The Best Hotels and Resorts in the World: The Gold List 2026 | Condé Nast Traveler

"The Happy House, a historic family home in a Nepalese Himalayan valley east of Mount Everest, was given its name by Sir Edmund Hillary, who used to stay here. The moniker sums up the spirit perfectly, of a guesthouse best booked in its entirety for a group of friends or family. The region, considered the cradle of Buddhist-Sherpa culture, feels like a very long way from the news cycle (but it’s only a 40-minute flight from Kathmandu to the tiny Phaplu airstrip). Highlights include a significant (and very beautiful) monastery, Chiwong, at the head of the valley, with a community of monks closely connected to generations of the Lama family, who are the owners of the Happy House. Hence the deep access, with activities including hikes on pilgrim paths that wind through pine forests, or camping on ridgelines with spectacular views of Everest. Every detail is handmade and elegant: the finest Mongolian cashmere, hand-beaten silver water cups, walls covered in murals by Buddhist thangka painters. But the lifeblood of the house will always be the kitchen, presided over by the most gifted of chefs, Mingma Sherpa—not just because of his extraordinarily delicate palette, or his foraging knowledge (you’ll eat flowers, ferns, and mushrooms as well as vegetables grown in the gardens), but Mingma’s magnetic laughter, which rolls out of the kitchen morning til night. The Happy House is Mingma’s domain, and everyone who has ever been here will tell you the same. From $600. —Sophy Roberts" - CNT Editors