The View Pavilion

First time to Luang Prabang which didn't disappoint, but the hotel was not a 'must return'. Pros: decent location, c10mins to food court / night market. Helpful front desk / reception (Mr Sing). Great shower and in room bath tub was awesome. Cons: some construction noise from large scale engineering work over the river. Not constant, but notable. Housekeeping leave the rooms quite dusty, don't look under the bed! No safe box in room or at front desk which surprised me given its a cash based economy.

Greetings. If you are like us and get caught by full payment well in advance of your trip, getting stuck with this sad and tired place - thought we would offer some advice. You can not ask for a better location and the minimal staff that there are, are kind and helpful. We can only hope you manage to get one of the few rooms on a second floor. We didn't and ended up in a dank and unappealing room. We asked for a transfer and got upstairs. The balcony is fab and the view glorious. Bring a carpenters kit with you. The railings are rotten and if you happen to lean on them you will break your bones. So fix the railings. They are dangerous. Also bring a plumbers kit. The showers are old and broken with more water leaking then from the unit then flowing overhead on your body. Fix the faucet in the sink too. It is broken. Bring a new shower curtain with you and some fresh towels- the ones on offer are brown with years of use. The dirty and frayed bath mat is worse then the one I used as a University student. It has "welcome" embossed on it. It should say "run and hide". While it is impractical to bring a hotel safe in your bag, you will have to walk around all day with your valuables. No need to bring a fridge. There is one and it seems to work but there is nothing inside, so bring your own drinks from the shop down the road. If you are feeling generous, bring around 10 gallons of paint and some morter as the walls through and in particular at the entrance give the place a feeling of a war hotel. Yoour carpenter kit will also be handy to fix what would have been beautiful floors. The last thing you want are infected wood slivers in your feet. To ensure a comfortable bed, bring a fitted sheet as there is none. A couple of decent pillows would be welcome to. Cheap ones from your local store at home would be better then the airplane sized pillows on offer. With all that, you should be good. I am sure the owner who has clearly neglected the beautiful historic building would be greatful. We must be very busy spending the expensive day rate and not having time to give a little soul and pride in his very tired and neglected hotel. Shame on him. My wife and I, who work in war and distaster zones around the world stayed 4 nights here - 4 too many. Next time we hope to find a decent place - there are many, in such an extraordinary city.