Vanhseng Boutique Hotel

The room was spacious, tidy, and quiet, and the cleaning was excellent. Staff were friendly and ready to help. Breakfast was basic, but enough for a morning meal. The price felt reasonable for this level of service.

For the money, it's a great place, and I really don't know what the other reviews are complaining about. The rooms are nice and big, the beds are very comfortable if you like a soft mattress, and a decent simple breakfast is included. It's a little outside the city centre on the chinatown-side of town, but InDrive is easy to get here, and it's kind of fun to see a different area.

The location worked well for us, close to the centre without being right in it. Wat Inpeng is about a 15-minute walk away, and Chinese grocery stores and a mini Big C are only a minute from the hotel. Breakfast was good, sometimes buffet style and sometimes ordered from the menu. Fresh fruit and vegetables were always available in unlimited amounts, which I appreciated most. We stayed in three different rooms on the 9th floor during our five months in Vientiane, and each had a lovely panoramic view. The rooms were huge, with kitchenettes, lots of closets, and new furniture. Mattresses were very soft, soundproofing was excellent, and the Wi-Fi speed test showed a strong connection that handled high-quality video calls. There were two routers per floor. Room cleaning was the cherry on top. Sometimes as many as seven people cleaned our room, and in 10-15 minutes it looked brand new. Even the kettle looked fresh from the store. Bed linen and towels were changed every day. The reception, restaurant, and cleaning staff were all kind, responsive, and pleasant to approach with questions. This was the best hotel I've stayed in during my four years living in Asia, with the best price-to-quality ratio.

The rooms looked nothing like the photos, the air conditioning was ridiculously loud, and the location meant a fair walk to get anywhere. The worst part was how the manager treated us after the hotel had a power cut. We spent the whole day without electricity or lights, the rooms were sweltering, and there was no hot water for showers. Power only came back at 2am. The manager resisted giving us any discount, even though we couldn't use the rooms for the entire day. She said that if we paid less than the full price, she would take the money from the staff's wages. I've never been treated so badly by management. We eventually got a discount, but still paid more than the place was worth. I'd avoid it.