Sadakham hotel

There were some good points: a nice garden for kids to play in, a comfortable room, and a front desk that quickly helped us find a driver. Still, breakfast was pretty basic, and the rooms and patios are squeezed together with no intimacy. We had a good time, but it could have been better, and the price is high for the quality. At check-in we were asked to pay 5% extra using their own exchange rate. Then they told us to cancel on booking.com because they had supposedly opened a new account. That felt dodgy to me.

The trip to Nong Khiaw was nothing like the comfortable option we’d booked and paid for. We were told it would be a 4-5hr journey in an air-conditioned 15-seater mini van, and charged 330 Kip each. An older-style van picked us up on time, then took us to a bus depot outside town, where we had to switch to a public 22-seater bus. They squeezed 30 people on board, with some pushed onto pull-down seats in the aisles. The man in front of me on one of those seats collapsed onto the floor. We bounced along together uncomfortably for 6.5 hours. I later found out public bus tickets cost 180kip per person. My back and hips are still recovering. I believe Sadakham Hotel should have secured the booking we paid for.

I’m traveling solo in Laos on a limited budget, so I’d booked a very small room at a budget hotel. By chance, the Boss of Sadakham Hotel, a Vietnamese man named Peter Duong, heard I was lost and kindly sent a staff member to pick me up. Before he’d even met me, he upgraded me to his stunning 4-star hotel. I really want people planning a visit to Luang Prabang to hear about this hotel and its amazing Boss. With that much kindness and professionalism, and such a beautiful brand-new hotel, he deserves to be known and supported around the world. I truly recommend him.

The only good thing was the location, not too far from the center. The rooms smelled bad, one room wasn’t cleaned, an extra bed was gone on the second night, and my son had to sleep on a mattress on the floor. There was also a bathroom leak. Breakfast was disgusting, with poor-quality food and only three tables for 30 rooms. Absolutely horrible and clearly overpriced. Don’t go here. I think this hotel is running a scam. It has multiple listings and changes its name on booking websites. We stayed two nights in January. When we arrived, they asked us to cancel the booking so they wouldn’t have to pay fees. We refused. They deleted their listing and then created three more. Now I’ve received a message from booking saying I didn’t honor my reservation.