Why the Dragon Hill Lodge is So Expensive

Have you ever wondered why the Dragon Hill Lodge costs so much more than other US military hotels, like the New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo? Well the Stars & Stripes has found the answer:

Standard hotel rooms at The New Sanno hotel in Tokyo and the Dragon Hill Lodge in Seoul look much the same.

Both are in modern, well-adorned hotels that feature multiple restaurants, beauty salons, room service, shops and indoor swimming pools. Rooms at both come with a double bed, a sleeper sofa, television, DVD player and mini-fridge.

There’s one big difference, though.

The Sanno, run by the Navy, is $63 a night for a military business traveler, while the Dragon Hill charges $213 more than three times as much.

Both hotels offer similar and much cheaper  rates to servicemembers on vacation. A private on leave can rent a room at the Sanno for $40 a night, and $59 a night at the Dragon.

Sorting out the price difference, hotel officials say, involves fluid financial pressures that range from international agreements to exchange rates to meat deliveries. It also involves the Dragons unique role in the Armys resort system, according to officials who oversee the Armed Forces Recreation Centers.

Basically the Dragon Hill management is saying that they have to make up the costs of other defense hotels that may not be turning a profit or need to pay for renovations. The Dragon Hill receives such a high number of temporary duty (TDY) visitors that are on government travel orders that the Dragon Hill makes sure they charge to maximum room rates to receive the maximum profit from all the TDY visitors.

However, here is the real reason why the New Sanno Hotel in Tokyo is so much cheaper:

Gorman knows the Dragons business rates cant always compete with those at The New Sanno. Thats mainly because the Tokyo facility operates under a special agreement in which the Japanese government pays the salaries of Japanese workers, according to Charles Cavill, the Sannos director.

The Sanno has 310 workers, 300 of whom are Japanese, he said.

We have the lowest rate in the system of all military resort hotels, he said.

Could you imagine the up roar if USFK tried to get the Korean government to pay the Korean workers at the Dragon Hill? The Korean government won’t even pay an equitable cost with the US for keeping American forces stationed on the peninsula much less do something that would help the average soldier by keeping hotel rates down at the Dragon Hill.

By the way I have stayed at both hotels and both are quite nice. However, I would never stay in the Dragon Hill on my own dime because of the steep prices. I have only stayed there on TDY and was always shocked by the room rates and always left feeling thankful the government was paying for it. The New Sanno I have stayed at while on leave in Japan and would readily stay there again because the room prices are cheap in comparison to other Tokyo hotels of similar quality. The only problem is that you need to book rooms there way in advance because they go fast because of the cheap room rates. Overall I think the Dragon Hill is a nicer hotel than the New Sanno, but not worth the price to stay there on your own dime, while the New Sanno is worth every cent.