The Secret Romantic Guesthouse Korean Drama Review – Kdrama Kisses
The Secret Romantic Guesthouse is a mystery romance about a woman (Shin Ye Eun) who runs a boarding house where three students (Ryeoun, Kang Hoon, Jung Gun Joo) who are known as “flower scholars” that have some secrets are staying.
Shin Ye Eun plays Yoon Dan Oh. She runs a struggling guesthouse for scholars preparing for exams. Her life gets a little more complicated with the arrival of a couple of new guests with big secrets.
Ryeoun is Kang San. He is a mysterious man who arrives at the guesthouse with a purpose. Soon, Dan Oh’s interest is piqued as she becomes more involved with him.
Next, we have Kang Hoon as Kim Shi Yeol. He is a carefree playboy with secrets of his own that takes up residence at the guesthouse and also gets involved with all of the happenings.
Finally, there is Jung Gun Joo as Jung Yoo Ha. He is a longtime resident of the guesthouse who is close with Dan
Oh. While he has his own secrets, he becomes curious about what’s going on with the new guests.
The Secret Romantic Guesthouse was such a pleasant surprise! I was definitely optimistic for this drama, but it exceeded my expectations. It quickly drew me in with the setting of a guesthouse and a cast of interesting characters that soon piqued my curiosity.
We see the aftermath of a takeover of the throne and the fallout that ensued. We are then introduced to a mystery involving who is the deposed crown prince’s son that has been in hiding for years. There are three strong candidates in our young men staying at the guesthouse. Each one has a secret and mystery abounds.
The drama did well at creating questions around San, Shi Yeol, and Yoo Ha. There was a case for each of them potentially being the deposed crown prince’s son. And this went on pretty deep into the drama which really kept the mystery going. I was quite impressed with how it was handled. There were some very surprising reveals too which is always a lot of fun.
The pacing was good all the way through the drama. I was never bored and was always interested in what was going on and what would happen next. It is well-written with fleshed out characters and very well done action scenes. The story has plenty of serious elements, but it never felt overly heavy as it wove in a good amount of humor.
It doesn’t do anything revolutionary, but it just executes everything so beautifully. The drama also had such a great atmosphere that I just enjoyed being in the world. Plus, the soundtrack was absolutely fantastic with so many wonderful songs and gorgeous background music.
I liked learning about each of our main characters. Of course, San, Shi Yeol, and Yoo Ha each had interesting stories, and then Dan Oh had her own unique story. I also liked that there were multiple romances to enjoy which connected to the main plot. This is a show with an ensemble of characters that have great chemistry and feel like a family.
The main romance between Dan Oh and San was lovely. It was nice seeing them slowly draw closer together with their interactions at the guesthouse and then during some of the intense situations that arose. This couple has to face some serious obstacles, but they do so with courage, kindness, and love. This was such a lovely relationship to see develop.
We have lots of great villains too with some trying to protect throne while others are out for revenge. The King (Hyun Woo) and the Chief Administrator (Oh Man Suk) were just awful. They always kept things interesting for our heroes and added a nice layer of intensity to the drama.
Overall, The Secret Romantic Guesthouse was such a delight to watch. It stayed engaging all the way until the end by keeping the story interesting throughout with plenty of new developments and keeping the excitement going until the final episode. The ending was fantastic and wrapped everything up beautifully.
I just enjoyed this drama so much. From the story to the characters to the guesthouse to the thrills and to the overall atmosphere. I loved being part of the world of this drama and was sad to see it end. The Secret Romantic Guesthouse was a treat, and I would highly recommend it.
My Rating: 9/10
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