Northern Laos
This traveller-friendly place offers clean rooms with bedside lamps, art on the walls, free tea and inviting balconies. There's also a newer block of…
Must-see hotels in Laos
Luang Prabang
This clean and tidy joint off a serene side street is run by a friendly Chinese lady. There's a patio terrace to chill on, and the reception is scattered…
Vang Vieng
This park-like compound, opposite Tham Jang, sits in a peaceful spot by the river. Given its unique location off the main drag, a few kilometres north of …
Bolaven Plateau Region
Set on a former coffee and tea plantation 15km west of Paksong, the smart bungalows at this sprawling resort have polished wooden floors, ultrasoft beds…
Northern Laos
Gateway Villa has tastefully furnished rooms with hardwood floors, wicker chairs, TVs and comfy beds. Some rooms are more sophisticated than others and…
Northern Laos
Sabaydee has unfailingly clean rooms with comfy beds, TVs, fans and en suites. Decked in bright colours and pleasant furnishings, some overlook the river…
Luang Prabang
This takes us back to old-school 1990s Luang Prabang with an old house in the heart of the city offering rooms for less than a tenner. The cheapest rooms…
Luang Prabang
This cheap family-run guesthouse has an enticing location down on the Mekong riverfront. There are just six rooms here, three twins and three doubles, but…
Northern Laos
The menthol-green rooms enjoy en-suite bathrooms, double beds, cable TV and welcome blankets. The price includes a pick-up from the airport or bus station…
Northern Laos
Khaup Jai offers clean, simple rooms with private bathrooms in a well-kept guesthouse with a friendly English-speaking owner. Fan rooms downstairs, air…
Northern Laos
This white monolith sits immediately south of Vieng Xai market and has clean air-con rooms with above-average furniture and stylish en suites. The parking…
Bolaven Plateau Region
Sakda's small but fairly modern rooms are both better value and quality than many of the pricier places in town. It's 100m north of the market's west side…
Don Det & Don Khon
The rooms are super-basic, but it's a quiet and beautiful location with some surrounding gardens, unusual for Don Det. The restaurant serves excellent…
Vang Vieng
With its new pool and ambitious plans to expand, this place is steadily upgrading itself. We hope this growth eventually reaches the dorms and rooms,…
Southern Laos
This ageing guesthouse was undergoing refurbishments when we last visited. It has a pleasant garden fronting onto the main road and backs onto great river…
Pakse
Around the corner from the tourist strip, but seemingly far away, this popular (ie often full) spot has quiet, spiffy rooms and English-speaking owners…
Vang Vieng
Located by the Nam Song in an idyllically quiet spot a few kilometres north of town, the setting here is more interesting than the generally weary-feeling…
Luang Prabang
This charming backstreet boutique hotel offers 28 rooms set around a small garden courtyard with tropical foliage and a small pond. Rooms include a small…
Northern Laos
Located just off the main strip and overlooking the mighty Mekong, this is the most upmarket hotel in the centre of town, although that's not saying much…
Don Det & Don Khon
'Resort' is a bit of a stretch, but this place right on the river, newly opened in 2019, has neat and comfortable wooden bungalows, and also operates the…
Bolaven Plateau Region
This eye-catching blue building just off the southeast corner of the market is cheap and central, and has a nice feel to it. Rooms on the 2nd floor can…
Central Laos
Located right at the fountain square, this colonial-era building has bare-walled dorms and private rooms. With a motorcycle hire place in the lobby, the…
Central Laos
Thanks to a bit of tender loving care, this blue, Soviet-inspired monolith has been somewhat improved, with decent rooms that have cable TV, air-con and…
Nong Khiaw
Namhoun's cheaper bungalows are set around a small garden behind the family house. Much better are the more expensive riverside bungalows facing the Nam…
Northern Laos
Nice lives up to its name, being neither fantastic nor terrible, it's just nice. It offers clean, basic rooms, tiled floors, fresh en suites, and that's…
Vientiane
This riverfront hotel is one of the smarter options along the western stretch of the Mekong River. Rooms are cool and contemporary, although the cheaper…
Vang Vieng
An exile just off main street, this aged compound offers comfortable wood-trim rooms with air-con, starched linen and hot-water en suite bathrooms. It…
Central Laos
Sitting back from busy Rte 8, this pleasant guesthouse has large rooms with mahogany beds and furniture, basic en suite and TV. The cheapest rooms are…
Vang Vieng
One of Vang Vieng's original hotels but under new ownership, the Diamond Gold offers simple rooms that could use an update. The real reasons to consider a…
Don Det & Don Khon
A good choice in the budget range on the sunset side, Seng Thavan's four en suite rooms are old but fastidiously clean. They're off the river, but you get…
Northern Laos
The five bamboo-weave bungalows here form an arc around a panoramic river view. Recently refurbished, the great-value clean rooms have hammocks, good beds…
Vientiane
The reception here will get you hooked, with a chopped-up classic Mercedes for a front desk and a vintage Vespa. Go deeper and you'll find 64…
Vientiane
The dorms here feel cool and are relatively modern, but the communal areas are messy and in need of paint. Funky Monkey is close to the buzz of the…
Savannakhet
Pastel-hued Leena has something of a motel vibe with its kitsch decor, peach-coloured rooms with tiled floors, and an inviting semi-open-air breakfast…
Northern Laos
This small guesthouse has basic rooms with mosquito nets, hot-water showers and squat toilets. The owners offer a few traveller-friendly services such as…
Northern Laos
Jenny's is clean with decent Mekong views, protective mosi-mesh over windows and an attached bathroom for each room. Includes TV, blankets and comfortable…
Vang Vieng
Radiating a welcoming if scruffy vibe, Pan's is a VV backpacking institution that spans dorms, rooms with and without en suite, and bungalows. There's a…
Vientiane
A popular little guesthouse on the backstreets near the national stadium, with somewhat musty six-bed dorms available, including female-only options, and…
Northern Laos
Located over the bridge on the same side as the main market, this well-maintained hotel has 17 rooms complete with fresh linen, pine furniture, satellite…
Bolaven Plateau Region
An older, but overall good hotel with a variety of clean and fairly well-maintained bungalows surrounded by pleasant gardens with some tall trees. It's…
