The Secret Romantic guesthouse is an ongoing Korean drama, Shin Ye-Eun, Ryeoun, Jung Gun-Joo, and Kang Hoon, distributed by SBS TV. It is a period drama surrounding tragedy, romance, and childhood connection.
The story is about four people Yeon Dan-o, Kang San, Kim Shi-Yeol, and Jung Yoo-ha. Dan-O is the owner of Ihwawon Inn, and the other three stay in the inn as guests. One day Dan-o, who is in debt, is given an opportunity to clear off the debt, but for this, she has to find Lee Seol, the oldest son of the deposed crown prince. He four try to find Lee Seol.
The period drama was written by Kwon Eum-Mi, and Kim Ja-Hyuna and directed by Kim Jung-Min. You can catch this drama on Viu or Viki; the drama is released every Monday and Tuesday and will have 18 episodes.
Recap and Review of The Secret Romantic Guest House
The first episode begins with soldiers looking for Lee Seol, the son of the deposed Crown Prince, in order to execute him. The young heir is hiding in the Dog Kennel of a house, which turns out to be Dan-O’s as we watch further. She helps him hide from the Soldiers, and he leaves, telling her when they meet again, he will tell her his name.
Childhood connection is one of the most used tropes in K-drama, so used to the point that I can’t help but let out a sigh when I see it on screen now. I am not saying it can’t be used, but maybe not to this extent.
Then we have a time skip to 13 years after, where Dan-o is struggling to keep her running. She met Shi-Yeol when she was pestered by Sir Ong. And he helps her escape. Shi-Yeol looks like a cheerful man with no money. He stays at places on tabs and does not pay it back.
Then she Kang san and tries to get him to stay with her. Then that doesn’t work; she tricks him into staying at the inn.
There are two other people staying at the inn, Yuk Yuk-ho and Jeong Yu-ha. They both seem to be long-time guests at the inn, and Yu-ha has a deeper relationship with Dan-o. t is also hinted that Yun-ho has feelings for Dan-O.
We are also introduced to a lot of cliche romantic ‘accidents’ and saving the girl in distress. The center of all this is Dan-O and Kang San. So we will have to doubt if they are the intended main couple of the show.
Up until now, it doesn’t look like Shi-Yeol, who is portrayed as a flirt and playboy, does not seem to be interested in Dan-o, so we can take him out of the love equation. But his role is an interesting one, he seems to be the silly and funny guy of the group, but something says he is more than that.
The main female character Dan-o has a very optimistic and bubbly personality, despite her life not being that great. Though it might seem heartless, her choice to help the man(Jang Tae Hwa) to who she owes money find Lee Seol, which could cause his death, she doesn’t have any choice.
This could either be gut feeling or because his negative character in The Red Sleeve left an impression on me that I cannot forget. The casting is pretty good; they have taken actors who were being noticed for their performance in earlier dramas.
Shin Ye-Eun had not one but two popular dramas recently, The Glory and Revenge for Others. The contrast in the characters he portrayed in these dramas also earned her a lot of praise from netizens. Her acting in this series will not disappoint you either. She does a pretty good job with the character given to her. She is portraying Dan-o, a young woman running an inn.
Kang Hoon is also a rising actor; his recent and most buzzworthy dramas include The Red Sleeve and Little women. Both of these dramas did pretty well, and his acting was good in them too. But I feel like I like his character and acting in The Secret Romantic Guest House more. He is the bubbly and cheerful Shi-Yeol.
Ryeoun portrays the role of Kang San, some of us know him from 18 again, but his role and the drama that got popular recently was adult trainee, the episode which features, Ryeoun was the most popular of the whole series. Her clips from the show went viral putting Ryeoun on the map.
The charismatic Yoo-ha is portrayed by Jung Gun-Joo. e portrayed one of our favorite characters from the drama extraordinary you. His role is that of a charismatic and quiet man; he is the illegitimate son of some official.
Coming to the chemistry between the characters, I didn’t feel any sparks between the main leads. Despite the drama using cliche moves like falling from the ladder, I couldn’t sense the chemistry at all. But, I did appreciate the chemistry, not in a romantic way, between Dan-o and Shi-Yeol.
From the first two episodes, we know that there are a lot of secrets to be unraveled, so I hope the future episodes are better than the first two episodes. Because I was not impressed by them, they were not able to push me to keep watching this drama.
This was very weird because there are a lot of things that drama provides to be curious about, like, who is the ghost in the main house. Who is LeeSeol? Why was the former crown prince deposed? Is the crown prince among our three leads?
Despite the series posing such questions, it does nothing to make me feel curious about what will happen next. I was left feeling bland; This is one of those series that I wouldn’t mind discontinuing in the middle.
Our Verdict
Overall it was an okay watch for me. The drama felt like a mixture of so many other period dramas that I was left feeling nothing. I have no motivation to continue this drama, but then again, it is too early to just give up on the drama. Based on my personal opinion and preference, I would give this drama a 3 out of 5, giving this rating because the cast looks promising.
Our Rating: ⭐ (3.6/5).
