Chitavanh Hotel is an excellent choice for travellers visiting Sam Neua, offering a budget friendly environment alongside many helpful amenities designed to enhance your stay.
Rooms at Chitavanh Hotel offer air conditioning providing exceptional comfort and convenience, and guests can go online with free wifi.
An on-site restaurant will also help to make your stay even more special.
During your visit, be sure to check out a popular Sam Neua cafes such as Yuni Coffee Co., which is a short distance from Chitavanh Hotel.
I had not been to Xam Neua / Sam Neua / Houa Phanh in several years so forgot the name of the better hotel / guest house at which to stay. So, I chose the Chiavanh Hotel -- really a guest house -- and was disappointed.
Firstly the room: It was not clean. It was dusted and swept and tidied up but it was not clean. Thus, if you need to have things clean think twice about staying here. In addition, the room had a "window" that faced the building next door. I was in room 422. If you are claustrophobic choose another room.
Secondly, the food: Breakfast is the standard for upcountry Laos: fried eggs, bad bread, cheap jam and butter, and instant coffee. Nothing surprising here. But, there is a better restaurant around the corner that serves real Lao coffee and has better bread. Thus, skip the breakfast.
Thirdly, the downstairs dining area / reception area: It seems never to be cleaned. Thus it is grotty.
If you do not speak Lao or Vietnamese, choose another place.
One positive point is that there is a lift / elevator that goes to the 4th floor.
I was not a happy camper.
The better places in town include the Xayphasouk Hotel, which is nearby, newly opened, and within walking distance of the "downtown" market area and close to the good coffee shop: Dan Nam Meuang Xam Restaurant or as it is written on the sign: Dannammeuangxam -- see the photo.
Another reasonable alternative is the Saeng Hung Heuang Hotel, further up the hill from the Xayphasouk Hotel. I have stayed at the Saeng Hung Heuang Hotel before and it was acceptable. But, I have not stay there in several years. Thus, be forewarned.
Good luck.
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Date of stay: April 2016
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Travelled on business
Room Tip:Â Rooms facing the quiet street in front of the hotel or facing the city market in the rear are...
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.
My friends and I stayed here for 2 nights last month en route to the Vieng Xay caves. The location is convenient and central to Sam Neua (about 1-2km downhill from the bus station and next to the main bridge).
The place has got a typical Lao guesthouse feel - very homely and quiet much like the rest of Sam Neua. Staff were courteous and responsive. We paid 100,000 kip for a double room which we found to be reasonable. Room was clean and spacious. Bathroom was basic but clean.
Chitavanh has a restaurant that serves delicious Lao and a limited selection of western food (the fries were tastey) which was also really convenient as there's not many places to eat in town.
Overall I'd recommend staying here.
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Date of stay: August 2015
Rooms
Location
Service
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.
After checking a few other guesthouses and hotels in the area, Chitavanh easily seemed the best choice. Clean room, tall ceilings, ensuite bathroom w/ hot water, restaurant in the hotel w/ good portions and low prices, good Wi-Fi, and friendly staff, though the English spoken is very minimal. Paid 100,000 kip for a double bed w/ air-con, though that was certainly not needed in November, as it gets quite cold at night. A previous guest had left his underwear in the closet that the staff failed to remove before our arrival, but other than that, nothing really to complain about.
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Date of stay: November 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.
They are rude, we wanted to see the room, the lady at the reception was very annoyed about this, but she showed us the Room during a power-cut. We paid 100.000 Kip, in the evening I looked for the controller of the AC , but couldn’t found it, at the reception they told me now, that we have to pay 140.000 Kip. Such an incredible behaviour we did not have during our 4 month journey through SEA.
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Date of stay: October 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.
We had a couple nights here, and apart from finding a used towel still hanging behind the door, and the provided towels being very thin...this hotel was ok. The lady at the desk was very pleasant. Our group had 2 front rooms on the fourth floor which were very small, but quite adequate. Breakfast basic but ok.
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Date of stay: October 2014
Location
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.
Arrived off bus from Luang Orabang, 14 hour journey. Taxi brought us here. A lot of money for something where the sheets are not clean and neither is the floor. Stayed our few hours and checked into another place as soon as possible. Avoid!
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Date of stay: July 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.
Sam Neua is not a big place and all the hotels seem to be pretty close together. We couldn't book online easily, so took a chance and got the tuk tuk to take us to one of them just to see. The Chitavanh was the first one we tried. Decent enough from the outside, helpful lady at the desk with very little English. We took a look at the rooms and agreed a price of 125k each for one double and one twin. The rooms were large, basic and averagely clean. There's a hot water tank in the bathroom, but don't be fooled, there is no hot water and everyone we met didn't have any either.
The rooms were cleaned each day with fresh towels. We wanted a basic room as a base to visit the caves and that's what we got. Sam Neua does not offer much choice and, having spoken to the four other foreigners staying in Sam Neua at the time, we seemed to get the best deal in terms of money paid for the rooms.
The staff were pretty non-existent which was fine as we didn't need anything. We sorted all our transport and ate our meals at the ace cafe around the corner, open 7-10 and a great meeting place for travellers trying to work out how to get across the border or where to travel on to next.
We liked the Chitavanh as it gave us what we needed - a comfy bed for two nights.
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Date of stay: August 2018Trip 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.
Called around in the morning after a bad choice the previous night. Not much English spoken by lady on reception but she showed me a lovely bright airy room with aircon and a good bathroom for the same price as the kip we had stayed in the previous night. Pleasant staff, good room. Close to river, restaurant around the corner. Hotel restaurant deserted though adequate when the weather is too cold for the outdoor places.
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Date of stay: February 2018
Location
Cleanliness
Service
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.
When we arrived a man asked if we were booking.com. Then how many people in each room. He did not look at the booking form to enquire the standard of rooms we booked. When we were shown 2 ground floor small rooms that you would have to climb over someone to get in and out of bed, I pointed to the booking form and told him No, Superior Rooms! Soon they got the message but I felt that without the actual paperwork this could have been a sticky point. The next room we were shown was on the 3/f large with no view and like a prison cell. We spotted a corner room no. 318 which had a view and took it. The placement of the TV was downright dangerous and we couldn’t get it to work. Towels are very thin. Didn’t bother with breakfast as Many coffeehouse is around the corner and they did a very nice breakfast with fresh coffee, eggs and baguette. One of our group ordered noodles one night and said it was OK. The hotel has a very Chinese feel and not particularly friendly - they don’t exactly welcome you. We appeared to be the only guests too! Walk to the markets across the bridge and taste the freshly cooked doughnut style foods the ladies cook, they are delicious.
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Date of stay: November 2017Trip 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.
We stayed in Sam Neua for a couple of days - called into 3 hotels on the same strip and there was such a difference at Chitavan. It was the best hotel of the 3 and also had the best rate for air con and wifi - 80,000 KIP. Room with nice firm bed, nice linen and a balcony. Although the people didnt speak English they were warm and friendly.
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Date of stay: August 2017
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Travelled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Ask for room with a balcony
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.
Hi David:
Xam Neua is quite a way from Luang Prabang, and you would struggle to drive it in one day. Hiring a vehicle and driver in Laos is always possible, you just have to fix a price. Not sure if a driver would do a hire run like that, as it would be hard for him to get a hire from Luang Prabang back to Xam Neua.
There are more places to choose from in the Sam Neua area.
LOCATION
LaosHouaphanh ProvinceSam Neua
NUMBER OF ROOMS
19
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