I stayed at Phil House. It was ok - not far from the subway. maybe 15-30 min with the Taxi to the clinic depending on traffic. I never cooked really but we had the fridge full of ice cream and sandwhich and leftovers from last days takeout and such. Also we used the washing machine to have fresh clothes. I think in summer its more fun there since there will be more guests in the common living room downstairs and they do rooftop BBQ.
The MERS thing is not good - One of the last things you would want with a throat surgery is a throat sickness (not to mention the risk of even more serious consequences). In Korea most people are worried about hygiene though. A lot wear face masks - either to protect against dust or infection or to protect others from their infections. Make sure to get the best one there with the smallest filter size and just use it daily - it helps a lot also against the asian dust, the exhaust from diesel engines etc. I carried a little desinfectant spray with me at all times so if I had to touch something in the subway or public restrooms, I could just spray my hands with it afterwards. I think in the present situation there, maybe a Taxi is a good option then to go to the clinic - its not expensive and you need to be at the clinic only 3 times. But taking the Taxi from the airport is expensive. And you probably want to go sightseeing. If you do it on your own, its usually best to use the subway, but they also have bus tours, meaning you spend the whole day with the same people in a bus and walking around, so the infection risk may be less. But I would not get overly paranoid about it - otherwise it would ruin your stay there. Just be hygienic, desinfect your hands and maybe avoid the subway in rush hour...
Dr Kim can take into account a lot of things, but I think what he regularly does in this surgery is to look at asymmetry and vocal tremors/hyperfunction. If you have nodules, he probably could treat them at the same time as well.
