The Bounvong Guesthouse is a good place to stay overnight if you miss the last onward bus service of the day from Xayaboury North Bus Station to your final destination. The Bounvong Guesthouse is one of the better quality places to stay overnight in Xayaboury, which receives very few foreign tourists and as a consequence has developed few facilities to cater for them.
Good points about Bounvong Guesthouse
The Bounvong Guesthouse is in the centre of Xayaboury town near the market and only 2.5 km south of Xayaboury North Bus Station, which is where long distance services to and from Luang Prabang and the border with Thailand arrive and depart from. By local tuk tuk or privately hired shared taxi expect to pay 40,000 Laos Kip for the journey from Xayaboury North Bus Station to the Bounvong Guesthouse. It’s worth paying the money to go into the town for the evening as there is very little in the way of shops and restaurants close to Xayaboury North Bus Station which open in the evening. There are lots of shops, a large Chinese supermarket and some small restaurants near the Bounvong Guesthouse which are all open until at least 22:00.
Bounvong Guesthouse in XayabouryThe Bounvong Guesthouse appears to be the closest thing to a tourist friendly hotel in Xayaboury. The family at reception speak a small amount of English and understand a lot of Thai words. The property is clean and well maintained, especially compared to the other surrounding buildings in Xayaboury which look run down. The hotel felt like a safe place to stay as well attracting mainly Laos customers stopping over for a night during long car journeys.
Rooms at Bounvong Guesthouse
The rooms at the Bounvong Guesthouse are about 16 sqm in size. The furnishings are spartan and slightly dated, but the room had functional air-conditioning, a TV and good free WiFi.
Bedroom at the Bounvong GuesthouseThe beds at the Bounvong Guesthouse are adequately comfortable. We slept well enough.
Bathroom at the Bounvong GuesthouseThe bathrooms at the Bounvong Guesthouse are also perfectly adequate. The toilet and sink worked fine, everything was clean, and there was moderately hot water in the shower.
Facilities at Bounvong Guesthouse
The Bounvong Guesthouse has a wide communal balcony in front of the rooms on the second level, which is useful for smokers or anyone who wants some fresh air. Apart from this the Bounvong Guesthouse has no shared facilities at all.
Balcony at the Bounvong GuesthouseCold drinks, including beer, and snacks are sold in the reception of the Bounvong Guesthouse which stays open fairly late into the evening. Finding hot coffee first thing in the morning is a struggle in Xayaboury. To get a cup of coffee you need to walk south along the main road, past the market, to the small restaurant on the corner which will hopefully be open when you venture out in the morning for your caffeine fix.