The hotel is finished, but other parts of the resort are still under construction. From afar, the building isn’t terribly impressive, but from a hundred meters away it is quite beautiful. I particularly loved the glass facade, which gave the illusion of water flowing over glass, although it was just glass. (Does it make sense to say that glass looked glassy?) There was also a rippling wall (which I couldn’t take a focused picture of) made of small metallic plates hanging near the main entrance that was very pretty.

I first saw the structure at night, when it looked like a gigantic spaceship straddling across stout pillars. By day, however, it looks more sophisticated. The roof (you can pay $20 to take the elevator up if you are not a guest of the hotel) apparently provides a great view; I was unable to go up but here’s a link to their website with great visuals.

The hotel was extremely large; the lobby is at the base of the three pillars and each of the pillars is its own atrium. The lobby was narrow and filled with tourists, so I don’t know how I’d feel about being a VIP guest. Also, some of the restaurants were on the lobby level and the smell of food (grilled fish, perhaps?) was not particularly pleasant. There was a lot of nice artwork, though, starting with a big Sol LeWitt behind the main reception desk.

The elevator lobby for each of the three towers was very small and had an attendant (probably to prevent non-guests from taking the elevator upstairs). The ambiance reminded me of the luxurious yet tacky karaoke rooms that they have in Seoul.  More pictures are on Flickr.