Kathmandu Guest House was a Rana mansion converted into a hotel by Karna Sakya in 1967. Starting with just 13 rooms, it has been slowly nurtured into a sprawling 121-room hotel with more than the required amenities. Today it is reputed to be an internationally acknowledged "best budget hotel". It is the first hotel established in Thamel, which is Kathmandu’s most popular tourist destination with the highest concentration of tourism-based service outlets in Asia.

KGH has an impressive record of guest lists including famous climbers, writers, researchers and numerous world celebrities from the Beatles to Ricky Martin and Oscar winning actor Jeremy Irons. Many books, articles and reports have been written in the famous garden of KGH.