I just booked this Luang Prabang hotel for four days in November through CircleofAsia.com. The rate was $176 with tax and service included. This is about $26 less than any other rate I saw. They require pre-payment 30 days prior to our stay. Seems like a good deal. We'll see.

That's a good rate at an outstanding hotel. What are the dates you will be in LP?

BTW Tong is encouraging me to crash your party in Bkk....

LP-11/23/07-11/27/07. I was surprised at the rate as well. I'm still somewhat sceptical.

How can you crash, when you're an invited guest? It would be great to finally meet you.

Andy, check out the hotel's own website. They have special packages that may be a better deal. We stayed there and loved it (and loved Luang Prabang), but the regular rooms are small -- and you're a big guy. You may want to look at the Pansea where Bob stayed. Much bigger rooms.

Andy, although the Pansea is a nice place (we had dinner there), it is far away from the town. You can walk anywhere in town from the MS and you are close by for the morning offerings to the monks. I have heard that the regular rooms are small but how much time do you spend there anyway? What makes the MS a great place are the people, the restaurant, the setting and the location.

We'll be there for 4 days. We like walking around from our hotel (hence our love of the ROS in BKK), so MS seems to be the choice. I can't imagine the rooms are smaller than Paris Hotels, even with a name that begins with Maison. Pandas are large, but flexible. We fold up nicely.

Then you'll love MS. We did