The hotels' bingsu battle has begun.
According to the hotel industry on the 9th, THE SHILLA Seoul began selling its apple mango bingsu at the lounge bar "The Library" on the 1st of this month. The price is set at 130,000 won. That is up 20,000 won from 110,000 won last year.
Lotte Hotel's Signiel Seoul set the price of its apple mango bingsu sold at the 79th-floor "The Lounge" at 135,000 won. The price of Four Seasons Hotel Seoul's apple mango bingsu is 149,000 won, the same as last year.
The price of apple mango bingsu at Josun Palace Seoul Gangnam is 130,000 won, up 10,000 won from a year earlier. Walkerhill Hotel's apple mango bingsu price also rose by 10,000 won year over year to 95,000 won.
Hotels' bingsu competition is intense because reviews spread widely through social networking services (SNS). Strawberry buffets in spring and bingsu menus in summer also play a big role in keeping customers coming.
An official in the hotel industry said, "Competition is intensifying as places that did not offer bingsu on their menus are joining in, but demand to eat bingsu at 5-star hotel lounges remains high, so we judged it sufficient to raise bingsu prices to reflect raw material costs."