The Sanctuary Pakbeng Lodge Featured

Liked
· The staff were so nice and helpful, the property sits on top of a hill looking up and down the river with great views.
Disliked
· Nothing

Liked
· So glad we booked three nights here. A single overnight visit would not be enough. Pak Beng is worth a longer stay and this hotel is a delight. Wonderful room (we were upgraded to a delux in the upper building, but all the rooms looked good). Fabulous view over the Mekong, especially vivid about 25 minutes after sunset, when the river goes scarlet. Very nice people. Really enjoyed the food in the à la carte restaurant on the beautifully situated river-view terrace. Helpful French manager, Benoit, speaks excellent English. The other staff much less so, but they all do their best to communicate and be helpful. It is especially good that all the other employees are from the local area – opportunities are limited in this quite remote rural community. The hotel has also established a next-door medical clinic, with help from visiting volunteer medics from Europe. We spent one day on a long guided trek in the surrounding hill country, visiting a couple of the ethnic villages and interacting with the locals. Our splendid guide, Ton, works for the hotel. He speaks almost no English or French but that did not matter. His relatives live in one of the villages, so he was the perfect person to introduce us. We were made extremely welcome, plied with beer and offered vast quantities of food. What kind people! Our next half day was spent at the excellent elephant sanctuary on the opposite bank. Congratulations to project leader Wendy. Seen lots of elephants elsewhere and usually unimpressed with the setup, but this is different. Very well done. Fascinating explanation of the precarious situation here in Laos. Worth going just to hear the story behind their recent triumph in breeding from one of their females – now an exceptional occurrence in Laos. In the afternoon we just chilled out on our beautiful wooden balcony, enjoying the view and dipping in the pool.
Disliked
· It was all good. Upkeep good, cleanliness excellent. Insects not a problem.

Liked
· THE VIEW, THE SETTING, SITTING DOWN ON YOUR TERRACE IN FRONT OF THE MEKONG
Disliked
· Seems to be organized for one-nighter, so quite efficient but the set menu at dinner was flavorless, when compared to usual Lao cuisine.
Other minor issues but hopefully because business just started over.

Liked
· Remember Shangri-La, that fictional place where it was like heaven on earth? That’s what it felt like. Please please stay here if you can. We’re pretty bummed we only stayed one night. We booked this place for our one-night lodging in between the two-day slow boat ride on the Mekong from Luang Prabang to Huay Xai (which is highly recommended, btw).
The pictures were pretty good, but man, the actual place was even more breathtaking. The view of the Mekong was out of this world. We were so taken that the first 10 minutes we got to our room all we did was stare at the view and pleasant-curse at how insanely beautiful everything was. This place was built and designed by some very very thoughtful architects and designers. The room was nearly all teak, making it warm and cool at the same time. Beds were comfy. And the layout was very cool.
Staff was super attentive and gracious even though we were the only ones there (COVID really depleted number of visitors). We didn’t want to make them cook dinner just for us so we went into town for food (it was a wonderful short walk with the starry night sky above us). The breakfast the next morning was very delicious. They even cooked us some fried rice and noodles to take on our boat ride from Pak Beng to Huay Xai.
We want to come back. If you’re looking for a quiet refuge to just escape it all or finally work on that writing project or whatnot, choose this place.

Liked
· We loved our 3 night stay here in a very nice room with balcony overlooking the Mekong. The French manager met us off the boat and took us to the property for a welcome drink and was very helpful with information.
Breakfast was basic but adequate and they have a very good menu for lunch and evening meals. The swimming pool is beautiful.
The main town is less than 10 minutes walking distance and there is a good variety of eating options.
Other than the elephant sanctuary there is little to do and The Sanctuary Pakbeng Lodge is the perfect place for doing nothing! We enjoyed sitting on the balcony with a beer watching the boats coming and going below us on the Mekong, swimming in the pool, and wandering into town.
Just wonderful and worth way more than just an overnight stop. Great staff and exceptional value for money. Oh, and a comfy bed!