North Korea’s Koryo is back in business
Famous luxury hotel loses its long-held Soviet style after months of renovations
PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA— North Korea’s most famous luxury hotel has reopened after renovations that modernized its 1980s, vaguely Soviet style.
The Koryo is one of Pyongyang’s best-known and most visible landmarks, with its twin towers in the centre of the capital.
It was closed for several months while the first three floors were remodelled. The guest rooms weren’t changed.
People entering the hotel are now greeted by a brighter and more upto-date look that — possibly to the disappointment of many exoticaseeking foreigners — is a sharp contrast with the opulent and vaguely Soviet style of its prior lobby.
The Koryo was built in 1985 under the instructions of North Korea’s “eternal president,” the late national founder Kim Il Sung.
He wanted the hotel to be a symbol of the country’s strength and modernity.
It is a popular spot for socializing among local elites, foreign businesspeople, diplomats and others who are able to afford its relatively high prices — a cappuccino in its lobby coffee shop goes for about $7 (U.S.). The cheapest rooms are $100 to $120 a night.
The hotel, located near Pyongyang’s main train station, also features an indoor pool and sauna, several places to eat, including a revolving restaurant atop one of its towers, a bookstore and other amenities one could only dream of in a provincial North Korean hotel.
In 2015, a major fire charred its upper floors, though the extent of dam- age and other information about the blaze has never been disclosed.
At 43 storeys, the Koryo has long been eclipsed in height by other hotels.