On the 6th of this month, a traditional liquor pairing dinner event called "The Heritage Dining with Yoon Joo-mo" was held at Heritage Hall on the second floor of The Westin Josun Seoul in Jung-gu, central Seoul. The event allowed guests to taste six traditional liquors carefully selected by Yoon Joo-mo, a traditional liquor expert who appeared on Season 2 of the Netflix cooking competition program "Culinary Class Wars," paired in sequence with a Korean course meal.
Foreigners of various nationalities, including Japanese, Chinese and American, attended the event and savored traditional Korean dishes such as boiled octopus, seafood pajeon (scallion pancake) and LA galbi (LA-style short ribs) paired with traditional liquors. As they encountered drinks with unfamiliar names and flavors—such as Namsan-ui-bam, Samyangchun Oh My God Sparkling Makgeolli and Jiranjigyo Chamomile Takju—they naturally struck up conversations and grew friendly with fellow attendees seated nearby.
As the days grow longer, the season has returned for eating and drinking outdoors from late afternoon into the evening. With this period arriving, hotels are putting their energy into evening dining events. From traditional liquor pairing dinners and poolside wine to champagne before the sunset, there are diverse ways to spend a late-spring or early-summer night at a hotel. Even without booking a room, guests can enjoy drinks, food, performances and views together at these "night markets."
According to the "2026 Global Travel Trends Report" published by American Express Travel, the travel services division of global card company American Express, 89% of millennial and Gen Z respondents value "time to enjoy local food experiences" in their travel itineraries. Hotels drawing guests' evening hours inside the hotel by featuring traditional liquor and Korean food pairings is in line with this trend.
A representative example is "Hanmaru," a Korean cultural experience event that The Westin Josun Seoul runs for foreign guests. "The Heritage Dining with Yoon Joo-mo" was also arranged as part of Hanmaru. It is a program designed to let foreign guests experience Korean liquor, food and traditional culture at the hotel. The response has been strong, with applications for the event closing early each time.
Banyan Tree Club & Spa Seoul held a wine market at its outdoor pool in the city center on the 16th of this month. Visitors gathered from early evening at the outdoor space on the slopes of Namsan to enjoy wine and performances. They selected wines poolside and enjoyed food alongside live jazz performances. A single admission ticket allowed visitors to sample about 100 varieties of wine and traditional liquor, and drinks purchased on site could be consumed at outdoor tables without a separate corkage charge—a fee a customer pays to drink their own liquor at a restaurant. Visitors who do not drink also enjoyed impromptu jazz and tap dance performances and a downtown party atmosphere.
"According to global restaurant reservation platform OpenTable's '2026 Restaurant Dining Trends Report,' happy hour reservations between 4 and 5 p.m. rose 13% from the previous year, showing that a dining culture of settling in from early afternoon and enjoying a leisurely time is spreading," a Banyan Tree official said. "Banyan Tree, too, combined wine and performances to target dining demand in the evening hours."
Parnas Hotel Jeju's "Pont de Mer Bar" opens at 5 p.m., the hour when the Jeju sea and sunset turn their reddest. Once seated, guests look straight out at the horizon and hold a glass of champagne as the sky shifts from orange to violet. Unlike hotels that focus on breakfast and brunch packages targeting the time before and after check-in, Parnas has made guests visit the hotel in the evening by targeting the hour when the sunset glows. The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) named "space and experience" as a key dining trend for this year in the "2026 Food and Restaurant Industry Outlook." Enjoying champagne and food while taking in Jeju's sunset and sea is itself reason enough to visit a hotel in the evening hours.
The Shilla Jeju will hold a "Silent Pool Party" starting on the 13th of next month. The event is distinctive in that guests each wear a headset to listen to music, allowing the outdoor pool's noise to be reduced while preserving the party atmosphere. Although gathered in the same space, guests listen to music selected by a DJ through their own headsets, so they can enjoy a summer night together yet each to their own rhythm.
The Shilla Hotel expanded the scope of its operation this year after first introducing the Silent Pool Party last year. It widened the flow of foot traffic so that not only poolside guests but also cabana users can participate, and it runs the event every night during the summer season. Related room packages are also sold alongside it. Rather than simply offering an add-on event to guests who book a room, the party itself works as an incentive to choose a room package.
"There is a trend of strengthening food and beverage (F&B) content to give customers more reasons to stay at the hotel during the evening hours," a hotel industry official said. "We are running various programs to create points of consumption that extend from early afternoon into the night."
