Inside North Korea’s £600 Million ‘Hotel of Doom’: A Ghostly Monument to Ambition and Mystery
Ever wondered what it’s like to check into a hotel so grand it pierces the Pyongyang skyline at a staggering 105 stories—yet never actually host a single guest? Meet North Korea’s Ryugyong Hotel, famously dubbed the ‘Hotel of Doom.’ Construction kicked off way back in 1987, with dreams of opening its pyramid-shaped splendor two years later. Designed to house up to 3,000 rooms, complete with five restaurants and even an eight-story revolving dining experience, this skyscraper aimed high—over 1,000 feet high, to be exact. But the punchline? The grand interior remains hauntingly hollow, frozen in time by the country’s economic rollercoaster. While you won’t be booking a stay anytime soon, the Ryugyong continues to steal the spotlight as a glittering backdrop for light shows, propaganda displays, and even hopes for a future casino. Curious to peek inside this architectural enigma? LEARN MORE.
North Korea’s Ryugyong Hotel is 105 stories tall and its pyramid shape dominates the Pyongyang skyline from miles away.
But, despite the building’s impressive facade, to this day, it has never hosted a single guest.
Construction on the building, nicknamed the ‘Hotel of Doom’, began in 1987 with plans to open to guests two years later.
The Ryugyong Hotel exceeds 1,000 feet in height and was designed to have as many as 3,000 rooms and five restaurants.
It reached its full height in 1992, but work has stopped and started several times over the years due to North Korea’s economic troubles.
The inside has never been completed, with areas such as a planned eight-story revolving restaurant remaining empty.
North Korea’s Ryugyong Hotel has never hosted a single guest (Eric Lafforgue/Art In All Of Us/Corbis via Getty Images)
In late 2012, German hotel group Kempinski announced that it would be partially opening the Ryugyong under its management the following year. Just a few months later, however, the company pulled out.
The estimated cost to finish it is around $2 billion (£1.5 billion), five percent of the country’s entire GDP.
But, while nobody has ever stayed at the Ryugyong Hotel, a few brave visitors have managed to set foot in the naked structure.
Simon Cockerell, general manager of a company specialising in North Korea tours, told CNN: “They took us into the lobby area, where there was a lot of exposed cement. Then we went [on] the one working elevator to the top, which was the 99th floor, I believe.
It’s covered in LED lights (ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images)
“It took a long time to get there, because it was a service elevator, not a modern lift with a string of buttons. There was a lift operator who determined where to stop. At the top we had a look around, took some pictures and went back down to the lobby again.”
A friend of YouTuber Drew Binsky recently visited Pyongyang and the Ryugyong Hotel can be seen in the background of a number of videos from her trip, which have been shared on his channel.
While the Ryugyong Hotel still lacks electricity and has no expected completion date, North Korean authorities are reportedly in search of a foreign investor to build a casino in the empty space.
In July 2024, Radio Free Asia reported that authorities were seeking a foreign investor to purchase gambling rights and operate a casino at the Ryugyong Hotel as part of a deal to finish the rest of its interior.
And, in the meantime, North Korea has found other uses for the building as a dramatic backdrop for dance troupes and firework displays, as well as using more than 100,000 LED lights attached to the exterior to display propaganda messaging.
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