'Hotel of doom' that cost £600 million has never had a guest stay over

If you think you've ever had a particularly bad stay at a hotel, thank your lucky stars you've never had to stay at the so-called 'hotel of doom'.

Well, you'd never even have the opportunity to do so - as the Ryugyong Hotel, which sits in North Korea's capital Pyongyang, has never welcomed any guests.

This 105-storey, pyramid-shaped building was first started all the way back in 1987, but like many North Korean projects, it's been beset by economic problems and delays.

Matej Hudovernik / Getty

It's become pretty famous because of its struggles and its hulking jagged shape, meaning it's a hugely recognizable part of the Pyongyang skyline (which isn't full of skyscrapers by any means).

The Ryugyong Hotel is one of its tallest buildings at 330 meters, and it's taken decades to get even remotely close to completion - meaning it's yet to welcome any guests.

In theory, it was designed to open and coincide with something called the 1989 World Festival of Youth and Students, what CNN called 'a sort of socialist version of the Olympics' - but it was never finished.

In fact, for a long time it was basically abandoned. After the building's structure was complete, it was left for over 15 years as just a concrete shell, because finishing it was too expensive.

It was then given the name 'The Hotel of Doom' by some observers, thanks to its imposing looks and creepy, unfinished vibe.

Mirko Kuzmanovic / Getty

In the 2000s it was finally outfitted with metal and glass to finish the exterior, but since then it's been stop-start again.

Hotel groups have made announcements around openings then pulled out and, according to reports, the internal rooms are still a long way off from being ready for the public.

Simon Cockerell, who manages a company that holds North Korea tours, talked to CNN about touring the building: "They took us into the lobby area, where there was a lot of exposed cement. Then we went (on) the one working elevator to the top, which was the 99th floor, I believe.

"It took a long time to get there, because it was a service elevator, not a modern lift with a string of buttons. There was a lift operator who determined where to stop. At the top we had a look around, took some pictures and went back down to the lobby again."

Estimates suggest that over £600 million has been spent on the hotel so far, and it might take an additional £1.6 billion to finish it off. If that ever did happen, we're not sure who would be rushing to stay at a place nicknamed the hotel of doom...