Budget
Mixay Paradise
Partner to Mixay Guesthouse and just one block away. Prices are the same but this is a clean, new guesthouse. Same for the wifi as well, only between 11:00AM and 11:30PM. Staff are friendly, you can add breakfast for $1 USD. Besides the Wi-Fi issue highly recommended.
Saysouly Guesthouse
Nice, atmospheric. Family suite upstairs is huge, clean, very comfortable and excellent value starting at 40,000 kip for a single. WARNING:Bedbugs updated April 2012. They know it but don't care.
Youth Inn
Got a nice cafe with couches downstairs, friendly staff. If you insist they might offer you an improvised dormitory, which is a three-bed room with window, fan and a closet. Aircon available in some rooms. Free wifi for guests with questionable quality. Internet stations are 8,000 kip/hour. Pay attention, bedbugs ! As of Jan 2012 there is a construction on the back side of the building going on. Workers tend to start at 5 am with noise.
Youth Inn 2
Newly opened Nov 2009. Very clean, rooms with air-con, fan, en-suite. Helpful and friendly staff. Free drinking water in room, bicycle hire 10,000 kip. 12h Free wifi with captive portal or Cyberia Hotspot wifi, 6,000 kip/hour (http://www.atcyberia.com/...). The original older Youth Inn is located on the other end of the same road near to the river and has slightly cheaper rooms but of a lower quality. Avoid 4th floor in cool season.
Sabaidy Guest House
Has lockers to keep your belongings in. Close to the center, dormitories with no doors or sheets on a bed for 20,000 kip, doubles for 50,000 kip. No WiFi, friendly stuff, shared toilets. Laundry for 9,000 kip/kg. WARNING:Bedbugs Upd Oct2011
Mixay Guesthouse
A simple room with fan and shared bathroom. Friendly staff. Clean but has ventilation issues in some rooms especially on the top floor where there is a smoking section, watch your head on the stairs, watch your step, and sometimes you have to be patient with the staff. Free wifi, but only between 9:00AM and 11:00PM. Dorms with/without breakfast 50,000/45,000 kip, single with/without breakfast 70,000/65,000, Double with common bathroom with/without breakfast 90,000/85,000, double with bathroom with/without breakfast 100,000/90,000 kip, double with aircon with/without breakfast 110,000/100,000 kip. upd. Oct2011
RD Guesthouse
"Starting at 50,000 kip for a dorm bed, the "Relax and Dream away" Guesthouse isn't very dreamy but does have padded ceiling on the stairs good for tall people but be careful going through doorways, and the library has a huge Korean selection, a modest English selection, and some other languages.
Budget accommodation in Vientiane fills quickly and can be difficult to find by late afternoon.
Midrange
Chanthapanya Hotel
Owned and operated by the Chanthapanya family the hotel offers the charm of a family guest house while providing the comfort of a hotel. All rooms have air-con, Wi-Fi access, personal safe too small for a notebook PC, cable TV, 24hr hot water. Wi-Fi access points are on floors 2 and 4, and reception is best there. Beware unpleasant smells from air con in some top floor rooms, and ask for a room with a view meaning not the view of the neighbours' wall. They lock up early - check with Reception!
New Lao Paris Hotel
Renovated very clean hotel with quiet spacious rooms. Close to the National Museum, Cultural Centre and the American Embassy. French-run French restaurant on the premises. You can book a bus to Nong Kai, Udon Thani, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang at the desk. Airport pick up available upon request. Receptionists speak English and are extremely kind and helpful.
Lani Guest House
An old, French colonial-style house in a small garden set back from the main road. A quiet place to relax yet right in the centre. Simple breakfast is included, shower in not very good but the place is clean and very well located.
Orchid Guest House
Large rooms that face the river, with en-suite bathrooms and air-con are US$20. Friendly staff and nice location on the river.
Lane Xang Hotel
A majestic old hotel from decades ago, built 1960. It is one of the oldest hotels in Vientiane. Boasted the first elevator in the country. The charm of past glory - see the bathroom fittings! Hunter S. Thompson wrote dispatches from here after scrambling out of Saigon as it fell. They claim that English, French, Japanese, Thai, Russian, Vietnamese and would you believe it? Lao are spoken.
Beau Rivage Mekong Hotel
New, very nice. All rooms have WiFi internet, courtesy of the HBRM spirit house next door.
D`Rose Hotel
Mid size boutique hotel with the warmness of Laotian hospitality. Laundry service, free WiFi, airport transfer and it also accept credit card with secure facilities.
Inter City Hotel
Totally renovated in 2004, now a boutique hotel. Ask for a room with a view of the river. Has rooms and corridors filled with countless statues with fierce faces, which generates a spooky feeling for some. Rooms are equally spooky with creaking floorboards, so check out the room before you check-in. WiFi is provided for free and there are also two free computers in the lobby. Note: the hotel location is not marked on the map, though it is given in the map legend H6 - it is where the Inter Restaurant is markedRestaurant 8.
Soupanphone Guesthouse
Clean guesthouse. Free Wifi, TV, aircon, warm water. Possibility for breakfast but not standard included. Nice large rooms with en-suite.
Baan Champa Lao Heritage Hotel
Baan Champa clean modest hotel. It's relatively new. It's located in a quiet area. It's only 2 blocks from the National Museum and Cultural Centre. They are a family run hotel. You can book bus to Luang Prabang, and train tickets to Bangkok at the desk. They are extremely kind and helpful.
Leuxay Hotel
Decent hotel in a slightly out of the way location. Free wifi in rooms plus computers for guest use in lobby. Lobby is also home to an air-ticket booking service and tour service. Small but pleasant garden that is mostly occupied by a clean swimming pool. Quiet environment, also not much noise between rooms. On-site restaurant is reasonable but by no means the best; breakfast options are Jan2011 limited but make reasonable start to the day. Friendly staff. Most expensive rooms have large balconies overlooking swimming pool. Good business hotel or for tourists who don't mind being a little out of the way.
Asian Pavilion Hotel
A good if not quite their self-proclaimed "fascinating" mid-range choice formerly known as Hotel Constellation - as recorded in John le Carré's The Honourable Schoolboy - and Hotel Vieng Vilay.
Top end
Green Park Boutique Hotel and Resort
A newer boutique hotel built in Lao style - several buildings in a garden setting. Nice pool. It is somewhat away from the centre, but ideal to âget away from the bustleâ. Recent guest complaints about lost or stolen items have been verified by local authorities. Be careful with your belongings at this hotel. Shuttle bus to the city centre every hour until 22.00 PM.
Salana Boutique Hotel
Recently named by Frommer's Budget Travel Magazine as one of the best boutique Hotels in the world, Salana Boutique Hotel was revamped from the old site of Xaysana Hotel, and opened only recently in October 2010. Boasting a total of 41 rooms, Salana Boutique Hotel offers an excellent location in the centre of the city and near to the Mekong River, the recently finished Chao Anou Park as well and other nearby attractions. The hotel is well known among business travellers and tourists, and have received many positive reviews since opening.
Settha Palace Hotel
Built circa 1932, the luxurious Hotel has been restored to its former charm. Re-opened in 1999, the French colonial architecture, its period furniture and its landscaped gardens with a free-form pool, complemented by modern facilities, are some of the features of this historical landmark in the heart of Vientiane. If you see a London taxicab cruising the streets, itâs theirs, used to ferry guests around. They have an excellent restaurant âLa Belle Epoqueâ see below and an open air sidewalk café.
Don Chan Palace
This hotel was completed in 2004, almost complying with the municipality's town planning by-laws which at the time limited buildings in Vientiane to 7 storeys Don Chan has 14. The place to be if you are looking for panoramic views, although this comes at a cost--this monstrosity has singlehandedly ruined the Vientiane skyline. It has a swimming pool overlooking the Mekong and a popular open-air beer garden overlooking the Mekong which gets crowded late in the evening. Rooms are showing their age, and often smell of stale cigarettes: slightly far from the centre but hotel provides shuttle service to city centre. Careful when shopping for jewellery in the shops in the lobby!
There are numerous places to stay in Vientiane, but there is little budget accommodation. Most options are mid to high-range for Lao standards, and can go up to astronomic prices, which are impossible to pay in local currency, and exceed yearly salaries of most Laotians. In recent years many new establishments have opened, but mid-2007 the Government announced plans to restrict the number of new permits: they wish to concentrate on quality rather than quantity read: to increase prices. The days that anyone could convert their home to a guest house and get a share of the cake seem to be over.
Normally, just get into the town centre for instance the Nam Phu square and start looking around along Thanon Setthathirat and its side streets. Youâll find something within minutes except in "peak season" January when it will be really difficult to find a room: book in advance!
High season is something like October through April or May; low season June through September.
Some places insist on an early nightly curfew and lock the front door without giving you a key. If you wish to enjoy the nightlife what there is of it, make sure that you will be able to stay out and, more importantly, get in again. Often there will be a door man who sleeps near to the main entrance doors and can be woken up to get in, but its wise to check what system they have in place for getting back in during the small hours of the morning.
| This guide uses the following price ranges for a standard double room: | |
| Budget | Under 120,000 kip |
| Mid-range | 120,000-400,000 kip |
| Splurge | Over 400,000 kip |