Xieng Khouang hotels & places to stay

In the far distant past, the bronze-age crafted stone jars were constructed in the thousands, possibly for funeral purposes.. In a much more recent past, WE( USA/CIC/Congress) carried out secret bombings of Laos 40-50-60 years ago, ostensibly to stop/interrupt the Ho Chi Minh Trails , used to support the freedom fighters in the War with Vietnam. The best place to stay/overnight which you can fully learn about both significant events is the Maly Hotel. The restaurant has an excellent menu and can easily sustain life for all customers. The building itself is large, rising some four stories from it foundation; the room (#5) was huge—three rooms (one bathroom which actualyhad a bona fide tub) a smaller room with a single bed and a larger bedroom containing a queen sized bed, remote controlled TV, & closet. You can also view an an hour long video “The Most Secret Place On Earth”, created partly at the behest of Mr. Sousath Phetrasy, now deceased co-owner of this historic site. GREAT!

I stayed at this hotel on two nights in a one-week period both before and after I visited Sam Neua. I have stayed in Xieng Khouang previously to visit the Plain of Jars, and Muang Khoun. My stay at this hotel was enjoyable although the room on the first night was better than the one on the second night. This is because there was a problem with the toilet flushing, and the worker was never able to fix it. However, for the most part, the staff were very helpful. The breakfast was great, and the room had many amenities to keep the customer comfortable and happy. The hotel is within walking distance of a laundry, night market, day market, good restaurants and an internet cafe. It is also very close to a mini-bus station used to go to Sam Neua and back.

Very good hotel if you’re visiting the Plain of Jars. Less than 10 minutes walk into town. Booked my tour at a tour office in the town which is connected to Nice Guest House which is on the right hand side of the road as you are walking away from the hotel. The guide/drivers name was Van Koh his English was very good and easy to understand. We used him for a driver only but he was quite happy to answer any questions and the thing I liked most is that we never felt under pressure. I would certainly recommend him. We did have someone at the hotel who wasn’t connected to the hotel who tried to sell us a tour when we arrived which was very expensive. Glad we didn’t have him. The hotel also arranged a complementary pick up and drop off at the airport.

This was a lovely hotel with enormous rooms (separate sitting room and bedroom, plus large bathroom, immaculately maintained. The food was generally excellent. The hotel provides a free bus service to drop you wherever you want whenever you want and will also collect you, either at a prearranged time or if you call them. Free airport pickup and dropoff. The hotel will arrange tours of the Plain of Jars and other attractions - not the cheapest but probably the best quality of all such tours. Ask for Tey as your guide, if possible. Only a few reservations: service can be a little haphazard at times and WiFi is only available in the reception area - the only hotel we stayed in in Laos where WiFi was not available throughout.

We loved our 3 nights here, this hotel is on a hill overlooking phonsavan so suggest a Tuk Tuk to get you here from the town if you have bags, otherwise it's only a 25 min walk into town ,so unlike other reviewers we walked in and out with no problem. They are little wooden chalets, with a sitting area which has the fireplace and the staff will give you as much wood as you want for no charge, and even light the fire for you. We loved this, every night when we got back from town after dinner, to sit next to a real fire reading a book in what is best described as a Swiss chalet on a hill overlooking the town.the dogs are super friendly ( and numerous) and will walk around with you if you walk in the Forrest, they know the best paths. The breakfast is one of the best in Laos. Can't recommend this place enough, you will love it if your not to fat and unfit. Don't mind walking. Or have your own transport. The two young lads who seemed to be running the place where fantastic and couldn't do enough for you..great place to stay.

We had a lovely stay at Kong's. Good, clean room with everything you need. Very hot shower as mentioned in previous reviews. What I liked a lot are the complimentary bananas, so if you have no time for breakfast, you have something that keeps you going. Now to Khong himself: such a friendly, incredibly funny and well educated person! We did the plain of Jars tour (hills of jars ;-)) with him and it was one of the best guided tours ever. Don't even think about doing it somewhere else. He knows all the details, but the best part is that he has a way of telling you things, that you simply enjoy listening and do not feel tired of being lectured. He also answers all the questions and really offered some insight knowledge in terms of Lao culture and behavior. Thanks a lot for the great fun and hospitality! Also recommend to buy the onward bus tickets from him.

Best customer service I've had yet in Laos! They picked us up from the mini van/bus stop (had my name on a piece of paper!) - all 100meters away from the hotel - and drove us to the front door. Check us in and walked us to the room. The room was simple but clean with waters and the basics. A/C isn't necessary, the weather was so much cooler than anywhere else we've been. Would stay here again if I ever came back! After we relaxed, someone from the hotel explained the pricing for a tour of the plain of jars. A bit out of our price range but they came down a lot on the price, I guess because it's the slow season. Make friends with people on your bus ride and try to organize a "group" tour together. It was hard to find random people on the street and restaurants to form our "group" but we did and it was way cheaper! The town is small, not much to do. Ate at craters for almost every meal. The free movies at the MAG office are good-very educational and if no one shows up at the playing time, they'll turn on the movie for you if you ask.

We stayed 2 nights during January and would definitely choose to stay there again. It is as you would expect a simple guesthouse. The owner was very friendly and welcoming and although he didn't speak a lot of English, did his very best to engage with guests and make us feel very welcome. The location is a little way out of town but easily walkable to the main places to eat and only about 300m is on an unpaved track, the rest is on the path by the main road. The breakfast significantly exceeded our expectations. You can buy a beer from the owner and sit on the terrace upstairs and relax after a hot day at the plain of jars. The hot shower was the best we have had in 3 weeks of travelling in Lao including some rather expensive hotels.

PROS: Really good value for the price. Centrally located: 10 minute walk from bus station to Vang Vieng/Vientianne and local markets.. Within 5 minute walk to Cranky T's Cafe, Lao Falong, Bamboozle, and local restaurants. About 4-5 travel agencies within 5 minute walk that can arrange tours or rent you motorbike. Hot Water - I actually had to turn the water heater down because the water gets hot. Super quiet - rooms are in the back off the main road. Free filtered water - you can fill up your reusable containers with free drinking water. Wi-Fi - very strong in room and throughout. TV - Plenty of channels, including CNN for international news. No need for air conditioning if you're staying during dry winter months.

Resort is located in pine forest 2 km from city. There is no easy access to transport. The walk to the city was easy and relaxing. However, the city of Phonsavan goes to bed by 10pm, we couldn't find transport of any kind to take us back to the resort. Walking back to the resort, through a pine forest in the dark was not so fun. There is no dinning facilities at the resort so don't expect breakfast even if it is part of the hotel package. The hotel itself is very pretty, Swiss influenced wooden style chalets. Each chalet housed 4 rooms. We had rodents visitors in the night though, we could hear them scuttling among our luggage - they ate an apple and left poo in the bathroom. I guessed that can be expected since the hotel is located in a forest. However, we took our rubbish with us when we left the hotel as we discovered that rubbish was being dumped on the hillside just outside one of the chalets. There is no wifi or internet connection but that was OK with us. The hotel staff depends on their mobile phones for communication and this includes hotel bookings. They were not expecting us since we did our reservations online. The resort is rather nice and have lots of potential. If there were no rodent visitors and easy access to transport, we would have stay for a few more days.

Located almost directly across from the bus stop it was less than 5 min walk to the hotel. Check in was super fast and staff were very polite. We had a room with a view from the back of the hotel but it was much better than the front view of the road. Could see for miles and the fields/trees were very nice to look at. The bed in our room was one of the most comfortable beds in Southeast Asia that I have ever slept on. Large room with a good size bathroom/shower. Turn on the water heater switch when you arrive, takes awhile to heat up. Tv in our room but no fridge. Floors were a bit dusty/dirty but this was a minor issue. a/c worked well, you need to get remote from staff. A market across the street. Went to see Plain Of Jars and the Lao memorial and Vietnam War memorial, rent tuk tuk because it is further distance than you think. We paid 100,000 Kip for tuk tuk to take us to both memorials, and 120,000 Kip next day for a trip to Plain Of Jars. They will wait for you to get visit and then return you to town. Hotel is located on a long straight street, several types of shops but not a lot of places to eat near hotel. We walked about 20 mins towards the town centre and found a great restaurant called "Bamboozle", made entirely from bamboo. This place had awesome food, great prices and very friendly staff. We stayed in Phonsavan 2 days and ate there 3 times, highly recommended. Located just down the road from the Xieng Khouang hotel, same side.

The hotel is located away from the Xieng Khouang main street and getting a ride back to the hotel after 8pm is almost impossible. Very difficult to catch a tuk-tuk to and fro from the hotel. We had to walk back to the hotel and it was about 5 kms. The rooms are comfortable. Only an Engish speaking receptionist was available. Other staff don't speak English at all. They could improve by providing shuttle service to the town which is 5mins away by car.

The hotel is beautiful and the location is great, but to tell the truth I won't stay here again. There are other hotels next to the river in much quieter areas. We stayed in another building some meters away from the main one, so I had to walk to the main building for breakfast or to ask for something (no telephone in the room). The area in front of this building has been chosen by some drunkards to play loud Lao music and drink and sing in a terrible way but luckily they get drunk enough by 20:00 and then leave. Other than that, it's an agreeable place to stay, but I'll try another hotel in my next trip to Luang Prabang.

This is the second account where our Agoda booking of Laos accommodation did not register with the guesthouse. We didn't have a booking printout because we booked from Chiangmai using my mobile phone. The staff kept showing us the amount on his calculator for us to pay and we kept repeating that we have paid up and will not pay again. My husband was visually upset and finally, we were shown to our room. Of course, we were not happy with our accommodation for we do not know if the staff intentionally assigned us one of the worse rooms. The toilet door was broken and fixed with a plastic cardboard which has detached. There was no hot water as advertised and it was freezing cold at night and morning that we didn't take a shower. Glad it was only for a night! I feel that for the amount we've paid, it was not worth it. I hope Agoda will be more selective with guesthouses in Laos to avoid causing customers such inconvenience.

the worst ever! i demand my oney back for at least 1 nite, i cut my stay short it was so bad i was the only guest and the laotian army was there, no air con, no food, no wifi, dirty, unfriendly, i'm in the airline industry and have travelled extensively for close to 50 years, and never had such an awful experience!!i've stayed at 1 to 5 star hotels, this doesn't even rate a star.

It was basically good, as it is cheap, many of the local Laos stayed here. Closed on minivan center, i just walk from the minivan station to Ber 5, make sure you get the hobo map (save some $$ on tuk tuk). The Laos staff is very attentive and friendly too. There is no bicycle or bike for rental, but i manage to get one from town (Youth center) for a bike cost $$30,000 kip or you can get a bike for $$80,000 kip (cheapest rate in town)

We were very fortunate that our taxi driver helped us check in as not one person on the staff speaks a word of English. There is a sign on the lobby door that says "Free Wifi" but apparently there isn't yet. I asked the kid working the desk about it but he just stared at me. It was a chore to ask for more toilet paper or any other basic request. The hot water in the bathroom was very finicky so you may or may not get a hot shower. The water at times was actually scalding. The women staff who work here sure like to yell and scream a lot at odd hours of the day. So even though this hotel is 2 blocks from the main center, it is definitely NOT quiet. The only pro is that the rooms were clean and well kep

This place is a good hike from the main strip, so think twice if you don't have your own transport. The reception staff are disinterested and casual, even by local standards. The rooms are big with good showers but badly maintained overall. Views are fantastic. Breakfast is served in a restaurant half way down the hill, which the reception staff will not tell you. Better off eating in town anyway.

Room was very clean and received fresh towels daily. Owner, Xouyang, picked us up from the bus station since we had pre booked and provided recommendations on tours and motorbike rentals without being pushy. He booked flights for us from XiengKhoung to Vientiane which was helpful since Laos Airlines didn't show any flights available. Rooms are very loud since everything echoes in the hall, and roosters/dogs start early but you hear that from every hotel. Beds are very hard, but to be expected in Laos. Overall great value, clean rooms, and helpful staff.