Five walking-minutes away from Central Station and near to the “Forbidden City” (the Party district) as well as to the Yokjon Department Store the KORYO Hotel is the second largest and the best of Pyongyangs hotels.The hotel boasts 45 storeys, 500 rooms, a swimmingpool, a mini-brewery, restaurants and a café and other facilities like a very recomendable supermarke, a billard and a retro-Karaoke room (in the basement) and a bookstore (upper floor). The name “Koryo” derives from the Koryo Dynasty who managed to unify Korea for the first time (918 until 1392) with the Capital Kaesong. The Koryo Hotel was built in 1985 and the lobby and other public spaces were renovated in 2017 but in general the Koryo takes you back to the 80ies, which we think in this case makes is even a plus as it allows you to get this retro feel of a deluxe-socialist hospitaly back in a time when the Soviet Union still existed. All rooms have a mini bar and a television set which is said to show you international channels but at our test there was only one North Korean one. There are rooms and suites, bathrooms are outdated and oldfashioned but clean, and even in standard rooms there is a little smokers’ lounge. Mind: Foreigners are not aloud to leave the hotel by themselves but with a guide only. So if you want to explore the city rather at your own pace – at least in those parts – which are not off-limits, book an individual tour and go with your guide. The hotel´s micro brewery restaurant has another entrance. Just a few minutes away there is Pyongyang´s only modern café, the Pyolmuri (with guide only). So all in all: Koryo is the best hotel in North Korea, by western standards rooms would be 3 star, overall 4 stars. And there is even a detective thriller story called “A Corpse in the Koryo” by James Church but don´t try to bring it to North Korea.Mind: In some rooms windows are blocked to obscure and limit the views to certain parts of the city (mainly the Party-district called “Forbidden City!). Unfortunately this applies also for the one operating revolving restaurant.
Indicative – subject to change.
