Quite possibly the worst hotel in the world is the Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea. This is not because the hotel is infested with bed bugs, or has crappy service, pay-for-WiFi or outrageous valet parking charges.

Nope, it's the worst hotel in the world because it has been abandoned for over 16 years with construction on the 105-storey pyramid-shaped hotel halted in 1992. It's never even hosted hotel guests. Oh yeah, and it's in North Korea.

Indeed, it's been dubbed "The Hotel of Doom" and the "Phantom Hotel." And if you think it doesn't look so bad, ugh. Check it in Google Earth.]]> juliana 2008-07-18T13:34:15-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/5/25/10726/7536 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3/pyonyang_skyline.jpg"><p> The Ryugyong Hotel, aka Dr. Evil's secret hideout hotel, never fails to fascinate us, even though it will more than likely never see an actual guest. The DPRK has actually struck the hotel from all official maps, and we hear many tour guides won't even confirm Ryugyong's existence. Ha. &nbsp;Yeah, the big, ominous, monolithic structure in the middle of town, that just so happens to be the seventh tallest building in the world doesn't exist. <p> So if Ryuguyog is a figment of your imagination, where <i>do</i> you stay if you visit Pyongyang? &nbsp;Well, more than likely you will stay at, <a href="http://w3.whosea.org/general/info_dprk.htm"><b>Koryo Hotel</b></a>, the second largest hotel in North Korea (also the second highest building in the markj 2006-05-25T10:07:26-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2006/4/7/13551/87934 <![CDATA[<img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3/ryugyong_looms.jpg"> <p> <b>[Publisher's note: <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/user/dzot/stories">dzot</a>, a hotel maven with tenure around these parts, fondly recalls his first encounter with us, which involved our <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2004/12/30/132441/09/misc/2004_Awards_Best_Villain">2004 Best Hotel Villain</a>. Enjoy.]</b> <p> The first time I ever visited HotelChatter was when another site linked to <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2004/10/22/102731/59">this post</a> about the surreally eerie Ryugyong Hotel in North Korea.<p> DamnIntersting.com has posted <a href="http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=490">even more info</a> about this travesty.<p> <i>The hotel, which was once found on city maps before the construction even began, has now been completely stricken from the official maps. Tour guides usually claim not to know where it is. Either a majority of the country is in a state of denial about the whole thing, or they avoid the dzot 2006-04-07T15:32:45-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2004/12/30/132441/09

HotelChatter 2004 Award :: Best Villain

Now we are not saying this hotel is evil, we have no idea if that is the case.  

What we are saying is if hotels were split into two groups, superheroes and villains, this hotel would be the leader of the villains.