We had a good room, not large but clean, and enjoyed our stay. The pond in the middle of the villa must have been stunning when they built the hotel, but now there's quite a lot of maintenance to be done - this applies to the entire complex. The guys working there are lazy: you'll find them sleeping in the hall, playing games at the PC, running around and wasting time.
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When we walked into this hotel after a long bus ride, we were really excited to see our room - the grounds are absolutely beautiful, and we had heard several recommendations about this hotel. However, when we walked into our standard room, it smelled like mold, which we soon realized was due to the fact that the shower flooded the entire bathroom and the door was flooding. We tried to upgrade to a better room, but they were completely booked. So we spent a significant amount of money (by Laos standards) on a room that we were pretty unhappy with. I would consider staying here again, but only if a deluxe room or suite were available.
I had the great fortune of staying at Villa Ban Lao with a group of friends and old classmates January 2012. I immediately fell in love with the beautiful grounds, The staff was wonderful and the customer service is gracious and always with a smile. The restaurant situated in the middle of the buildings is convenient for gathering with friends. I liked the location of the hotel being in a residential neighborhood, not a lot of traffic on the street and the whole area was serene and peaceful. The rooms felt like home, I had a firm king bed which was actually very comfortable and I slept great, a large mosquito net over the bed, which luckily, I did not need. It was actually quite romantic. I had a private balcony entrance and a separate door into the balcony before the doors into the room, giving me total privacy. From the balcony I could sit and enjoy the view towards the Wat, or the well kept grounds in the back side of the restaurant.
The restaurant had the best food I had in Laos ( their steamed fish with ginger and a side of sticky rice can be addicting)....Breakfast was included with our stay and the fresh fruit (awesome papaya every morning!), drinks and coffee were just the sides, the menu for breakfast was not huge, but everything on it was well prepared and delicious. Our group was one that held a "party" in the restaurant, but anyone who had been at the hotel would have benefited from the wonderful traditional Lao Music and Dancers we had the pleasure of experiencing.
I would stay here again and would recommend Villa Ban Lao to anyone I know going to LP.
This was one of my favourite hotels in Laos, despite them having some building work going on! I found the staff here to be so friendly and helpful - they even asked what time we would be getting up so that they wouldn't do any drilling before we were up. I do agree with one of the previous reviews that it's probably a little further from the centre of Lunag Prabang then I would have liked, but this is good if you want a bit of peace and quiet and want to avoid the backpacker areas. The rooms were a little sparse, but were comfortable. I also thought the restaurant was great. Food was excellent (though the breakfast was a little sparse - it is still Laos afterall!) and the setting was lovely with lots of vegetation and a moat around the restaurant. I would definitely stay again!
From reading most of the reviews I wasn't sure people had stayed at the same accommodation.
The guest house which is the size of an hotel has at least 3 room categories . The garden is very beautiful, looked after and has lao and Buddhist ornaments and a built pond on the surface of which is the restaurat.
Yes you eat outside and it is a good start for the day.
the location is 5 to 10 minutes walk to the old city and attractions – depends on your orientation and walking pace.
The lady manager speaks good English and is helpful, friendly and willing to please. The staff is well trained and , the evening young receptionists (I think part of the family) are efficient and nice.
A small advice - smile and say Sabdi and you'll get a smile back.
The rooms are big, comfortable, the mattress is hard as like other places I stayed in Laos – for me it was fine, I couldn't use the hard pillows - so what!
There is a mini-bar in the room, air-condition, some rooms have a balcony, they put a complimentary bottle of water every day, there is a hair-dryer – I stayed in a more expensive accommodation and didn't have one.
There is television with many channels BBC and Cnn And free Wi-Fi, The price is very reasonable especially for luang Prabang and if you stay 4 nights you get a 10% reduction. Lonely planet recommended this guesthouse that's how I got to it and so do I.
The hotel was booked by my travel agent as I did not want to do this by myself. I guess it is somewhat overpriced, but the room and the whole hotel is clean, staff friendly, however I was the only guest. Breakfast not over the top, but sufficient, free WFI-internet which is important for me. The walk to town is a bit tedious in hot weather, but on the second day I got myself a bike and this is great fun. The room is spacious with fan, AC, hot water. So nothing to complain about. It seems the whole compound was overhauled since the reviews of early 2009.
