Stayed here while on tour in October 2010. I wasn't expecting anything brilliant considering this was North Korea but I was pleasantly surprised to find myself in a spacious, clean and well designed room.

The suite was on the the 27th floor and it was spacious, with separate bathroom, as well as an open alcove with floor to ceiling windows with views overlooking Pyongyang... neat! The main room contained two king size single beds with clean sheets, nice soft pillows, duvet and luxurious woolen blankets. There are also floor to ceiling windows with views overlooking Pyongyang. There was a TV with five channels on it including a couple of Chinese channels, a Russian one and BBC (No NK channels unfortunately). There is also a pot with hot water inside as well as coffee, tea and cups and saucers but no boiling water facilities. There is an old fashioned nightstand between the two beds that has an alarm and radio built in. The alarm works.

The bathroom was well equipped but lacked a hairdryer. Being a female with long hair this was annoying.. but hey you're in North Korea. But they have pretty much everything else complete with toothbrush, guest soaps and travel size shampoo and conditioner with the Hotel Koryo logo inscribed (good souvenir). The towels are really tiny. If you're not tiny, bring your own towel.

There's usually a lot of noise outside by the time it gets to about 7am in the morning after the workers' siren sounds and military music starts playing music on the streets of Pyongyang. And even on the 27th floor it's quite audible. You can stand at the window and watch the city though. It's fascinating. But if you like to sleep in this can be annoying.

Breakfast is served in the breakfast hall on the third level. The room is nice.. big spacious, lots of tables and well decorated. The food is terribly uninspired but not terrible. Bread, congee, milk and soy milk is provided as well as tea and coffee. There is also toast, butter, jam as well as some fruits, egg and some Korean dishes like pickled vegetables. There is not a huge variety even in what is considered a luxury hotel in Pyongyang. But then again, you're in Pyongyang.

There is a souvenir shop in the hotel that sells knick knacks but most of the things in there seem to be made in China and is not very interesting. However, on the second floor of the hotel there is a book shop and a postal office where you can buy stamps. The book shop offers many North Korean titles in English. You can find books about Korean War, Pyongyang city, the Juche Ideology as well as works written by Kim Jong Il himself. There are also North Korean recipe books and comics and children's books. The shop also sells little pins, badges and pens which make a neat present for someone back home. It is not cheap though, but you can try to bargain with the lady who works there.

Word of warning. Don't take anything from the hotel. Some dudes on our trip decided to keep the towels as a souvenir and they were kept in Pyongyang forever. Just kidding. But they did get told off.

All in all, it was a pleasant stay. Would stay there again when, if ever, I'm in Pyongyang the next time.