diff --git a/lib/client.js b/lib/client.js
index 0ce1576f5..106dfea26 100644
--- a/lib/client.js
+++ b/lib/client.js
@@ -1943,13 +1943,15 @@ MatrixClient.prototype.registerGuest = function(opts, callback) {
  * Peek into a room and receive updates about the room. This only works if the
  * history visibility for the room is world_readable.
  * @param {String} roomId The room to attempt to peek into.
+ * @return {module:client.Promise} Resolves: Room object
+ * @return {module:http-api.MatrixError} Rejects: with an error response.
  */
 MatrixClient.prototype.peekInRoom = function(roomId) {
     if (this._peekSync) {
         this._peekSync.stopPeeking();
     }
     this._peekSync = new SyncApi(this);
-    this._peekSync.peek(roomId);
+    return this._peekSync.peek(roomId);
 };
 
 /**
diff --git a/lib/sync.js b/lib/sync.js
index 1bc7335ac..e7299a39b 100644
--- a/lib/sync.js
+++ b/lib/sync.js
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ function SyncApi(client, opts) {
     opts.pollTimeout = opts.pollTimeout || (30 * 1000);
     opts.pendingEventOrdering = opts.pendingEventOrdering || "chronological";
     this.opts = opts;
+    this._peekRoomId = null;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -143,9 +144,53 @@ SyncApi.prototype.syncLeftRooms = function() {
  * Peek into a room. This will result in the room in question being synced so it
  * is accessible via getRooms(). Live updates for the room will be provided.
  * @param {string} roomId The room ID to peek into.
+ * @return {Promise} A promise which resolves once the room has been added to the
+ * store.
  */
 SyncApi.prototype.peek = function(roomId) {
+    var self = this;
+    var client = this.client;
+    this._peekRoomId = roomId;
+    return this.client.roomInitialSync(roomId, 20).then(function(response) {
+        // make sure things are init'd
+        response.messages = response.messages || {};
+        response.messages.chunk = response.messages.chunk || [];
+        response.state = response.state || [];
 
+        var peekRoom = self.createRoom(roomId);
+
+        // FIXME: Mostly duplicated from _processRoomEvents but not entirely
+        // because "state" in this API is at the BEGINNING of the chunk
+        var oldStateEvents = utils.map(
+            utils.deepCopy(response.state), client.getEventMapper()
+        );
+        var stateEvents = utils.map(
+            response.state, client.getEventMapper()
+        );
+        var messages = utils.map(
+            response.messages.chunk, client.getEventMapper()
+        );
+
+        if (response.messages.start) {
+            peekRoom.oldState.paginationToken = response.messages.start;
+        }
+
+        // set the state of the room to as it was after the timeline executes
+        peekRoom.oldState.setStateEvents(oldStateEvents);
+        peekRoom.currentState.setStateEvents(stateEvents);
+
+        self._resolveInvites(peekRoom);
+        peekRoom.recalculate(self.client.credentials.userId);
+
+        // roll backwards to diverge old state:
+        peekRoom.addEventsToTimeline(messages.reverse(), true);
+
+        client.store.storeRoom(peekRoom);
+        client.emit("Room", peekRoom);
+
+        self._peekPoll(roomId);
+        return peekRoom;
+    });
 };
 
 /**
@@ -153,7 +198,40 @@ SyncApi.prototype.peek = function(roomId) {
  * peeked.
  */
 SyncApi.prototype.stopPeeking = function() {
+    this._peekRoomId = null;
+};
 
+/**
+ * Do a peek room poll.
+ * @param {string} roomId
+ * @param {string} token from= token
+ */
+SyncApi.prototype._peekPoll = function(roomId, token) {
+    if (this._peekRoomId !== roomId) {
+        console.log("Stopped peeking in room %s", roomId);
+        return;
+    }
+
+    var self = this;
+    // FIXME: gut wrenching; hard-coded timeout values
+    this.client._http.authedRequestWithPrefix(undefined, "GET", "/events", {
+        room_id: roomId,
+        timeout: 30 * 1000,
+        from: token
+    }, undefined, httpApi.PREFIX_V1, 50 * 1000).done(function(res) {
+        // strip out events which aren't for the given room_id (e.g presence)
+        var events = res.chunk.filter(function(e) {
+            return e.room_id === roomId;
+        }).map(self.client.getEventMapper());
+        var room = self.client.getRoom(roomId);
+        room.addEvents(events);
+        self._peekPoll(roomId, res.end);
+    }, function(err) {
+        console.error("[%s] Peek poll failed: %s", roomId, err);
+        setTimeout(function() {
+            self._peekPoll(roomId, token);
+        }, 30 * 1000);
+    });
 };
 
 /**