Nepal’s Hotel Mystic Mountain has announced its plan to be upgraded to a five-star property to cater to the growing demand for hotel rooms from foreign and domestic travellers, reports The Kathmandu Post.

The four-star hotel, which is located in the lush forest of a hilltop in Nagarkot, opened in July 2017 with 33 rooms.

Featuring hexagon-shaped building blocks, the hotel offers modern amenities including spa and gym, and swimming pool.

Hotel Mystic Mountain executive operation officer Bharat Prasad Badal said: “We are now upgrading to a five-star property by adding 30 rooms.”

According to Nepal’s Tourism Ministry guideline, five-star hotels in the Kathmandu Valley require a minimum of 100 guest rooms.

To add new rooms, the hotel plans to invest NRs1bn ($7.5m) to add the new rooms.

 “The project will begin soon,” added Badal.

The hotel, expanded in 2018 with the addition of 39 rooms, and which is located 30km east of Kathmandu, offers panoramic view of the Himalayas.

Hotel Mystic Mountain stated that it is witnessing increasing demand from the meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) segment.

Badal added: “We have been constructing a conference hall with the capacity to accommodate 350 people. We are also focusing on the MICE segment.”

Nagarkot is a popular hill station near Kathmandu. Nepal’s tourism was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic and now with the easing of restrictions, the hospitality industry is awaiting the number of foreign travellers to increase.

For the first seven months of this year, the count of foreign tourists arriving by air touched 534,207.

Nepal Tourism Board expects to host a minimum of one million foreign travellers this year, mostly from Asia.