MyBanLao Hotel — Hotel in Luang Prabang

I stayed at MyBanLao for four nights in early October. Beautiful grounds, but the experience did not match an allegedly four-star property.

Construction was the dealbreaker. It was not disclosed before booking. There was drilling and banging all day. You couldn’t read a book without noise. You could hear it on both sides of the pool, which is supposed to be the main attraction, so the area was basically useless. You could hear it in the so-called quiet rooms. You could even hear it in the spa during a daytime massage.

Happy hour is buy-one-get-one. They expect you to take both at once. I asked for one now and one later to avoid doubling, but staff kept circling to ask “finished yet?” while my glass was still half full. It’s needlessly anxiety-inducing; let people finish a mojito in peace. Billing to the room was similarly awkward.

Cleanliness in the room was mostly fine with one obvious miss. The shower still had the previous guest’s toothpaste, and it stayed there my whole stay. Cleanliness in the spa and restaurant was another story. Basic standard: no animals around food or pools. I actually like cats, but a very thin stray circulated near the restaurant and pool deck. I’m allergic, and even setting that aside, animals shouldn’t be in F&B areas. Staff laughed when I asked to move it. That’s not a premium standard. At the spa, oil was applied directly to my face and the face-cradle towel wasn’t swapped. Within days my face broke out badly. It’s fine now. I ruled out other causes. Staff said linens are washed less often “to protect the environment.” I support sustainability. It can’t replace basic sanitation. Fresh face-cradle linens for every guest and a quick “okay to use oil on your face?” would solve this. I eventually went into town and paid a third of the price for a better massage with clearer communication.

I don’t need perfect English, but at a tourism hotel catering to American and Canadian guests, simple phrases like “allergy,” “ingredients,” “surgery,” “vodka no gin,” “arm hurts,” and “no two drinks” should land. Too often they didn’t. During my massage, I flagged a surgical implant and requested modified pressure; the therapist neither understood nor adjusted and pressed directly on it. That’s not just uncomfortable; it’s unsafe.

Laundry pricing felt punitive. About one dollar per pair of underwear and about four per dress turns into a near one-hundred-dollar solo load. In town you can do a full load for the price of a single hotel item. Charge a premium if you want. Don’t make it silly.

Operations were sloppy. After I confirmed an extension in the same room, my key still deactivated. The gym StairMaster didn’t have working batteries (easy fix). Rooms use a key-slot power kill switch, so solo travelers have no A/C and can’t charge devices while they’re out. Small things add up.

If you do stay, get construction status in writing, skip hotel laundry, be explicit with spa requests or go to town, and expect awkward pressure...

Short version - I loved this hotel. Not many hotels get a five star from me but this one absolutely deserves it. Cannot recommend this hotely highly enough to anyone coming to Luang Prabang

More detailed version.. well from the small things like the tortoise/turtle sanctuary, the free shuttle etc to the larger things such as the rooms, the customer service and the swimming pool everything has exceeded expectations!!

Rooms: for reasons that would be too long to explain, we ended up staying in three different rooms - pool access king room, pool access twin room and pool view king room. The beds were super comfy and generally is noise resistant but you do hear people outside your door at times. Despite having pool access, you don't hear the music or the noise from the pool/pool bar. One thing I wish I knew before, the windows for the pool access rooms are tinted so you can't see in.

Pool: really calm chilled vibe. They have happy hours from 2-6pm. They play nice music but wished it was all around the bar for better vibes.

Customer service: second to none. They even remembered our names which was really sweet. They have free shuttle to and from town before 4.30pm and after that it's only to the night market. You don't think you will use the service but trust me you do! It's easily accessible through their WhatsApp number. They are very responsive and everything can be done via WhatsApp which is super useful when away from the hotel. They also do a free shuttle to and from the airport (P.S. the shuttle is an electric ford Model T which is delightful)

Spa: we ended up having 3 massages there. My husband and I had the Lao/Thai massage and I also had an aromatherapy massage. The ladies were so professional and definitely qualified. Right amount of pressure and just very good in general. I'm glad I spent the $15-20 to get it done in the hotel. I read reviews of many places around Luang Prabang but there are so many mixed reviews and I didn't want to end up having a bad time just to save a little bit of money.

Breakfast: decent, with your regular freshly made eggs or if you fancy Asian food, you also have Lao noodles and Khao sao. They also have french desserts which were so tasty.

Bistro 1960: their connected restaurant was also quite nice. Customer service again was great. They have recommended wine and sparkling wine which I'm glad I tried. Loved the fried rice and the Lao noodle. Also tried their fried pineapple for dessert. Very interesting! Definitely...

This is a 4 or 5 star hotel, definitely not a 2. MyBanLao has only been open for a couple months, with their grand opening being in March 2023.

My husband and I stayed for 9 nights in February. We were in a courtyard room and a pool view room. Here was our experience:

ROOMS: Impeccablely clean and spacious. Housekeeping came during the day to refresh the room, and again in the evening. Well equipped (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, tea and coffee, kettle, slippers, toiletries, scale, hairdryer) plus a complimentary mini fridge (refreshed daily). The shower had good pressure and hot water. The bed and pillows were very comfortable. The pool view room had a large couch (long enough for a tall person to lay comfortably) and the bathroom had a smart frosted glass window, which was very cool.

SERVICES: Staff were friendly, helpful, and attentive. We had a couple of issues during our stay and the staff were quick to respond. Gym had good equipment. A little awkward with all the windows (felt very exposed to anyone walking by). However, I wish they had a cleaning station to wipe down equipment. The pool area was beautiful and a great space to relax. That being said, it would be nice if they added more adjustable lounge chairs and umbrellas. The current set up only has 4 stationary lounge chairs in the pool and really nowhere else to sit/lay. There are 2 lounge beds by the bar, but again, they're stationary and there's only two. The hotel offers complimentary shuttle service to the airport/ train station for stays exceeding 2 nights. We ate dinner here and the food was DELICIOUS! My husband ordered the bison tenderloin and said it was one of his favourite dishes he's had on our 5 month SE Asia trip. We rented an electric scooter through the hotel to take to Kuang Si waterfall and it was a fun ride (very quick acceleration). We also did it on one battery.

LOCATION: The night market and historical district are only a 10-15 minute walk. The hotel also offer rides to/from town in their vintage cars (between 0800-2130).

ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK: The wifi was spotty, especially in the courtyard room and sitting area near the spa. It was either extremely slow or would continually disconnect. The wifi connection was much better in the pool view room.

Overall, we loved our stay at MyBanLao and we can't wait to...