Phonemaly Guesthouse

The hosts are lovely, and the wooden house has a lot of charm. Our ensuite room was roomy enough, clean, and comfortable, and the guesthouse is well located. There's no online booking, so we just turned up in the morning and got a room. The price was reasonable and competitive with places nearby. We stayed five nights, extending one day at a time. They rent bicycles too. We'd stay again on our next visit to Luang Prabang. Highly recommend!

You can arrive without much advance planning here since rooms aren't booked online, and you can check out whenever you like. It's a budget gem tucked down a lane just steps from the Mekong River. The old house has been restored, with polished wood walls and furniture, plus a nicely furnished shared balcony. My room had a fridge, strong WiFi, and a hot shower. Even arriving late, you might still find a room.

I liked how quiet it was here, a good fit for some solo downtime. The rooms are very cheap for what you get, with solid wood used for much of the furnishings. You have to walk in to book, since online booking isn't available. There are free bananas if you want one, and the morning and night markets are only a few minutes away on foot. The old grammar was really friendly. I'd come back if I had the chance.

The room was clean, and the laundry seemed perfect at first, but after we reached Pakse we realized some of it hadn't been returned. That took this down to one star for me. We had the ground-floor room with one bed for two people. Even with the fan and AC, the air in there made it the worst night we'd had in two weeks of cheap hostels in Laos. Staff communication was also difficult. A girl helped at check-in, but later we couldn't explain that we wanted to change our booking, so we left for another hostel. We paid for two nights and stayed just one. When we were leaving, I couldn't find my shoes. One of the staff had been wearing them, though I got them back five minutes later. Phonemaly is best avoided, with plenty of better places in the same neighbourhood.