The range and quality of accommodation in Laos is rapidly improving. That said, once you get off the beaten track (Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Pakse and Vang Vieng) the options are more modest, typically restricted to budget-priced guesthouses and hotels and the occasional midrange offering.

Paying in the requested currency is usually cheaper than letting the hotel or guesthouse convert the price into another currency using their unfavorable (to you, at least) exchange rates. If the price is quoted in kip, you'll do best to pay in kip; if priced in dollars, pay in dollars. Because the kip is a soft, unstable currency, room rates in this book are given in the US dollar equivalent of the kip rates, calculated at 10,000 kip to US$ 1.

Accommodation prices listed in this book are high-season prices for rooms with at­tached bathroom, unless stated otherwise. An icon is included to indicate if air-con is available; otherwise, assume that a fan will be provided.

Home stays

Staying in a village home is becoming increas­ingly popular. Home stays are invariably in rural areas, cheap at about US$5 for your bed, dinner and breakfast, and provide a chance for travelers to experience life, Lao style

Guesthouses

The distinction between 'guesthouse', 'hotel' and 'resort' often exists in name only, but legally speaking a guesthouse in Laos has fewer than 16 rooms. They typically occupy large, two-storey homes of recent vintage, but occasionally you'll find them in more historic and charismatic wooden homes. In places such as Don Del in southern Laos or Muang Ngoi Neua in north­ern Laos you'll come across guesthouses con­sisting of simple bamboo-thatch huts with shared facilities, going for as little as US$1 a night.

Facilities are improving across the country, but the most inexpensive places might still have cold-water showers or simple Lao-style bathing, where you wash yourself using a plas­tic bowl to scoop cold water from large jars, tanks or even 44-gallon drums. Hot water is hardly a necessity in lowland Laos, but is very welcome in the mountains.

Simple rooms in most towns average be­tween US$3 and US$5 a night with shared bathroom. For an attached bathroom and hot shower expect to pay about US$6 to US$8; anything above this will usually also have air-condition and a television, with cable TV in English if you're lucky. Some guest-houses have stepped up the style and offer upscale rooms for between about US$15 and US$30.

Hotels

Hotel rooms in Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng, Savannakhet and Pakse offer private bathrooms and fans as standard features for between US$5 and US$10 per night. There is then a vast range of rooms with air-condition, hot water and television costing between about US$8 and US$50, differenti­ated by their location, the city and the levels of style and service.

Small and medium-size hotels oriented towards Asian business and leisure travelers and tour groups exist in the larger cities. In Vientiane, Luang Prabang and Pakse these may be housed in charming old French colo­nial mansions. Whether modern or historic, tariffs at hotels such as these run from about US$25 to US$60 for rooms with air-con, hot water, TV and refrigerator.

Then there are the few top-end hotels with better decor, more facilities and personalized service, often occupying more carefully-re­stored colonial villas or modern, purpose-built buildings. These typically cost between US$50 and US$150, occasionally even higher.

ROOM RATES

In this guide all accommodation is listed by price order, starting at the cheapest, not in order of preference, we have divided accommodation by the price of a double room thus:

Budget         less than US$15

Midrange      US$16-SO

Top end        more than US$50.

The overall quality of rooms in Laos has improved substantially in recent years but prices remain remarkably reasonable. By Western standards, they're a bargain. It's worth remembering this if you're trying to bargain the price down, particularly at the budget end where competition is fierce and margins are small.

For example, the farmers flogging bamboo bungalows on Don Det aren't making any money on their US$1.50 rooms, they're just hoping you'll buy some food and beer. And in Vang Vieng many rooms are actually cheaper than they were six years ago. Taking this into consideration and understanding that international economic imperatives like inflation and the price of oil affect Laos as much as they do prices in your own country, room rates will probably go up compared with those listed in this book. When that happens please don't just assume you're being ripped off.

By all means try to get the best rate you can, that's part of travelling. But be aware of the cultural context. Generally speaking, the Lao avoid conflict as much as they possibly can and while they are happy to bargain a little, they don't usually buy into protracted negotiations/argu­ments over price. If the rate seems unfair to you (as opposed to being beyond your budget) by all means make a counter offer. This will usually be accepted, or not, straight away.

What is common among all hotels in Laos is that the rooms are great value compared with what you'd pay at home. Solid mid-range places, that would cost US$80 or more at home, can be had for US$15 or US$20. And at the top-end boutique luxury, that would cost two or three times as much in Europe, North America or Australia, can be had for US$80.

The trade-off, however, is in the service. Few hotels in Laos have managed to hone their service to Western standards, and English lit­eracy is often frustratingly poor, even in the more expensive hotels. So prepare for lower standards of service than you're used to and you'll be more likely to have a good time.

Resorts

The term 'resort' in the Lao context may be used for any accommodation situated outside towns or cities. It does not imply, as it usually does in many other countries, the availability of sports activities, spa and so on.

Lao resorts typically cost about the same as a mid-range hotel, i.e. from about US$15 to US$50 a night. A few, such as those outside Luang Prabang, come closer to the interna­tional idea of a resort, with prices to match.