There is not much on offer in Savannakhet so Joli is a really good option. Make no mistake it is a guesthouse, not a mid range hotel but for what they charge — $12 for the large room we had — it is very good value. The whole building is clean, they give free water and toilet paper, serve a simple breakfast of egg, banana, and bread, and replace towels — quite good value for a guesthouse at this price point. The staff are very smiley but speak no English. The proprietor seems to speak French reasonably well and English a bit. They will call you a cheap tuk tuk to the bus station.
On the guesthouse side, the beds were rock hard and bedding adequate but a top sheet would have been better as the duvet did not have a removable cover. Not unusual for this price though.
Regarding the person whose booking they gave away, that is inexcusable and though we had no problem with ours, they did seem disorganized in that regard. We had booked for 3 nights and she asked us each day if we were checking out the next! No problem that we weren’t but it was a bit odd.