Luang Prabang Hotel Recommendations
 

I am going on my honeymoon at the end of August and looking for a nice hotel recommendation in Luang Prabang. We only have 2 nights here and want to make the most of it so location is key.

Thanks!

my favorite is la residence phou ____.... its a bit out of town but within 5 minutes ride....its simply fabulous and a great place for a honeymoon....often it is full so check right now..

Thanks, rhkkmk! I think La Residence looks amazing. We are staying at La Residence in Siem Reap as well. My only concern was the distance from town. Also, it's a little more expensive than some of the other hotels so we were not sure if the price was worth it. Have you stayed anywhere else? We were also looking at the Maison Souvannaphom but have seen some mixed reviews.

Good choice on La Residence in SR! I recently stayed at the Villa Maly in LP and thought it was lovely and it's within walking distance of town. My room was quite romantic too. I did take a look at Maison S and wasn't impressed with what I saw-plus, it smelled a bit moldy.

We stayed at the MS and were pleased. It was great to be able to walk right into the center of town. I had a stomach issue and the staff was very helpful. The pool is very nice. We stayed in a garden room and in truth, it was not elegant, but it certainly was serviceable. La Residence is much more posh. The trade off is location. The MS location is much better.

La Residence is really wonderful. It is the best hotel in LP by a long shot. It's not far out of town (like the Grand or the Villa Santi Resort), so I consider the location to be only a mild downside. The rooms are gorgeous, the pool is beautiful, the staff are excellent and the food is some of the best in LP. The view to Mt. Phousi is beautiful.

Well, if anyone is interested in a highroller experience in LP, a new Aman has opened this summer and is offering discounted rates...of course, the starting price is still $400+

You may also want to consider 3 Nagas
http://www.alilahotels.com/3nagas

It's a boutique hotel with a great location -- all the shops and restaurants are within a very short walk of your front door. It's on the main street in town, but sort of on the "end" so it's not too loud or crazy. We stayed here 2 nights in February in the Executive Suite and really enjoyed it. (If you click on Rooms on their website, the Exec Suite is the photo of the room with the high ceiling.) The breakfast in the morning is excellent and the shady front patio/bar is a great place to hang out and relax.

Like you say, you have a short amount of time, so you have to decide how much of it to spend shuttling back and forth to a hotel that isn't centrally located.

If you click on my screen name you'll find my trip report and you can read more about my time in Luang Prabang.

The PV is so lovely. Especially for a honeymoon! I don't think I have ever seen a more beautiful pool area. While it is true that it is on the edge of town, I agree fully with Kathie. It is only a mild downside, made up for in full by the beauty of the place. The hotel has a free shuttle that departs on command. And if for some reason this is in use by someone else, it only costs the equivalent of about 1$US to take local private transport (I forgot the name of the vehicle!) Breakfasts are lavish, too. I loved this hotel!!!!!

While it is great to stay in town (we did), especially for the procession of the monks early in the morning, the LR is a really nice place in a really nice setting. We had a lovely dinner there one night. I don't know if there are tuk-tuks parked outside in the early am but there sure were a bunch of them outside after we finished dinner that night - so should be no problem getting into town if you stay here.

PV is a gem--don't even hesitate about staying there. It is not THAT far outside of town. We walked every day in and out of town and never felt worse for the wear...it's literally up a small hill from town (maybe a 10 minute walk, if you walk like us.) You certainly never feel like you're "leaving" the town to get there...

As others have mentioned, you can take a tuk-tuk/songthaew from the center of town to the hotel for some pocket change and that's about a 2 min. ride.

Considering that LP town itself is traversed in a matter of a half-hour or so, I think the idea of "far" needs to be put into perspective.

The view, elegance, hospitality, food and ambience of PV is unparalleled IMO...especially for a honeymoon!

Ditto Filmwill's account. LR was a joy.

it takes about 5-10 minutes to ride into town or less...its worth it!!

there are some tuk tuks waiting at the end of the drive all day and the hotel has a free van into town hourly i think and on call in the evening...

its about $1 each for the tuk tuk ride....they do it by the person, not by the trip...

MS is nice and the location is good but some rooms there are reported to be only ordinary at best...

we felt that the only thing we missed out on by staying at la res. was the monks early morning walk.... you can of course get up and go but its early...

the restuarant was the best we had in LP, followed by L'Elephant

I'd say 5 minutes max via tuk-tuk, perhaps a half an hour stroll. Somewhere Cheryl has a couple of 1 minute videos of the ride from town to the Phou Vao from 2002.

How much do you want to spend?
If you want to go high end, then i would suggest the Chang Heritage hotel. New, lots of laos wood, lovely rooms. This also has a very central location, but is in a quiet part of town. The Three Nagas mentioned by a poster above is also lovely.
If you want something very nice, but a lot cheaper, i woud recommend Villa Riverside Nam Khan. This is about 45$ pn and is also very nice. It is quite close to the Chang Heritage.
I would not stay at La Residence and dispute the comment that it is the best hotel in town. It really is a bit too far out for me. I prefer to wander out of my hotel and stroll to restaurants etc and not to have to take a tuk tuk. As you say, "location is the key".

By the way, as August is right in the middle of the wet season, I doubt whether you would use the pool at La Residence anyway. As you are on your honeymoon, might I suggest you have a meal at L'Elephant; this is expensive by Laos standards, but far cheaper than you would pay in the west.

I've stayed at the Chang Heritage in their top suite and I've visited the LRPV and inspected all their rooms and suites. IMO the LRPV is much more romantic, has nicer suites, view, pool, food and entertainment. The Chang Heritage has better rates and is more centrally located. I also visited the 3 Nagas and found the rooms and suites extremely over priced and the regular rooms are all very small and unpleasant with limited view or no view out of the window, creaky floors etc. The top suite looked kind of barren.

For August I would try and negotiate the room rate and I would think you can get more than 50% off the rack rate. Try calling up the hotel directly, well worth the long distance phone call.

The cheapest price I've found for August at LRPV is $340 and the Anantaka is $400 right now-it might be worth looking into.

Sorry that's Amantaka.

The rates at the 3Nagas are good in August...around $125. Plus for 3Nagas is the location in town, downside is no pool...

http://www.alilahotels.com/3nagas