A Mysterious Hotel in North Korea Empty Inside

hey check this out it's the only place in the world where you'll find a giant pyramid-shaped construction jetting out of the city skyline but what looks like a futuristic spaceship is actually a luxurious hotel but don't rush to book a deluxe room though this hotel hasn't hosted a single guest in its 33-year history the 105-story rongyong hotel was planned to be the tallest in the world and north korea's greatest achievement it's more than two and a half times the size of the great pyramid in giza nearly four million square feet of floor space you could almost fit vatican city in this one building today the tallest hotel in the world according to guinness is the 75-story jivorah in dubai the roon yang hasn't taken that title but it did earn itself a different record after 33 years of development it currently stands as the tallest unoccupied building on the planet nicknamed the hotel of doom it looms over the capital city of pyongyang and has a long mysterious history rung yang means capital of willows and it's an ancient name for pyongyang once finished the hotel could house up to 3 000 guests eight of its floors are supposed to rotate and have revolving restaurants with an unbeatable view of the city and on the very top stands a massive cone twice the size of the great sphinx a magnificent record-breaking hotel in the heart of the capital would not only bring tourists into the city but also foreign investors so what went wrong construction began in 1987. might not seem all that long ago but this was back before the smartphone was invented the deadline for the hotel's completion was tight 1989 just in time for the world festival of youth and students being held in pyongyang that year unfortunately due to some engineering problems more details on that in a bit it didn't meet its important deadline it was just the beginning in a series of unfortunate events the next planned opening was set for 1992 and once again problems with construction and a lack of materials cropped up the hotel badly needed financial investment because building such huge constructions takes equally massive amounts of cash most of the structure had been completed by this point but construction was stopped in such a hurry that they accidentally left a crane on the top it stayed there for nearly two decades for 16 years the empty carcass of this hotel with big dreams was left in the center of the city in 2008 construction started once again after a phone company from abroad agreed to fund the project in return the hotel would also serve as a phone tower heck of a deal the new completion date was set for 2012. everything was going smoothly the rongyong hotel was now covered with radiant glass panels and the old rusty crane was finally removed from the top but as the outside was looking more and more polished with each passing day a few pictures of the interior showed almost no work done inside nothing but concrete stairs balconies and pillars it looked more like an ancient tomb than a luxurious hotel yet another planned opening date passed and the hotel's construction was mysteriously halted again this time the building's exterior looks sleek with a new addition of phone antennas on the top work picked up and the new new new opening date would be in 2013 then it was changed to be a partial opening and then it got cancelled all together the hotel of doom was abandoned once again to this day it has never hosted a single guest only a handful of people have been inside just to see a few floors and rooms the rest is off limits but then out of nowhere the hotel came back to life in 2017 well it wasn't open but construction started once again and in 2018 the giant hotel found a new purpose thousands of leds were installed on its facade turning it into a giant screen from time to time the lights show a four-minute program about the country and its current situation it's usually on during major events in the city okay so you've probably lost count of how many times i said construction problems so here's the lowdown on those one of the reasons this particular building was so hard to complete was in its structure and material most skyscrapers are made of steel instead of concrete a steel frame is relatively lightweight yet sturdy enough to hold the weight of the entire building though concrete is more fireproof whether it was a conscious choice or a lack of steel leaving essentially no choice the roongyong hotel was made of reinforced concrete the material choice also dictated the chosen design and shape a three-winged pyramid was the only way they could achieve the planned record-breaking height each of the three wings is 330 feet long a little less than the length of a football field yet they're just 60 feet thick enough to fit a bowling alley this design makes the building look colossal yet it doesn't have much floor space for its size the shape might have been dictated solely by the material used and its plant height or it could have been a conscious choice and an attempt at not a pyramid but a mountain after all mountains play a huge mythological and cultural role in the country they're part of the national emblem and even mentioned in the anthem it's actually one in particular page two mountain in the north koreans believe this is where their nation was born so the place holds a sacred meeting the 9000 foot active volcano has a caldera lake where many locals believe a loch like monster dwell but i digress the hotel's concrete structure choice was also the basis of many rumors regarding its safety after a concrete apartment building collapsed in pyongyang a lot of people started thinking the hotel would meet the same fate after all concrete already wasn't the best choice for building a skyscraper and a sudden halt of construction just added fuel but experts that had been inside the hotel assured the public that the structure looks safe and sound and shouldn't have any problems another issue with the concrete construction is the interior utilities unlike with steel when using concrete every single utility like ventilation electricity and water lines had to be planned ahead of time but since the 1980s technology has made a huge leap forward making those original plans obsolete that can inflate the construction budget to enormous sizes despite the problems the hotel became a huge part of the national identity the pyongyang folklore park is famous in the whole country for its own mini versions of all national symbols and among ancient palaces or models of famous mountains you can also find a miniature replica of the ryongyong hotel many local performance groups like to host their shows in front of the hotel and use it as a beautiful backdrop and for now that's all it is the hotel stands empty hosting only light shows on its facade but it looks like we could be seeing continued development soon just recently a sign was added above the entrance it simply says the ryung young hotel in english and korean and local tour guides are already talking about the hotel's upcoming opening perhaps in the next few years we'll see over three decades worth of development finally turn into a big opening imagine those empty concrete insides decorated with lavish furniture guests and a staff buzzing about excitedly otherwise it'll become a new addition to a list of unfinished projects like highways and parks in the country and the hotel of doom will continue to loom over the city like a shadow a constant reminder of dreams left unfulfilled where you can never check in and you can only check it out

Channel: BRIGHT SIDE

Views: 1,335,727

Rating: 4.8871503 out of 5

Keywords: bright side, brightside, bright side videos, strangest hotels in the world, strangest hotels around the world, world's strangest hotels, the most unusual hotels in the world, the weirdest hotels in the world, travel tips, traveling, traveling the world, tourism, being a tourist, best hotels, hotel secrets, travelling, hotel tips, hotel tricks, traveling advice, coolest hotels, amazing places to stay, ryugyong hotel inside, ryugyong hotel north korea’s hotel of doom

Id: QgqKjZ1Q4R4

Length: 8min 51sec (531 seconds)

Published: Tue Jun 23 2020