) her sassy personality and her toughness are different and difficult to see in korean women.
The male character is well made too with personal development/growth, his experiences teach him something that will make better in each episode.
The supporting cast was easily enjoyable too with the funny touch, I really loved their addition to the drama too.
The OST were beautiful and easy to the ears, just like the drama.
I really enjoyed watching this drama from the beginning till the end. I highly recommend it, you'll not regret and have a great time watching it.
RATE 9.5/10

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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 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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Envolvente

Antes de começar a assistir não se esqueça de pegar o seu lenço para enxugar as lágrimas que podem cair sem querer.
Mas não é por isso que deve deixar de assistir, você se envolve na história e cria um vínculo com cada personagem ao conhecer sua história, o romance nos passa uma sensação de amor puro e também há as cenas engraçadas, e o senso de moda de Jang Man-Wol? Alguém me ensina a me vestir desse jeito, embora a beleza seja muito grande.
O elenco é demais!!! Não vai se arrepender de começar!
Sigo esperando a segunda temporada mesmo que não tenha, infelizmente. <3

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Hotel del luna para sempre <3

Nossa, não sei por onde começar! Primeiro que nem fiz uma resenha do episódio porque eu só fiz chorar. Assisti hotel del Luna como indicação de uma amiga e ainda demorei um pouco pra ver por causa da lista que é grande. Mas a história é tão única, original, autêntica. Os atores incríveis, amei a IU, que mulher maravilhosa, o ator que fez o Chan sung entregou muito, adorei o trabalho dele e dos demais atores que não conhecia o trabalho! A cenografia do drama é incrível, todos os detalhes, as lições que vamos aprendendo no decorrer da história, a ost impecável!!! Vou sentir saudades do pessoal do hotel, as despedidas foram terríveis. Enfim, foi muito triste mas foi tão lindo! Toda vez que ver uma lua cheia vou me lembrar de hotel del Luna 💙🌑

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Até fantasma vai querer assistir

Posso parecer clichê mais o único defeito desse drama foi acabar, fiquei arrasada. Esse show começou bem e conseguiu manter o folego até o final. Com uma história bem diferente e original dos dramas que acostumamos ver esse drama traz tantas reflexões, sentimentos, aprendizagem que é impossível não se envolver no seu enredo. Tudo nesse show foi tão bem planejado e executado que você percebe o excelente resultado na tela.

Amei cada personagem ali, todos contribuíram para história de alguma forma, eram agradáveis e simpáticos. Vou confessar que a gerente de quarto era minha segunda personagem favorita neste drama, porém a equipe do hotel era formidável foi lindo ver o progresso deles.

Agora vamos para minha personagem favorita, Tenho que exaltar essa excelente atriz que foi nossa Protagonista feminina, ela deu um banho de atuação e arrebatou meu coração, sua personagem era demais ri e chorei com ela, aquele seu jeito fechado, durona e engraçado me fez me divertir muito assistindo. Adoro protagonistas assim inteligente, carismática divertida , bonita, por falar em beleza tenho que deixar aqui minha admiração pelo seu guarda roupa , como era estilosa da cabeça aos pés, até as unhas dela eram lindas , os figurinistas e toda equipe arrasaram. Eu amei cada momento dela em cena arrasava nos looks e na atuação. Você se identifica com ela pois ela não é aquela mulher perfeitinha, ela erra também sofre e enfrenta seus demônios todos os dias como você e eu.

A Ost é maravilhosa, envolvente as letras eram lindas, trilha sonora nota 10 os , efeitos sonoros também eram muitos bons , tudo tão bem feito que era ainda mias fácil se envolver naquele mundo. Esse drama te leva para uma viagem muito louca para aquele mundo de fantasia.

Então recomendo fortemente que você assista esse drama , nele vai encontrar de tudo um pouco na dose certa, fantasia, comédia, romance mistério ação tudo numa trama muito bem amarrada e finalizada.

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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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