Maison Souvannaphoum Hotel

Maison Souvannaphoum is all about royalty. In fact, the heritage house used to be the residence of four-time Prime Minister Prince Souvanna Phouma. The buildings here are French Colonial, with large columns supporting stately verandas all done up in brilliant white. The lobby has fine silk tapestries and native motifs, with color photos on the walls of traditional Lao textiles. This area opens up into the Elephant Blanc Restaurant, again all bright white, from the building down to the tables and chairs, with more colorful tapestry photos adorning the walls. While many buildings in Luang Prabang are quite dim, with dark wood floors and walls, Maison Souvannaphoum is light and cheery. There is a spacious garden out front to sit in, and there are cute touches such as a handcrafted chess set under a tree and a French petanque court for use. The hotel feels sophisticated and quite debonair. 

Maison Souphannaphoum is located a five- to 10-minute walk from the center of Luang Prabang. There are lots of restaurants nearby, and the old historic area with all the temples is a 15-minute walk away. For those who don't want to walk, the hotel has free bicycles for guests to use to get around. It's about a 20-minute drive to the airport. While the road in front of the hotel is very busy and full of traffic, guests don't hear it from inside the property, and the hotel feels quite removed and tranquil. It's a good location in terms of being both close to the heritage zone while feeling removed from the crowds at the same time.

The rooms at Maison Souvannaphoum are spacious and cheery, a far cry from many others in town. The rooms feature French Colonial interiors, with white walls and orange accents. Ample natural light makes the rooms feel far more habitable than the often cave-like dwellings that many of the old buildings here suffer from. Rooms come equipped with modern amenities like flat-screen TVs, free Wi-Fi, electric kettles, safes, and minibars, plus orange bathrobes and slippers. The Garden Wing rooms are the standard option, and they have large terraces with low-pillared balustrades for garden views. The next category up, La Residence Rooms, have partial pool views. The Laos and Champa Rooms upstairs do not have terraces, but they have more square footage, abundant closet spaces, and huge classic clawfoot tubs in the bathrooms (the Garden Wing rooms don't have bathtubs). The Laos Room actually once belonged to the Queen and has an extra large sitting area plus garden views from the windows.

Maison Souvannaphoum has more facilities than most other high end properties in town. There is a nice swimming pool, a poolside bar, and a pampering spa located in cute little houses adjoining the side of the hotel. The hotel has free bicycles for guests to use, and there are chess sets and a French petanque court on the garden terrace, where there are chairs and tables for relaxing. There is also a shop in the lobby that sells many of the beautiful textiles shown in the photos adorning the walls, plus plenty of traditional Lao souvenirs. The Elephant Blanc Restaurant has a poolside setting and serves free breakfasts along with excellent Lao and Indochinese cuisine for lunch and dinner. They have live traditional dancing shows and music here in the evenings. Wi-Fi is free throughout.