This is a great place if you are looking to take a break from the
sight seeing and just chill. It is about a 5 minute ride to town and tha hotel offers free shuttle. But it is hard to leave becasue the pool and rooms are so inviting and relaxing. The hotel is set in lush gardens in the foothills just outside of town. The views of the mountains are sublime.

Our room which was on the second floor of the main building had a spectacular view of the infinity pool and the mountians. The room has sliding glass doors that open up on a nice size patio with two lounges. The bed has a misquito net so, if you'd like, you can leave the doors open to the evening breezes.

The feeling of the hotel is more like a boutique hotel. There isn't much staff and those that are aound are unobtrusive. The whole place has a very laid back atmosphere which coincides with
Laos in general.

Since there is so much to see and do around LP, it is hard to justify spending time at the wonderful spa and pool but I would suggest adding another day to your schedule just to spend at the hotel. You won't regret it.

I stayed in this property, alone, in September 2006 and enjoyed it so much I am planning a return visit with my wife. The choice of hotel was difficult but I have no regrets about staying here, having checked out the other contenders. The Maison S is also lovely and has a location closer to the town but it just doesn't have the ambience, the space, the quiet and the views of Phou Vao. All there is to do in Luang Prabang is walk around the temples etc and, after a day of walking around, it is nice to get back to the mountain view location of Phou Vao, take a swim in the infinity pool overlooking the mountains and have a cool drink. The hotel has a resemblance to Amandari in Bali. In fact, Luang Prabang has a resemblance to Ubud in Bali around 30 years ago. It is, however, just beginning to develop and I would strongly recommend anyone who wants to see this beautiful sleepy place to go soon.
The restaurant is also superb, although pricey, especially in comparison to the many other good restaurant options in town.
The staff are exceptional with great attention to detail.

My husband and I stayed at La Residence September 2006 and found it to be the most wonderful experience. We have stayed in hotels all over the world and this place would have to rate as one of best. The room was very clean and luxurious, the pool was heaven,the restaurant was world class (there was no need to eat anywhere else) and the service was perfect. We will most certainly return.

Family of 4 plus single friend really enjoyed our stay here. Try to get rooms as close to the main hotel as possible. The ones the furthest away may have some traffic noise from a lower road. Lovely rooms with lots of wood and glass and big marble bathrooms; also balcony and little outside 'patio' (though too hot to relax there on our stay); pool and terrace and views are really smashing (pool is quite small) and the entrance looks enchanting at night with candles, water and flowers; prices are extremely high (the most expensive cocktails we found in 3 weeks of travelling) and we found the evening food over-priced and a bit pretentious (much more fun to walk up to the main gate past the saluting security guard and get one of the waiting tuk-tuks to take you into town and eat there). The breakfast was fine rather than great - perhaps they need to look at their cooking and see if they could upgrade it a bit to match the surroundings; the restaurant was pretty empty which always says a lot; staff were absolutely charming and really helpful. This is not the place for families with young children as they would feel uncomfortable and the hotel guests have outgrown all that stuff!

La Residence Phou Vao really demonstrates that there is no cheap deal in life and you really get what you pay! It is the most expensive hotel in Luang Prabang but if you want luxe then you really need to pay. But it will not disappoint.

The scenery is really breath-taking. There are actually two small infinity pools, both with a great view. The spa is very professional and well-run by a trained Indonesian manager. There is a very good steam room by the small pool in the spa and we would highly recommend it.

The room is large and well-designed and has a wonderful view as well. The staff is efficient and friendly.

Like the previous reviews, we would recommend that you find your own transport to the airport as it is very expensive (3 times) if you choose to take the hotel's van.

The nicest hotel I have ever stayed in. I booked directly, but asked for a discount and found the manager to be very helpful.

My room was on the first floor and had a balcony overlooking the infinity pool and surrounding gardens. Every day we were brought different fresh fruits and complimentary mineral water. Flowers were arranged around the room nd it was sprayed for mosquitoes. It was a large room, but my favourite part was the bathroom. The bath was made of solid stone.

It is the kind of place where you can pack light - everything is provided. The spa is spectacular and there are many special offers you can take advantage of. My therapist was a tiny women, but she summouned the strength to give me an extremely relaxing massage. Actually, it was so full on I started laughin half way through!

You really ought to stay for dinner one night - the food is mind blowing. I ordered red snapper on an aubergine caviar as my main dish. Unforgettable. Breakfast is great too. I ate at a few restaurants in town, but the food here was of far superior standard.

An extremely photogenic site, I am confident you will be made to feel like the only guest, regardless of how many other people are staying there at the same time.

One thing I would avoid is booking a taxi transefer on arrival - you can get a taxi for 1/4 of the price from the airport. Return transfers may be a little trickier. Don't forget to save your departure tax!

Location, location, location! We found this hotel to be the best situated of any of the hotels in Luang Prabang. In addition to its beautiful location overlooking the stunning mountains of the area, it was especially quiet at all times and the spa was a great place to "chill out". The hotel was excellently outfitted and the rooms were big, roomy and appointed in excellent fashion. The quality, service and friendliness of the staff was outstanding. In fact, the staff went out of their way to assist us, including our requests for certain local foods at breakfastas well as meeting all of our other requests with smiles and action. The hotel arranged our trips to town and the van drivers were very friendly, courtious and provide good information concerning various activities in the town. We found the town to be a "step back in time" with few vehicles but lots of water buffalo! The night street market was a great place for bargins. We are now planning on returning in July to witness the waterfalls when they are at their peak with an abundance of water flowing over them. All in all a great place to stay!

I stayed in this hotel for 3 nights at the beginning of April. The hotel is in such a lovely setting, on a hill overlooking the countryside with beautiful gardens.

The hotel has such a calm feel to it and it is the kind of place you could stay for weeks as the ambience is so serence. There are two infinity pools and you can swim while looking out over the horizon.

The rooms are very large and very tasteful, only minor complaint was the beds are not the most comfortable in the world nor are the pillows but this is the only complaint anyone in my party had. The food at the restaurant is superb and as some of us ate French and other Lao food so we covered all options.

I sometimes raise my eyebrows when I read comments in reviews like the staff weren't completely fluent in English, you must accept that you are in Luang Prabang in Laos not in a major capital city and I am sure that all the staff's English was far superior to our Lao.

Laos is the most chilled out place I have ever been and if you are even contemplating going, you must go as the people are so friendly and laid back. Luang Prabang is a very scenic town and trips down the Mekong are well worth the few dollars they cost. The night market is an amazing place to go as it's the calmest market I have ever been to but also full of exquisite textiles for next to nothing.

Thoroughly recommend La Residence - just get used to the locals not knowing what hotel you are staying in as the hotel has changed names a lot over the years!

My husband and I were booked for 6 nights last Dec, 1 in a room and 5 in a suite. Just before we arrived, our agent rang to say the suite was available for the extra night at a supplement of $80 and we accepted. On arrival the manager informed us that the supplement was $100. We were too tired to argue and although $20 was not a lot, this left the impression of a cheap scam and a bad taste in the mouth.

The weather was bitterly cold after sunset (obviously not the hotel's fault) and the in-room literature stated that the aircon could also be used for heating. When this did not work I spoke to the manager who said that unfortunately it only worked for cooling. This being an Orient Express managed hotel and not a cheap flophouse, I naturally believed him. We were so cold in the room we had to go to bed at 5.30PM just to keep warm. There were no tea/coffee facilities. We could not face another 5 nights of this, so called our agent to get us out to Bangkok. By the next morning my husband had developed a hacking cough.

As soon as the manager heard of our impending departure he became quite flustered and sent an engineer to the room. Unbelievably, within 15 minutes we had plenty of hot air blasting into the room. From conversations with other guests we gathered this was not an uncommon experience. By this time our very efficient agent had got us on a flight to Bangkok and we left. Our holiday in Laos was wrecked. The manager's English was excellent and there were no misunderstandings. He just could not be bothered to give a basic level of care to his guests. This was a health issue, not a superficial failing such as running out of a wine or the TV breaking down.

I notice other reviewers refer to the poor quality of service and assume it is "not in the culture". I disagree - we found the other staff pleasant and helpful. Poor service is down to the management and training. Proof of this is the exceptional service we had on the same trip at the Settha Palace in Vientiane.

I stayed there for the whole time in Luang Prabang, and it was a magnificent experience. It started out slowly, as I had problems with obtaining water in my bathroom. However, the location and overall room quality compensated for this. The restaurant was excellent although I did have a bout of diarrhea. That was compensated whole heartedly by a superb time of working with the chef in an impromtu cooking class making a couple of excellent Laos fish dishes, which were wonderful. This was my first time in Luang Prabang on my first trip to Laos (organized tour that also included Thailand), and it was the one of the highlights of this spectacular southeast Asian country. My room had a great view of some of the surrounding mountains. In any other country, mind you, the same hotel room I had would be at least 400 US dollars, making this hotel the most suprisingly affordable accommodation I have encountered in such a pristine location. Finally, the weather I had was mostly sunny during the day, which added to the enjoyment of being there.