HEARTBREAK HOTELS

Sometimes there’s a good reason that grand schemes fail.

SAN-ZHI POD VILLAGE

The Plan: In 1978, the Taiwanese government built a futuristic vacation resort on Taiwan’s northern coast—a place for wealthy visitors from Taipei to escape into space-age luxury. Each “building” consisted of eight yellow, green, pink, or blue fiberglass pods attached to a central cement tower, looking like an armada of UFOs. The towers surrounded a man-made lake; a massive dragon sculpture guarded the resort’s entrance.

What Happened: Several fatal accidents delayed, and then halted, construction. Stories spread that the project was cursed. Reason: The dragon was angry. (To widen the road at the entrance, developers had to split the statue in half.) Then the 1980s real estate bubble burst, and money for second homes dried up. The half-finished San-Zhi turned into a ghost town: The vibrant colors of the pods faded and the buildings began to collapse. Locals claimed that the spirits of the workers who’d died during construction lingered among the ruins, unable to pass on. For more than 30 years, the broken dragon guarded the ruins until the pods were demolished in 2009 to make way for a new vacation resort.

THE IRVING CLIFF HOTEL

Background: In 1841, Washington Irving, author of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow,” visited Honesdale, Pennsylvania, with his friend (and town namesake) Philip Hone and climbed a rocky cliff along the Lackawaxen River. The views from the top were so magnificent that Irving declared in a letter to his sister that it should be kept forever as a “public resort” for all to enjoy. (Hone’s response: He named the cliff in Irving’s honor.)

The Plan: The Irving Cliff Hotel Company had a different idea. In 1884, they purchased the land as the site of a grand hotel with broad verandas that overlooked Irving’s celebrated view. With 125 rooms, an elevator, gas lighting, electric bells to call room service, and fresh mountain air, the hotel would lure summer visitors from sweltering Philadelphia and New York City.

What Happened: Just after workers roughed in the first two stories, high winds reduced the structure to rubble. Bad omen? Construction resumed and the hotel was completed on schedule, with a formal opening planned for July 1885. But the developers had incurred huge construction debts. Lawsuits prevented the hotel’s opening, as contractors clamored to be paid. In 1887, the property sold at sheriff’s auction for $11,000—less than half the amount owed for its construction. The new owner restored the structure to its former grandeur, complete with fine silver in the restaurant and embroidered linen in the rooms. But as the hotel was being readied for its June 22, 1889, opening, disaster struck again. Fire! The hotel’s water system couldn’t adequately supply the fire department’s pumpers, and the only other water source was the river at the foot of the sheer cliff, far beyond the reach of their hoses. Firemen salvaged what they could—appliances, carpets, chandeliers—but the structure burned to the ground. The fire was suspicious…but its cause was never determined, and nothing has ever been built on the site again. It remains to this day a public park with a stunning view, free for all who care to visit—just as Washington Irving wanted.

THE RYUGYONG HOTEL

The Plan: In 1987, North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung decided to build a futuristic hotel as a monument to the country’s economic growth. The 105-story pyramidal structure would pierce the sky above the capital, Pyongyang, like a spearhead. Its design included 3,000 rooms, five revolving restaurants, and an observation deck. Rising 1,100 feet, it would be the world’s tallest hotel.

What Happened: In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed, and its financial support of North Korea ended, leaving the country strapped for money. As a result, construction of the hotel came to a dead stop. The windowless shell towered above Pyongyang, earning it the dubious distinction of being the world’s tallest unoccupied building, with the nicknames “Ghostscraper” and “Hotel of Doom.” The European Union Chamber of Commerce calls it “irreparable,” specifically citing its curving elevator shafts. Yet plans to finish the hotel keep popping up. The latest was to open it in late 2012 on the posthumous 100th birthday of Eternal President Kim Il-Sung. The exterior got some new windows in 2011, but the odds were stacked against completion. First, it would cost about $2 billion—10 percent of North Korea’s annual economic output. Second, North Korea would have to admit that the Ryugyong Hotel actually exists. For years, it has been airbrushed out of photographs and excluded from maps of Pyongyang. Perhaps that’s for the best, though. In 2010, North Korea ranked #1 on a list of “worst places on earth” to visit.

THE HARMON HOTEL

The Plan: In 2006, MGM Resorts broke ground on the $8.5 billion, 67-acre CityCenter in Las Vegas—the largest privately funded construction project in U.S. history. The “city within a city” project included a casino, high-rise condos, stores, a dining and entertainment district, and several hotels. One of them was the Harmon, a 49-story hotel and condo tower designed by Lord Norman Foster, the “rock star” British architect who designed the super-modern Great Court, the centerpiece of London’s British Museum.

What Happened: In 2008, building inspectors found improperly placed steel reinforcing rods, commonly called rebar, on 15 of 20 completed floors. (Embedded in concrete, rebar helps skyscrapers bear their massive loads.) Result: The ability of the 49-story structure to withstand high winds and earthquakes had been severely compromised. In January 2009, MGM scrapped the 200 condos planned for the top floors and reduced the plan to 28 stories, knee-capping Foster’s original design.

Further investigation determined that the work had actually been inspected and approved. The official who made the inspections left town, and the Harmon became the poster child for subpar construction. MGM sued the contractor, Perini Building, for shoddy work, and Perini countersued for nonpayment of construction costs. The suits won’t be settled for some time, but MGM has already written off the Harmon as a $279 million loss. For now, the elegant blue glass building remains an empty shell, due for demolition. A giant vinyl wrap curves around the tower promoting Viva Elvis, a Cirque du Soleil production at CityCenter’s casino. The hotel once called “one of the most beautifully designed buildings ever” has become a billboard.

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