Luang Prabang Travel Answers

Hi Hatashi, There are several Riverside guesthouses so I'm not sure which one you're referring to. Generally, the moderate range villa hotels that have internet booking or are affilitiated with hotel booking agencies will fill up for the holidays so yes, it's usually a good idea to book a room in advance for Xmas or New Year's. But some of the newer places might not have access to internet booking so rooms may still be available. I'll be arriving in LP in 4 days if you can wait for me to check out the situation. Otherwise, many of the less expensive guesthouses don't take reservations so you might still be able to find a room but I would advise arriving in the morning or earlier in the afternoon if possible.

While seagypsy is the resident expert on Laos, I will chime in to say that66 dollars is only just on the expensive side from average for a nice stay. Luang Prabang is more expensive than other corners of Laos. Budget stays start around5, but are very basic. During my walks around town, all the nice boutique style trendy hotels were easily50/night and sometimes much more.

Thanks. Will wait to see if you have any more input! I kind of panicked over the lack of hotels with availability! It is the Riverside Guesthouse on Ban Khili, booked on Agoda's website.

Don't get the really expensive places. I think some mid-range places will still be available. Have you checked Trip Advisor's hotel listing for LP? Anyways, I'll be off-line pretty much for the whole week since I'm leaving tonight but if you're interested in me scoping out to see if some new places have opened in the past 6 months, send me a PM. Cheers

Hello Watashi, It's already Friday afternoon in Luang Prabang and I arrived yesterday. One of the places I had in mind is more expensive than I thought but I will look around some more tomorrow. IIt's not that busy yet in LP which means that this year is about the same as last year at the same time. The nights and morning are cool to colder (you will want a jacket) but the days are still nice and sunny. OK, let me know if you want me to check out more places in particular. seagypsy

I was there earlier this year and enjoyed myself in this friendly country. I stayed at two guesthouses. The one i liked best is Muong Lao (Visoun) guesthouse. Their rates are lower than what you've booked. Along the riverside there are many guesthouses and maybe because of the location, it is steeper and some are pretty nice so the price reflects it. However, Luang Prabang main touristic site and for most parts are quite within walking distance. You can check out my pages and I've provided a link to the website of the guesthouse i stayed at. There are nice eateries near Muong Lao Visoun which the manager, Thavone can recommend. He's really friendly, warm and helpful and so are the staff. The food at it's own restaurant is also nice. I just hope they have rooms for the dates you wanna go as they are getting popular :) hope this helps! heritagexplorer.com/rateus.h...

I stayed in LP from 21-24th Dec 09 and i'm really shocked at66 for a room !!! I payed7 (60,000 Kip) for my own little shalet with 2 beds and private bathroom, was a real nice room with a fan attatched to the ceiling (too cold for aircon in Dec). Anyways 'Chansavang' was the name of the guesthouse if your ever there again and fancy saving a couple of hundred dollars for a few days !

Thanks for all the advice everyone! I have been and gone now and had a fabulous time at our perfect little guesthouse. I guess there was no need to worry about it after all! Laos is truely the best kept secret in Asia. Unbelievable that more people don't go there.