Dante House: Touring the Lovely Guesthouse I Stayed at on My Solo Trip to Korea
Intro
Hey hey everyone~ Today I want to share the guesthouse I stayed at during my solo trip to Busan – Dante House. This little spot sits right above a café, and even though the room itself is tiny, the whole place feels really cozy. And because the owner also runs the café downstairs, you don’t have to worry about going hungry in the morning (Korean breakfast spots are pretty rare), plus you get to enjoy a breakfast that actually looks healthy.
From the outside it looks like a simple, pretty little hipster café, but once you step inside you can really feel how much thought the host put into decorating the space. For example, the moment you walk into the dining area (or just the café, if you’re not staying over) you’re greeted by a cute stuffed dog sitting on a chair near the entrance.
On the wall on the other side there’s this big hole – I honestly can’t tell whether the hole came first and they decorated around it, or they decided on the look first and then made the hole. Either way, it’s a bit out of place, but not too bad really.
Where Dante Hostel is located
Dante hostel in Google Maps: https://maps.app.goo.gl/uy2xquHDV6zzoN4X8
The room at Dante House
As for the room, it pretty much feels like a college dorm: a bunk bed on the right, a single bed on the left, and a little table in the middle. It’s really small overall, but hey – every inch of space costs money here, so you can’t expect too much. The bathroom is tiny too, with basically no room to turn around, and you’ll definitely splash the toilet whenever you shower. On top of that, since the place was converted from a regular room into a guesthouse, they didn’t realize the bathroom door should open inward over the threshold – so after I finished showering I discovered the room had flooded, and I nearly had to pay for the damage. But there were also lots of thoughtful little touches, like the small bedside lamps so you don’t feel like it’s too dark, and the big bottles of conditioner and toothpaste so you never run out – because those travel-size kits hotels hand out keep getting stingier and stingier.
That said, as long as you watch out for these little things, they won’t really hurt your stay. The space might not be huge, but small as it is, it’s got everything you need! The common area basically has it all – an oven, a microwave, a mini fridge, a water dispenser, and even a laundry service.
The café attached to Dante Hostel
Even if you’re not staying over, this café is well worth a visit – the whole place just oozes that special, aesthetic vibe.
We had both of our breakfasts here, so I can promise you that if you’ve got the time to stop by, you could easily while away an entire afternoon in this spot.
Going clockwise from the top, you’ve got banana, homemade mashed potato, a cheese-egg toast, homemade jam, watermelon, orange, cantaloupe, and a few blueberries – super generous. I still don’t get why they sliced the banana with the peel on, though. The toast is delicious on its own: crispy outside, soft inside, warm and toasty. I finished off the edges first, then used the jam to polish off the rest. The jam itself is sweet with a faint hint of tartness, and the toast is a little salty thanks to the Italian herbs on top – not bland, not over the top. This is exactly how a lovely day should start!
The mashed potato was whipped completely smooth, with no lumps at all. It’s lightly salty, goes down easy, isn’t heavy at all, and tastes great.
The soup portion was just right – not that night-market-steak-style creamed corn soup. To give you something to compare it to, the flavor is a lot like Tasty’s baked cream soup. My guess is there’s a bit of mashed potato stirred in, since it has a slightly grainy texture, and the creamy aroma is super rich too – but it never gets cloying (because I finished it in 8 or 9 spoonfuls (・–・;) ゞ).
The salad was just okay. There wasn’t much dressing and it tasted like a yuzu Japanese-style dressing, but a few of the leaves in there came out kind of bitter, which was a tiny shame – otherwise it looked really pretty. The croissant was awesome too: baked until the crust was crisp and golden, showering crumbs everywhere with every bite.
The orange juice, though, was super sour – both days it was really tart. Then again, that just means they didn’t add much sugar. I’d actually recommend going for coffee or tea instead, because I couldn’t quite drink it down.
