Hotel de la Paix, Luang Prabang Review

With the UNESCO World Heritage Site designation, it's no wonder that we spent the majority of our time in Laos in Luang Prabang. It's a gorgeous town with beautiful old buildings, protected by UNESCO and unspoiled by development. We were so fortunate to stay in the gem of Hotel de la Paix — itself a World Heritage Site building due to it's history as the French Governors house during the French colonization in Laos. In a word, it's breathtaking! The old French colonial architecture still stands, but now encloses sophisticated suites with every luxury you could want.

Upon arrival at Hotel de la Paix LP, we were greeted with delicious fruit juice and refreshingly cool towels (a must-have if traveling in hot and humid Asia). The staff were brilliantly joyful, eager to help, and always had smiles upon their faces. They made us feel right at home {if only our home was that nice!}. We were shown to our suite, a Garden Suite, which smelled delightful and had an iPod full of relaxing tunes already playing. What a touch! I, obviously, immediately checked out the bathroom. Who doesn't love a good bathroom? GORGEOUS! I haven't seen a mirror that big in ages!

The bathroom comes stocked with everything you need in the toiletry department, and two different weights of bathrobes {which I used whenever possible}. From the vanity area, you can exit through French doors to the outdoor bath and shower. Yes, I said outdoor bath and shower. HEAVEN! The garden suites have their own private garden, so you can bathe and shower in the privacy of your own backyard. Not too shabby, right?

On the other side of the bathtub, separated by a wall, is a lovely outdoor sitting area. If there hadn't been so many other comfy areas for lounging (the bed! the pool! the library!), I would have spent a lot of time out there!

The pool was one of our favorite parts of the hotel — Derek is obsessed with the black and purple tile, which heats the pool naturally just from the sun! The shallow lounging deck, combined with the deeper rest of the pool, made for a wonderful afternoon of playing and lounging. It's easy to do when they bring you fresh fruit kabobs and cold water! Great service? Absolutely.

Had we more time, we would have loved to use the spa — a new addition, built in the style of a traditional Lao home. We took a tour and were very impressed with the facilities. Can you say *honeymoon*? Perfect! We also enjoyed happy hour in the library — full to the brim with all sorts of books ready for you to devour! It's the rainy season in Laos, so having an indoor activity {and the perfect place to enjoy it} can certainly be important.

Onto the good stuff: let's just talk about the bed. I'm not exaggerating when I say the pillows, which were grand in size and number, were the best I've ever used. They were the perfect amount of soft and supportive — and I know you know what I mean! The sheer white fabric hanging around the bed was beyond romantic {anyone reminded of our wedding? I am!}, and has given us plenty of ideas for our future home... It's just so dreamy! Waking up was, while always a challenge, so wonderful — being awake and able to appreciate the luxurious bed was a good consolation for having to wake up! I really did have a hard time getting out of bed in the morning. Luckily, the breakfast gives you a reason to muster your strength and walk across the courtyard to the restaurant.

We heard wonderful things about dinner, but had a prior engagement in town and didn't experience it ourselves. The breakfast was indeed fabulous. I had a hearty omelet, topped with real cheese {not as easy to come by as you might think}, fruit, a latte, fresh orange juice, and too many pastries to admit to! All of it: wonderful.

One of our favorite parts of Hotel de la Paix was the location — it was close enough to town that you could easily go for a stroll to the night market, or a restaurant in town, but far enough to avoid any unnecessary noise. The hotel itself really is a fortress — they don't even have a sign out front, so your privacy is really guaranteed. We loved our stay, and had a wonderful time talking with the manager, Pablo. He runs a tight ship with wonderful staff, and made us feel so welcome and taken care of. Thanks for the wonderful stay, Hotel de la Paix! I have no doubt that we'll be back one day — Luang Prabang is too magical to see just once, and Hotel de la Paix has paled any other hotel in town!

If you find yourself in Luang Prabang {which you should make an effort to do}, please look up Hotel de la Paix! You can find them online, on Facebook, and on Twitter.

We were generously hosted by Hotel de la Paix, but all opinions are my own.