A Fabulous New Luxury Hotel—In North Korea?
The 1,080-foot-high Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, opening in April, has also been labeled the "Hotel of Doom"
- By Mark Strauss
- Smithsonian magazine, March 2012, Subscribe
“Luxury” is not the first word that comes to mind when describing North Korea. But the April 15 centennial birthday celebration of “Eternal Leader” Kim Il-sung is scheduled to include the opening of the tallest and swankiest building in Pyongyang: the Ryugyong Hotel. Official descriptions of the 1,080-foot-high edifice promise 3,000 suites, business facilities, an observation deck and revolving restaurants. Ryugyong translates as “Capital of Willows,” but wags have dubbed it the “Hotel of Doom.” The unsightly pyramidal structure has invited comparisons to an evil castle or an earth-bound Death Star. In earlier years, pundits also called it the “Ghostscraper” because the building stood empty and unfinished. Construction began in 1987, only to stop five years later during a severe economic downturn. The Pyongyang regime was so embarrassed by the uncompleted hotel that it was airbrushed out of photos. But four years ago, North Korea announced that it had formed a partnership with the Egyptian conglomerate Orascom Group to finish construction, at an estimated cost of $1 billion to $2 billion. The project is seen as part of a broader attempt to portray Pyongyang as a booming, modern city that will help attract Western tourists and investors. However, given rumors that substandard concrete and tilted elevator shafts lie beneath the hotel’s shiny new exterior, visitors might want to consider other accommodations.
Subscribe now for more of Smithsonian's coverage on history, science and nature.
Comments (6)
It won't be perfect without Il-sung's gigantic statue right there in the middle ...
Posted by Wilson on March 26,2012 | 11:13 AM
The photograph of the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea reminds me of a schematic drawing of the detonating device and inner mechanism of a warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Is it just an ironic similarity or the intended message? I say the latter because there is but one intent of America's enemies: the utter destruction of America by the use of her own technology.
Posted by Eddie Hassell on March 21,2012 | 11:50 PM
Every time I see buildings such as Hotel Ryugyong in the photograph, I can't help but be amazed at the sheer ugliness of communist style architecture. Having seen a lot of it, I must say Hotel Ryugyong ranks right at the top of it.
Posted by Anita K on March 1,2012 | 09:19 PM
I wonder if the 1 to 2 billion was paid in Super Dollars?
Posted by Chuck Cecil on March 1,2012 | 06:55 PM
Remarkable artchitect
Posted by Patti Mcgoey on March 1,2012 | 12:40 PM
I'd be awfully leery of a high-rise in a place like Pyongyang! Worked in Jakarta and Shanghai in the 1980's and early '90's; I was always nervous riding on elevators in buildings in those places at that time, and was never comfortable when on the higher floors. Didn't think I'd get out easily in case of an emergency.
Posted by Karen H. on February 25,2012 | 09:09 AM