Having charmed guests and hotel industry insiders including those from a five-star hotel in Hong Kong with its stylish yet comforting furnishings, Hotel La Casa is ready to expand.

“We plan to build about 30 more rooms in the building next to La Casa by spring next year,” Lee Hyun-koo, chairman of Casamia which runs the boutique hotel, said in an interview with The Korea Herald.

La Casa is located at the southern foot of Seoul’s Hannam Bridge, next to the offices of Casamia.

These offices, which are housed in the building La Casa will expand to, are to be turned into hotel rooms. “The two buildings will then be connected by an overpass,” explained Lee. “The round shape of the building, I believe, could add to the fun.”

The chief executive of Korea’s most solid home furnishing company is bullish about the boutique hotel business, although it wasn’t his initial plan to remodel a beat-up hotel with fine art and Casamia furniture.

Having been intrigued by design hotels abroad like those run by fashion houses Armani and Fendi, Lee decided to make use of the old building’s hotel license.

“When I first bought Samhwa Hotel in 2008, the plan was to use it for showrooms and office space, but later changed my mind to turn it into a boutique hotel furnished with Casamia products,” said Lee who has led Casamia through profitable years since 1988.

“The idea was to create a stylish and comforting space that feels ‘better than home.’ The rooms with different design concepts have different furniture, and unlike other hotels, our furniture is mended year-round and replaced every two to three years.”

Since its opening in April 2011, La Casa has lured thousands of guests, over 60 percent foreign and mostly European, to 61 rooms of 16 different styles including two penthouses.

Birch and maple trees lined up in the small garden toward the hotel’s entrance create a uniquely accommodating and nature-friendly ambience that is rare for urban boutique hotels.

The hotel, based on an daily rate of around 167,000 won, started making profit four months after it opened thanks to the weak domestic currency and increasing inbound tourists.

“Many of our guests become repeat customers,” Lee said. “Some are Chinese tourists visiting Seoul to get plastic surgery in nearby Apgujeong.”

The fact that La Casa is just a short walk from Garosu-gil, a street full of trendy shops, cafes and restaurants, has attracted a lot of young people to the hotel.

With the government supporting new hotels in Seoul to meet the surging demand from foreign tourists, Lee expects the number of midsized hotels to keep growing until 2017.

“The current number of hotel rooms in Seoul ― about 29,000 ― hasn’t changed much since 10 years ago. But once all the currently planned hotels spring up, the number will hit 46,000,” Lee said. “This is why hotels must build on their brands in order to survive. In this respect, I believe La Casa has benefited from Casamia’s brand power.”

Lee’s efforts to cut excessive inventories, production costs, expenses, redundant work and defective products, combined with his “very conservative financial management that emphasizes cash flow,” has allowed Casamia to post an operating profit of at least 10 percent of its sales for 25 years in a row. 

The company’s sales hit 120 billion won last year and 60 percent of its customers come back to buy more of its products.

By Kim So-hyun (sophie@heraldcorp.com)