Meexai Guesthouse

The room was large, and the location made a good base for exploring Nong Khiaw. The view was nice, though it depends on which room you get. The mattress, pillows, and bedding were the most comfortable I've had anywhere in southeast Asia. The bathroom did smell of mold.

We got lucky with the top-floor end room at Meexai Guesthouse, with a view that blew us away. The quieter side of town is across the bridge, and the basic, spacious rooms look out at the river and cliffs. Ours had good AC and a kettle with tea and coffee. We stayed two nights, which was enough. The beds were quite hard, but that seems common, so we expected it. Breakfast was good, with generous portions and a choice of eggs, plus coffee or juice. Staff were kind and helpful. We had laundry done, though it was still damp when it came back 24 hours later. For the price, it's a good place, near several viewpoints like Pha Deng and plenty of places to eat and drink.

The room smelled strongly of damp and had mold. The extractor fan in the toilet and shower was broken, making that area especially grim. The price felt fairly high for this, and there wasn't really a sunset view either. We left a night early and found a much nicer hotel in Nong Khiaw for less.

The view is beautiful, and the room is fine. The bungalow by the river is peaceful and lovely when the boys aren't around. But the boy staff ruined the atmosphere: one peed right in front of us by the balcony, and after I told management, they started peeing on the other side. I don't want to pay to look at an open urinal. They smoked all day and talked loudly at night, with no reason to be down there drinking beer and peeing everywhere. I loved the scenery each day as long as no boys were there. The wood smells funny, the bed is a bit hard, and one night there was loud karaoke. The shower was cold. Highly recommend when the boys aren't there; when they are, the rating drops to two stars and I don't recommend it.