As we begin to go through the list of hotels that were to open in 2011, here's one hotel that we do not want to open---the Hotel of Doom aka aka The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea.

The Telegraph UK reports that thanks to investments made by an Egyptian construction group, the hotel is now readying for an April 2012 opening after having stopped work on the tower in 1993. Opening day will actually fall on April 15, what would have been the 100th birthday of nation's founder Kim Il-sung.

So what will be inside the world's fugliest hotel? ]]> juliana 2011-10-12T10:25:31-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2009/9/4/115553/1059 <![CDATA[<p><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/1425/doomhotelfacelift.jpg" class="top"><p> We can hardly believe it but after 16 years of neglect, the <a href="http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/7/18/131416/507/hotels/North_Korea_s_Ryugyong_Hotel_Gets_a_New_Lease_On_its_quot_Doomed_quot_Life"><b>Doom Hotel</b></a> in North Korea, aka Ryugyong Hotel, has finally been updated with some new glass windows at its peak. <p>Some background on this scary-looking hotel: The building was started in 1987 and planned to have 3,000 rooms inside its 105 storeys. But ultimately, the construction tab became to much for North Korea to handle and so it was left mostly abandoned for 20 years. It's never even hosted any hotel guests. But there are some improvements now being made. <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE5831EN20090904">Reuters</a> reports: <blockquote><p> The peak of the 3,000-room hotel, in a country that permits few foreigners to visit, is encircled in new rings juliana 2009-09-04T12:03:55-05:00 http://www.hotelchatter.com/story/2008/7/18/131416/507

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/2004/10/22/102731/59 <![CDATA[<a href="http://shapeofdays.typepad.com/the_shape_of_days/images/pyongyang.jpg"><img src="http://www.hotelchatter.com/files/3/ryugyong.jpg" align="right"></a> <p> If Dr. Evil was a real person, he would need a real hideout, and that real hideout may very well be The Ryugyong Hotel in Pyongyang, North Korea. </p> <p> The giant dark monolith is 1,082 feet tall, has 105 floors, yet it is completely empty without a single window. </p> <p> In <a href="http://shapeofdays.typepad.com/the_shape_of_days/2004/09/the_ryugyong_ho_1.html">one bloggers opinion</a> the Ryugong Hotel is "the single most unsettling structure ever erected by the hand of man". </p> <p> That same blog, <a href="http://shapeofdays.typepad.com/">Shape of Days</a>, brings up a great question, which is why does Ryugyong Hotel exist in the first place? Certainly it is not to meet North Korea's mounting tourist demand. The hotel was designed to have markj 2004-10-22T10:39:54-05:00 Search HotelChatter string http://www.hotelchatter.com/search/