Has a good reputation, listed in Lonely Planet, good location in the town, but is surprising that it is not well set up for cold weather given it is in the highlands! This was not unique to Sapa Rooms, however - a number of the cafes, hotels we visited were similarly not well set up for the cold. Rooms were a good size and comfortable, en-suite bathrooms average, and freezing with huge gaps around the (presumably) recently-fitted aluminium window. On the plus side, staff were great, and there is a good philosophy behind the organisation that runs Sapa Rooms (and related businesses) supporting and training local people and supporting schools. Food was good, main dining/lounge area would be great for relaxing with friends if it wasn't so cold at the time we visited.

We stayed in Sapa Rooms jan 5-7th. We cannot fault the food or the staff because the breakfast was excellent and very welcomed after a night train from hanoi. The decor is also very quaint. The cafe is cold, fireplace not used. We payed over $60+ a night. Our room was cold, the bathroom was even colder due to gaping big holes around the bathroom window straight outside. Also the panes in the window let in cold air and the oil heater is not enough to warm to space.

We only stayed one night and moved to other accommodation which was $40 a night and very comfortable.

We would suggest some fine tuning on the rooms for this to be called a 'boutique' hotel and the price it charges.

We stayed in the hotel for two nights with our three kids. We booked two rooms next to each other (one was a suite I think). The hotel is very nicely decorated and the rooms were nice and spacious but there were some annoying faults. It was very cold in Sapa and the heating with the radiator was not doing the job both because of the size of the rooms and the fact they were not properly insulated. In one room the shower door didn't close and in the other room the vent in the toilet didn't work. One of the room doors squeaked terribly when opened. We asked them to try and fix it and they said OK but didn't do anything about it... Other than that it was all good. Breakfast was good and the staff was helpful although other than one English speaking lady the others hardly spoke English. We also booked our train tickets from and to Hanoi on the night trains through them from overseas and that was a very good experience. It all worked fine and we got what we wanted.

We rearranged our plans to spend a very special Christmas at Sapa Rooms together with our friends, and were so pleased we did. Whatever the weather may be or the hotel may lack in insulation - the decor, the atmosphere and certainly the staff make up for. If you have high expectations, perhaps this is not for you. The decor is a little 'rustic' and very local. We loved it. We arrived off the train on a very cold Christmas morning to a hearty breakfast and cuppa. We wandered around the town and ate lunch at the Village Noshery - yummo - hearty Pho. Then in the evening we waited on approx 80 village children who enjoyed a hot Christmas dinner. They were all given some donated clothes as gifts and little party favour bags also. It was wonderful to see how much it meant to them. After a quick clean-up we sat down and enjoyed our very tasty fare. The next morning we went to Ma Cha School with all our 'gifts of stationery etc for the kids. Another special experience. I would love to have spent longer there. Those children touched our hearts. We then did a 9 km walk through a couple of local villages with our entertaining guide ?Suemay (sorry if I have spelled incorrectly). The young people who run this hotel and the Noshery deserve much credit. Some speak English better than others, however, their eagerness to learn is commendable. Peter Wilkes, you do an amazing job. I only wish we had the opportunity to meet you. Despite being fogged in, we had an amazing time in Sapa, and I personally would love to return at a different time of year. It will be a Christmas we will treasure for a very long time. One slight hiccup - hotel forgot to return our passports and in the rush to leave, WE forgot to ask. So sitting in Than Son Restaurant in Lao Cai, with our train tickets, the alarm bell rang. A few phone calls later and with ten minutes to spare, a lovely guy had ridden down the mountain in miserable weather with said passports. A huge thank you to all concerned.