Thalat accommodation from AU$51

Only giving it an additional star because the staff was really nice. The place is so run down and unkempt. This hotel needs major renovation - or at least update the photos to reflect how run down it is. The hair dryer is probably from the 70's, it also doesn't work at least in all the 5 rooms we rented. The bathrooms and bedrooms are breeding grounds for all sorts of bugs - crawling/flying. The towels, bedding, and decor in the rooms looked like they were decades old. There isn't any water pressure, so you're taking a lukewarm shower with a sad stream of water. The area burns cow manure at night so be prepared to have the strong smell of burning wood and manure in your room all night - not much you can do here but just a warning. You also have to book at least 3 days in advance because the booking office in Vientiane has to send the reservation to the hotel so they can prepare your room. I would highly recommend you stay away from this hotel. I've stayed at budget hotels and this one is budget plus outdated and not clean. If you go with this hotel, bring bug spray & lower your expectations from the photos.

fantastic place

We stayed here for two nights and wish we’d had a third! We were so glad we picked to stay here - the setting is beautiful and it was great to get a better feel of the countryside of Laos rather than just the cities. Perfect place to chill. If your main reason for going to the area is to do activities in vang vieng I would stay in the city itself as it is quite a long taxi drive (about 40 mins) but if you want a relax and occasional activity in Vang Vieng then this is perfect. Staff were all lovely, in particular the operations manager was so helpful and sorted any issues we had straight away. Good massage and food was good and reasonably priced for a hotel. We rented a kayak (not expensive) on the lake which was also really nice to do. Maybe wear a flip flop for arrival if it’s just been rainy season!