10 Pyongyang Hotels, North Korea (DPRK) — 2026 Guide

Yanggakdo International Hotel is the tallest and largest hotel in Pyongyang — a 47-floor tower with 1,001 rooms sitting on Yanggak Island in the middle of the Taedong River, about 3 km from Kim Il-sung Square and 25 km (a 40-minute drive) from Sunan International Airport (FNJ). The signature is the slow-spinning revolving restaurant on floor 47, which completes a full city panorama in roughly an hour. The hotel opened in 1995 and has held the #1 Tripadvisor spot for Pyongyang for years — almost every pre-COVID foreign tour group was lodged here. Rooms start around US$110/night as part of a tour package, and the overall score lands at 7.6/10 from real guest reviews — suited to travelers who want the full Pyongyang experience packaged inside the city's most recognizable tower.

Koryo Hotel is the Twin Towers that have anchored Pyongyang's skyline since 1985 — two 45-storey towers rising 143 metres, joined by a skybridge on level 30, giving the building an unmistakable H-shape that shows up in nearly every postcard of the North Korean capital. The location is Central District, directly across from Pyongyang Station (about a 10-minute walk) and only 3 minutes by car from Kim Il-sung Square. The selling point here isn't international luxury — it's experiences you can't get anywhere else: a two-storey revolving restaurant at the top of one tower that turns slowly while you eat, a classic basement bar where almost every foreign traveller passes through, a live fish pond in the lobby (point at one and the kitchen prepares it), plus a bookshop, post office and barber inside the building. The roughly 500 rooms are decorated in 1980s-90s style, with rates from about $100/night. Score 7.8/10 — best for travellers who want to feel Pyongyang in full.

Pothonggang Hotel is a state-run 4-star with 161 rooms in a 9-storey cream-stone block in Pyongyang's Potonggang District, last given a major refit in 1998. The selling point is geography: a quiet, green riverside setting roughly 3 km from Kim Il-sung Square, unlike Yanggakdo stranded on its mid-river island or Koryo wedged into the busy city centre. Deluxe rooms start from about $91 a night, with suites up to around $166, and from the 5th floor up most face the Pothong Bridge and a riverside park where locals walk in the evening. The on-site Korean BBQ and Japanese restaurant get the loudest praise from Western tour groups — better than expected for the country. Guest scores hit 7.9/10 on Agoda and 7.6 on Booking — numbers that are unusually high in Pyongyang and explain why repeat visitors call it the city's most livable stay.

Sosan Hotel is a 30-floor, roughly 466-room tower in Mangyongdae District, the Sports Village area on the western edge of Pyongyang, ringed by pine woods and the city's main athletic complex. The atmosphere is noticeably quieter and greener than the Central District towers — and the trade-off is a 20-minute drive to Kim Il Sung Square and roughly 30 minutes from Pyongyang Sunan Airport (FNJ). The headline is the guest-room refurbishment: tour-group reviewers consistently call these the most up-to-date rooms in the capital, with firm king beds, repainted bathrooms and strong rain showers. Inside the tower you get a real bowling alley, billiards and ping-pong rooms, a karaoke suite, and the lobby latte bar that European visitors keep mentioning by name — espresso pulled on a real machine, served with small cakes. Prices start around $85 a night through tour packages, and the property scores 7.5/10 across guest reviews. A solid pick for travelers who want the most modern bed in Pyongyang and don't mind the commute.

Chongnyon Hotel — literally Youth Hotel in Korean — is a 30-storey, 465-room tower that opened in 1989 for the 13th World Festival of Youth and Students. It sits on Liberation Street in southwest Pyongyang, wedged between the Kwangbok Department Store and the Mangyongdae School Children's Palace, the latter a state-run academy where kids drill song, dance and music for visiting tour groups. The location is roughly 15-20 minutes by car from Kim Il-sung Square and about 30-40 minutes from Sunan International Airport (FNJ). Facilities are surprisingly stuffed for a budget pick — an indoor pool with jets, a sauna, karaoke, a bar, a buffet restaurant and the occasional ping-pong table. Rooms start around $75 a night, the cheapest of any foreigner-approved Pyongyang property, with an average guest score of 7.2/10 on Agoda. Best for travelers chasing the experience over the thread-count.

Pyongyang Hotel is a 198-room second-class property sitting on what may be the most central corner in the entire North Korean capital — the junction of Sungri Street and Yonggwang Street, directly opposite Pyongyang Grand Theatre and a few steps from the Taedong River. Step out the front door and you can walk to Kim Il-sung Square, the political heart of the city, in roughly 10 minutes. The Yonggwang metro station on the Chollima Line — one of the most ornate stations on Earth — is a 5-minute walk. The most-quoted highlight from past guest reviews is the 6th-floor cafe, a panoramic perch where you sip coffee over Pyongyang's skyline starting at around $70 a night. Rooms are clean and a sensible size for the 3-star tier, beds are comfortable, and the overall score lands at 7.3/10 — best read as a base for exploring on foot, not a place to chase luxury.

Changgwangsan Hotel is an 18-storey, 420-room tower built in 1975 on Chollima Street in central Pyongyang, close to the Pothong River. What sets it apart from other 3-stars in the city is the large indoor swimming pool and gym, which reviews consistently flag as a step above the standard 3-star fitout in town. A major 2018 renovation refreshed the lobby and most rooms, so the public spaces feel cleaner and more modern than peers stuck in the 70s. Location is one of the best for short business trips: 5 minutes on foot to the Air Koryo office and Rakwon Department Store, around 10 minutes by car to Pyongyang Station, and roughly 25 minutes by car to Sunan International Airport (FNJ). With nightly rates around $65-$115, it is the value pick for travelers who care about location and core facilities more than luxury polish.

Ryanggang Hotel is one of North Korea's 1st-class state-run hotels, sitting in Potonggang District about 3-4 km west of Kim Il-sung Square. Two twin towers built in 1989 hold roughly 320 rooms, lined up along the Potong River with a concrete bridge and the city skyline in the distance. The regime once advertised it as a six-star property — reality on the ground is a comfortable 3-star with hard-baked 1980s decor: brown-and-gold tones, thick patterned carpets, oversized crystal chandeliers, slow lifts, and a revolving restaurant on the top floor. The tower packs in a bowling alley, snooker, karaoke rooms, an indoor pool, and several restaurants. Tour-package rates run roughly $60-110 a night (~NZ$100-180), which makes it the cheapest 1st-class option in town. Real guest scores: Agoda 6.5, Booking 6.4, Tripadvisor 4.5/5 — not luxury, but a working Soviet-era atmosphere you can't get anywhere else on the planet.

Haebangsan Hotel (Korean for Liberation Mountain) is the original second-class hotel where Pyongyang has been hosting foreign tour groups since 1962 — a 9-story grey tower with roughly 80 rooms on Sungri Street in the heart of Central District. Its neighbours are the editorial office of Rodong Sinmun (the official party newspaper) and the foot of Taedong Bridge across the river of the same name. What no other budget hotel in Pyongyang can match is the location: 10 minutes on foot to Kim Il-sung Square, the parade ground you've seen on the news, and a quick ride on the Chollima line from nearby Puhung Station to Mansudae or the Arch of Triumph. Rates run roughly $50–$90 a night — the cheapest rooms officially open to foreigners in the city, trading 1960s-era decor for a footprint you cannot get at Yanggakdo or Koryo. Reviews from approved tour operators score it 6.8/10, best for backpackers on a group tour who value location and historical atmosphere over modern comforts.

Ryugyong Hotel — the world calls it Pyongyang's pyramid hotel — is a 105-floor, 330-metre triangular tower that has loomed over the city's western Potonggang district since 1987. The original plan: a 5-star landmark with roughly 3,000 rooms and a rotating restaurant on top, briefly the tallest hotel on Earth. Then the Soviet Union collapsed, funding evaporated, and the bare concrete shell sat exposed for 16 years before Egypt's Orascom finally wrapped it in green reflective glass in 2008. LED light shows were added in 2018. It still holds the Guinness title of largest unoccupied building in the world, and a 2024 report says the government is in talks with foreign investors to convert sections into a casino. We include it here as a historical landmark and the single most recognisable shape on the Pyongyang skyline — not as somewhere you can actually book.