Le Grand Pakbeng

Great location. Great view from the balcony of the room and from beside the pool.  Everything very clean and room was stylish.  Staff attentive and spoke good English.  Ate at the bistro which was not too expensive.  Decor in the bistro was not very inviting.

Amazing infinity pool overlooking the river and mountains. Luxurious resort.

This hotel seems to mainly be used as an overnight stop for tourists travelling by boat along the Mekong River. It is reputedly the best hotel in town. Check in was rushed as there was a queue of people who arrived all at the same time from the boats. Our room was large if sparsely furnished. The bed was large and comfortable. The bathroom only had a shower. The hot water seemed to run out quickly and couldn’t support two showers. It also had an uncomfortable floor with a hatchwork of stones and wood. Some of the rooms are quite a walk from the restaurant. Dinner was passable but not exciting. Breakfast was a plain buffet. The staff seemed ill at ease and the person at check out (the manager?) was utterly indifferent and no smiles. It didn’t feel like a happy place and they seem to know they don’t have to try too hard.

If we had stayed longer, if it had not been nearly dark when we arrived, if it had not been raining while we were there, I would have given this rambling, multi-leveled hotel 5 stars. The property looks beautiful with flowers everywhere, fanciful lanterns, many thoughtful design touches (but many steps!) and, of course, the view of the river and the hills surrounding it are the "icing on the cake". Our room was absolutely huge. Good A/C, good lighting, big picture window looking towards the river. It had a small balcony with a bistro style table & chairs overlooking the Mekong & it was definitely unfortunate that it was raining and that we arrived here just as it got dark, because we could not spend any time on the balcony, although I liked seeing the lights of Pak Beng village twinkling in the dark night. The bathroom has beautiful, matching deep blue cups, trays and comes with blue PakBeng toiletries and accessories; the shower has a rain shower head, small white rocks below & a full sized window (with blinds) overlooking the balcony & the river. The bed was large, comfortable & had the softest and warmest comforter of all the hotels we were at during our 15 day walkabout in Cambodia, Laos & Thailand. Dinner in the restaurant was uninspiring; most likely because we were the only ones there at first. Because we were leaving before breakfast began the next morning, we were given a wonderful takeway bag, including cups of hot coffee, with eggs, rolls, fruit, jam & more. We were thankful for the tuk tuk transportation to & from the hotel to our boat & got a good laugh when the driver told us that the cows wandering on the nearby road usually end up wandering onto the hotel's property each morning, to the wonderment of its guests.

I would have liked to have given a great review but the experience my family and I had at the evening buffet was abysmal! We pre booked and paid for the evening buffet as we knew we were going to be tired and wanted something on-site. We went down to the buffet at just after 8.00pm (buffet closes we were informed at 9.00pm) and witnessed two guests trying to get the last remnants of food from the silver trays on to their plates. We asked the staff if they were going to replenish the food and they said no. We straight away went to reception and informed the lady at reception, who said sorry we have been very busy. (sorry I thought we were paying guests) No further option was given to us or referral to her manager. Another member of staff did witness this conversation and did nothing. We had to go out of the hotel into town to get a meal. Why on earth are the hotel offering evening meal if they cannot cook or cater for the amount of guests they have? Surely they must know how many guests they have? I have never experienced anything like this in a hotel before.