Date of stay: September 2020Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
For the $15,---= a night for the room it was excellent value. Its basic, Keep in mind that we are in rural Sam Neua!
The Location is quite central in town, and rooms are clean and confortable.
Don't expect more when you go of the beaten path!!
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Date of stay: April 2013
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Confort simple avec eau chaude et toilette privée Salle de bain toujours mouillée Petit déjeuner correct mais simple Le meuilleur hôtel de la région Proche du marché et des lieux importants Ne pas prendre de chambre sur la rue principale (bruit)
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Date of stay: November 2013
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Trip type: Travelled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I stayed here with my wife and three kids (all under 6 years old) on a trip to see the Viengxay Caves. We had never been to Xamneua and had no idea what to expect, but we were really pleasantly surprised. The Xamneua Hotel delivers everything you could want - it is clean, cheap, and centrally located. It has good wi-fi, friendly staff, and plenty of hot water. We spent two nights there and paid under $30 total (including breakfasts). Let's be real: If you are expecting more than that, you are in the wrong province of Lao PDR. Xamneua and Huaphan Province in general are still very isolated and don't really cater to fancy foreign tourists. The only issue I had with the place is that the rooms are pretty small. DISCLAIMER: Although we are "falangs," my family lives in Laos and I speak some pidgin Lao. I am sure this made our experience dealing with the staff much simpler. But I think the owner does speak some basic English as I saw him conversing with an English traveller one morning. So don't worry.
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Date of stay: November 2012Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
I guess if you come to Sam Neua, you do know that you cannot expect the comfort that you maybe had in Luang Prabang. Well, at least not, if you are used to some higher priced hotels. If you don't set your expectation bar too high, you could be very pleased by Sam Neua hotel, as it is clean, comfortable and well located. All in all, it's a great deal, though slightly pricey.
Location:
Sam Neua is a town with a very weird layout, which means its very long, though everything is still very central, that is interesting for tourists. Sam Neua hotel is directly in the cluster of all tourist orientated guesthouses and restaurants (well, there are only two). It's directly located on the river, which means if you are lucky and you are able to secure a room facing the river, you can watch the river from your personal balcony (yeah, thats luxury...though the river is not really interesting to watch). The only traveler orientated restaurants are very nearby (about 300 metres) across the river, which is handy, as i haven't seen the hotels own restaurant in operation. But beware, the quality of the food in the restaurants is still very sketchy. The food i had wasn't really highlight.
Hotel:
The hotel looks almost modern from outside, with some cute lions guarding the entrance. It has single, double and triple rooms i think and they range from 100.000 to 200.000 kip (150k for a double room). The hotel itself has some nice and big communal areas with heavy teakwood furniture (the decoration is sometimes really a bit hit and miss) and theoretically even a room with Internet access. When i came to the all-side-window room in the 4th floor, though, there wasn't a pc anymore. So don't trust your Lonely Planet on this one here. But they have WIFI in the hotel i think.
Rooms:
Well, i had a single room and was pleasantly surprised. It was't too big, but it had everything i needed. I had a hanger for my clothes, a comfortable and very clean bed, a small desk, a tv, a clean bathroom with hot water (very welcomed in Sam Neua) and a small balcony. Not luxurious, but comfortable enough. They even supply with some toiletries in the bathroom and of course two bottles of drinking water.
All in all i was very satisfied with my room, as it was clean, considerable comfortable and all in all not pricey. Of course there wasn't any air conditioning in the room, but as the weather is usually not too hot in the city, you won't need it.
Service: Service was so la la. Some of the ladies spoke basic to no english, while one man (i guess the owner) was quite fluent in English, though i saw him very seldom around. But as usual, you will eventually get what you need. They know that you want a room and they are basically friendly if you have a problem and will try to figure out what you want.
Verdict. Well, i guess this is still the best place to stay in Sam Neua. It's central, clean, comfortable and secure (they shut the doors in the evening). I felt good here and would recommend it over the other guesthouses in town. If you don't mind location, you should maybe look at Misouk Hotel, too, as it looked very good from outside, but it's not to central.
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Date of stay: October 2012
Value
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Trip type: Travelled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This hotel is about a block from the main street and several blocks from a "not to be missed" food market. The rooms are very clean and nicely decorated. Beds were very comfortable and although the rooms are terribly large there are communal sitting areas on each floor. There is lots of hot water so showering was a pleasure. On the fourth floor there is a sunroom with great views ot the town and a computer for guest use.
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Date of stay: February 2012
Value
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Location
Cleanliness
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Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chambre 225 agréable, propre, clim, claire à deux pas du centre ville, sur la rivière, 5 mn du marché local, eau chaude, personnel agréable. Bonne adresse à conseiller dans la ville. Les chambres cotes rivière ont un balcon.
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Date of stay: February 2019Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Good points were it was clean basic and functional, but it was very basic. Our group all had very noisy rooms from the roads all round the hotel. I would only stay here if there's no alternative nearby
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Date of stay: October 2014Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We went to Sam Neua to see the Viengxai Caves and a scenic road into Vietnam.
The bus from Nong Khiaw, Laos, left late at 1pm. Construction stopped the bus almost 2 hours, getting us into Sam Neua at 1:30 am. We had reservations at the Sa Ne Khaem Xam Guesthouse, which agoda.com advertises as having a 24-hour desk with English speakers. Wrong! Every hotel in Sam Neua was closed, locked steel gates across the front and lights out. With luck and help from a cab driver, we finally slept in dirty beds at the bus station. Agoda.com refunded our money, but their website still falsely states 24-hour desks, of which the whole city of Sam Neua has NONE. By bus from Nong Khiaw, we could and should have spent the night in Vieng Thong and continued next day on an 8am bus to Sam Neua.
The Sam Neua Hotel cost $12 a night for a good room. The staff speaks no English. No housekeeping.
Sam Neua was worth the hassle, though. Tourists are rare. The official Tourist Office was very helpful. Good meals at the Chittivanh Restaurant. Sam Neua calls itself the birthplace of the Pathet Lao.
Rent a taxi to go to the nearby Viengxay Caves, a highpoint of our whole trip. The Pathet Lao politburo, its military, and 23,000 civilians lived there in caves for nine years. They were bombed every day and farmed by night. The audio tour is superb, and our guide spoke good English and was gracious to us as Americans.
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Date of stay: November 2014
Rooms
Location
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:We had a balcony and nice view of the river.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Es hatte bei unserem Besuch im Jänner 4 Grad Außentemperatur und es gab keine Möglichkeit, das Zimmer zu wärmen, die Fenster sind so undicht, dass man das Gefühl hat, sie sind offen. Zudem gab es kein Warmwasser. Die Dusche flutet sowieso das ganze Badezimmer, was es auch unmöglich macht, dass WC mit trockenen Füßen zu benützen. Fazit: das Hotel ist für die Winterzeit ungeeignet. Es scheint sowieso die ganze Umgebung im Winterschlaf zu sein. Als wir zum Frühstück runterkamen, setzte sich eine der Damen auf Motorrad und besorgte erst Eier und Brot. Wir saßen 20 Minuten im kalten Raum und warteten. Dazu noch unfreundliches Personal, winzige Zimmer und die langen schwarzen Haare, die sich im Badezimmer schlängeln. Suchen sie sich ein anderes Hotel!
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Date of stay: January 2014
Rooms
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Sam Neua area.
LOCATION
LaosHouaphanh ProvinceSam Neua
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