Hotel Everest View is one of the most famous buildings in the Himalaya. Perched at 3,880 metres (12,730 ft) on a forested ridge above Namche Bazaar, it was opened in 1971 and listed by Guinness World Records in 2004 as the highest-placed hotel in the world. Higher lodges have been built since, but none can match its story or its view. On a clear morning its stone terrace looks straight up the valley to Mount Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse, with Ama Dablam rising beside them.

For trekkers on the Everest Base Camp Trek, the hotel is the goal of the acclimatisation hike from Namche, and very often the place where they see Everest properly for the first time.

Hotel Everest View at a glance

• Altitude: 3,880 m / 12,730 ft
• Location: Syangboche ridge above Namche Bazaar, Sagarmatha National Park, Solukhumbu, Nepal
• Opened: 1971
• Founder: Takashi Miyahara, Japanese tourism pioneer
• Architect: Yoshinobu Kumagaya
• Record: listed by Guinness World Records in 2004 as the highest-placed hotel in the world
• Rooms: about 12, each facing the mountains
• Views: Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse, Ama Dablam, Thamserku, Kongde and Khumbila
• From Namche: about 1.5 to 2 hours uphill on foot
• On our trek: the Day 4 acclimatisation hike of the 14-day Everest Base Camp Trek

The story of the hotel

Takashi Miyahara came to Nepal from Japan in the 1960s to work on development projects and fell in love with the country. He believed tourism could change the lives of mountain communities, and dreamed of a hotel where ordinary travellers could sit in comfort and look at Everest. He received a construction permit in 1968, and over the next three years his team built the hotel by hand on the remote Syangboche ridge, with materials carried in by porters and yaks. There was no road and no airstrip, so he built one: the Syangboche airstrip just below the hotel, which today serves only helicopters.

The low stone building, designed by Japanese architect Yoshinobu Kumagaya to blend into the ridge, opened in 1971. Together with a few other pioneering lodges it helped put Nepal on the world tourism map. Miyahara died in 2019, and his family continues to run the hotel he spent his life building.

The view from the terrace

The reason everyone climbs here is the view. From the open terrace you look north-east up the Dudh Koshi and Imja valleys. The dark summit pyramid of Everest peeks over the long wall of Nuptse, with Lhotse, the world’s fourth-highest mountain, just to its right. Closer and more dramatic is Ama Dablam, often called the most beautiful mountain in the world, with Thamserku and Kangtega towering on the right and the sacred peak of Khumbila behind you. Below, on its ridge, you can pick out Tengboche Monastery, where you will sleep in two days’ time.

Mornings are usually clearest. By late morning cloud often rises from the valleys, so it pays to start the hike early.

The acclimatisation hike from Namche

On Day 4 of our trek you rest in Namche to let your body adjust to the altitude. “Rest” means climbing high and sleeping low, and the walk to Hotel Everest View is the classic way to do it. From Namche the trail climbs steeply past the Sagarmatha National Park headquarters and on to the Syangboche airstrip, then follows the ridge through juniper and rhododendron to the hotel, gaining about 440 metres in roughly 1.5 to 2 hours. After a hot drink on the terrace many groups loop back via the Sherpa villages of Khumjung and Khunde, home of the school Sir Edmund Hillary founded, before descending to Namche for the night.

Tea, breakfast and staying the night

You don’t need to be a guest to enjoy the view. Trekkers can order tea, coffee, a lemon-ginger-honey drink or a meal on the terrace or in the warm dining room; prices are higher than in teahouses, as you would expect. Staying overnight is a special treat, with simple but comfortable rooms that each face the mountains. The hotel keeps supplementary oxygen available, because 3,880 m is high enough for altitude to affect people who fly straight in.

Breakfast with Everest by helicopter

If you don’t have two weeks to trek, you can still sit on this terrace. Our Everest Base Camp helicopter day tour flies from Kathmandu over Lukla and Namche to Kala Patthar, then lands at Syangboche for breakfast at Hotel Everest View before returning to Kathmandu the same morning. See the hour-by-hour helicopter tour itinerary.

Tips for your visit

• Start early from Namche for the clearest views.
• Walk slowly. The climb out of Namche is steep, and this is an acclimatisation day, not a race.
• Bring a warm layer and a windproof jacket for sitting on the terrace.
• Carry cash in Nepali rupees for drinks and snacks.
• Stay hydrated and tell your guide about any headache or dizziness.