One of the most common misconceptions on hotels in Pyongyang is there is only one hotel that is allowed to accommodate foreign tourists during their visit to North Korea. Pyongyang being the capital of the DPRK, attracts up to 4,000 western tourists and recently over 150,000 mainland Chinese each year.

Whilst numbers are considerably low compared to their neighbours in South Korea, Japan and China, the North Koreans have taken initiative in providing accommodation to their guests as early as the 1960s, with the majority of the hotels being completed during the 1980s and with the most recent opening of a few hotels during 2010s.

The North Korean hotel star rating does not exactly follow the international standards. Instead hotels in North Korea are broken down into two categories: standard and deluxe. Standard hotels offer basic amenities with clean guest rooms, reliable staff service, and a variety of leisure activities to keep patrons busy during the evening. Deluxe hotels raise the level of quality and comfort.

The standard of hotels in Pyongyang are generally higher quality than the hotels located in regional provinces outside of the capital. Hot water, air conditioning and electricity are fairly reliable throughout the year but you may experience a brief power cut during summer or hot water shortage during winter which hotels pre-empt and do their best to accommodate their guests.

Our comprehensive North Korea Pyongyang hotel guide identifies each of the hotel’s unique characteristic and charm whilst breaking down what restaurants, bars and facilities are on offer, the quality of the rooms and service, staff friendliness, the hotel’s history and anecdotes, locations & views from rooms, extensive video & photo library, and we provide insider tips from what we’ve learnt and picked up over the decades of staying at each of these hotels to benefit your stay in Pyongyang.