The Best Hotels to Book in Luang Prabang, Laos

Discover the best hotels in Luang Prabang’s green heart at this scenic jungle resort, hidden away on the Nam Khou river bend. Rooms and private villas, some with their own garden, have outside bathtubs for you to soak in while listening to the sounds of the forest. It’s just a short distance away from the charms, nightlife and fine dining of the old city.

Five-star luxury and authentic Lao culture blend seamlessly at the Belmond La Résidence Phou Vao. This hotel is a blessed marriage of French colonial architecture and mountain views at the edge of a cloud forest. Rooms with gleaming parquet floors and bright, white colour schemes open onto a lush garden with a freshwater infinity pool. In the evenings, before trying a candlelit French-Laotian dinner, visit the garden’s intimate Buddhist temple, where resident monk Souk Suliyaphone welcomes you with soul-soothing blessings.

Housed in the 19th-century clay-roofed residence of the French governor, Sofitel Luang Prabang is a dip into a world of yore. Within walking distance of the Mekong’s riverfront, the property hides a private inner garden with an outdoor pool. The lounge chairs and couches that spill at its sides are a perfect antechamber for the French colonial-styled rooms – a bounty of towering ceilings, wooden four-poster beds, rattan carpets and whitewashed walls.

The Mekong Riverview, the brainchild of Swedish hotelier Urban Paullson, shines for its personalised service – Paullson himself will welcome you over a glass of wine in the evening and regale you with tales of his adventures around the world. The pastel-hued, river-facing rooms feel exquisitely homely with dark parquet floors and wood-panelled ceilings. Contemporary touches, such as LED screens, marry well with a dreamy patchwork of vintage Indo-Chinese furnishings.

Sanakeo Boutique is a central boutique hotel whose three-storey buildings, topped with arched clay Laotian roofs, elegant house rooms with bamboo furnishings and cool verandas. There’s an inner courtyard with a large swimming pool shaded by tall trees. Top tip: sit at the restaurant’s balcony at sunrise, when hundreds of monks in fiery red robes swirl past as they perform their daily alms-giving ceremony.

Tucked down a quiet side lane just one block away from the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, this attractive teak mansion is a love letter to tropical boutique hospitality. Pairing charming old-world wooden interiors with open rain showers and plush beds, each room has a private terrace with romantic views of the riverfront. In a vintage Mercedes Benz, rides to and from the airport are a special touch.

These villas in the greener eastern fringes of town are carefully designed to achieve a calming balance of pastel-hued walls, thatched partitions and natural bamboo columns; they also have large verandas facing a lush tropical garden. The on-site spa offers traditional Lao massage, and trees and loungers hem an outdoor swimming pool. This serene haven is just a quick walk or bicycle ride to town across the bamboo bridge on the Nam Khan river.

Stretching over five traditional Lao buildings and a private house, Villa Maydou has been perfectly restored under Unesco supervision to convey the unique atmosphere of a traditional Lao village. The villas and rooms cluster around a flower garden, while the outdoor pool is lined with viridian tiles to match the greenery. Next door, the Meuna Temple adds a pinch of authentic spirituality to your stay.