Mekong Villa

The four rooms of the gorgeous Mekong Villa sit in the grounds of the Ock Pop Tok Living Craft Center. Just two rooms facing the Mekong have terraces but all four are beautifully furnished, one with a huge trunk-cum-desk and a red bathroom. You can hop from your bedroom to the alfresco Silk Road Cafe for a breakfast of wafer-thin and tasty Mekong river weed and buffalo chilli sauce washed down with mulberry tea, and then head to the craft centre to learn dyeing, weaving, batik and bamboo crafts. You’ll need to take the free shuttle to get in and out of town, but the leafy location, great cafe, buzzy atmosphere, onsite classes and textile designs of the rooms more than make up for that.
• Doubles from $45 B&B, +856 71 212 597, ockpoptok.com

Le Sen

Young designer Phouvilath Sengakhom has created an stylish game-changer near the centre of Luang Prabang. His small urban haven has a mainly monochrome palette and an alfresco turquoise-tiled pool. Rooms have grey, silver and charcoal throws on large beds, Thai copper sinks in the bathrooms, roomy showers, and varnished concrete walls. Guests can lounge on chocolate fabric sun beds, and dine next to a waterfall in the garden restaurant, before cycling off to the Buddhist temples and French colonial cafes of downtown. The silver, gold and yellow stone feng shui ensemble next to the restaurant ensures that Phouvilath’s investment won’t be washed away by the stream behind the building.
• Doubles from $89* B&B (includes bicycle use), +856 71 261 668, lesenhotel.com

Indigo House Hotel

The Indigo, in a central location, has bucked the “precious wood” trend of most of the hotels in the former royal capital and has a fresh look inspired by the indigo colours of the Hmong tribe. The lobby’s smart blue chairs, white tables and white umbrellas are popular with young locals, who hang out here chattering on their phones. The clean lines of the spacious rooms are complemented with indigo, royal and navy blue accents, and the standout room spread has a white domed ceiling. An upstairs terrace offers views of the entire main street and night market, and the hotel is a couple of minutes from the fascinating morning market, with its wet and dry wares.
• Doubles from $64 B&B, including transfers and discounts after three nights’ stay, +856 71 212 264, indigohouse.la

Mekong Riverview

The Mekong Riverview is in an enviable position on the tip of the Luang Prabang peninsula, where the waters divide between the Mekong and the Nam Khan rivers. Most of the elegant rosewood rooms face the river bend, which is said to represent the head of a naga (dragon-serpent totem). The best rooms have wraparound balconies, from which you can watch life paddle by on the river. However, it’s the thoughtful extras that clinch the deal: remote-controlled beds for propping up your weary back, homemade banana cake at teatime, a map given on arrival marked with insiders’ tips, and a glass of wine on the house served at the restaurant deck on the river to ease guests into Luang Prabang’s languid pace.
• Doubles from $160 B&B, including soft drinks, airport transfer and bicycle use, +856 71 254 900, mekongriverview.com

My Dream Resort

My Dream Resort embodies calm from the moment you approach the grounds through a bamboo archway. Rooms – illuminated by paper lanterns and cooled by white ceiling fans – are decorated with delicate silver stenciling and are a model of minimalist chic. Spend your days lolling on the balconies that peer over the lush gardens of teak, banana and coconut palms which roll down to the Nam Khan river, or bathe in the turquoise pool with its backdrop of red hibiscus. When you want to move, cycle the 15 minutes to Luang Prabang via the old bridge, or the few minutes to the Dyen Sabai restaurant for lunch by the river before crossing the Nam Khan to downtown by bridge or boat, depending on the season.
• Doubles from $60 B&B, including airport transfer and bicycle use, +856 71 252 853, mydreamresort.com

Maison Dalabua

The Dalabua feels like a sanctuary in its position away from the busy Luang Prabang main street. A boardwalk winds through a lotus pond teeming with fish. Behind the pond, guests retreat to 26 rooms with individual flourishes: wooden beds with carved feet, lime green cushions and gorgeous framed spools of coloured silks the walls. Corridors feature the personal antique treasures of the owner, Miss Sisouphanthavong, including a gramophone with an enormous trumpet. Fusion-food meals are served on decking wrapped around the trunks of frangipani trees that have been colonised by hot-pink orchids. A new spa and a swimming pool have also recently opened.
• Doubles from $56 B&B, including bicycle use, +856 71 255 588, maison-dalabua.com

Sala Prabang

The appeal of this charming, higgledy-piggledy collection of guesthouses facing the Mekong is that the Cottage, the Ban Lao, the Villa and the Sala Xangkeo properties feel like private homes. Pared-down living in the Cottage sees Shaker-style furniture in white surrounds, while the Ban Lao’s rosewood decor and terracotta-tiled balconies offer a different feel. Villa rooms cluster around the main hotel reception and have exposed stone walls, pretty stencilling and teak balconies that embrace the Mekong and its views. The interiors of Sala Xangkeo rooms are stylish with brick walls in alternating white and beige stripes and are cooled by white ceiling fans and illuminated by paper lanterns. Guests gather for coffee in the main reception – patterned with old French tiles and books piled up on an old armoire; while breakfast is served across the road at the riverfront Na Dao restaurant.
• Doubles from $80 B&B,+856 71 252 460, salalaoboutique.com

Sanctuary Hotel

The Sanctuary is a peaceful haven close walking distance from the temples, boutiques and popular restaurants of downtown but set off a main road in manicured gardens that shield guests from the noise and bustle. Much of the handsome architecture once belonged to the Lao royal family and there’s still a stately air about the place. The enormous first-floor deluxe rooms are adorned with bamboo furniture and black-and-white photos of Laos’ ethnic minorities. After a day wandering the temples and town, sip sundowners on the deck in the central lotus pond.
• Doubles from $85 B&B, +856 71 213 777, sanctuaryluangprabang.com

Oui’s Guesthouse

All eight rooms of this old Lao house are decorated with textile wall hangings: one a vision of gold, red and black made by the Lao Lue people, another an embroidered creation in blood red, green and silver. Miss Oui, Miss Oet, and Miss Oot prepare breakfast under the white awning and can give advice on how to get about town. But you could just kick back with a Beerlao and a book on the balcony overlooking the Nam Khan river, or nip round the corner to the hidden Kiri bar for wine and snacks.
• Doubles from $35 B&B, +856 71 252 374, ouis-guesthouse.com

Belle Rive

The Belle Rive oozes French colonial charm. It’s the kind of place where you imagine a Laos prince, Graham Greene and French flâneurs mingling on the terrace over a glass of mint and lime followed by harder liquor. The Belle Rive’s three knockout houses – Tamarind, Mango and Frangipani – stand along the Mekong and have been restored and resurrected by six Germans who fell in love with Laos’ former royal capital. The glamorous rooms are scented with rosewood and have four-poster beds with dove grey drapes and yellow ribbons, chaises longues and handpainted bathroom sinks. Some quirkier rooms have mezzanine bedrooms and bathrooms with saloon doors.
• Doubles from $115 B&B, including bicycle use, +856 71 260 733, thebellerive.com

Claire Boobbyer is the author of Footprint Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos

* All prices in US$