Rosewood Luang Prabang lies on the edge of the town in the Nahm Dong Valley, within the UNESCO-listed area, where the designer Bill Bensley reimagined a forgotten 19th-century hill station around a waterfall flowing between the banks of the Nam Dong River. His starting point was the home of the first French envoy to Luang Prabang, a house that once welcomed travellers, and the suites honour the pioneers and artists who came to Laos, among them Ernest Hébrard, Governor Auguste Pavie and Alix Aymé. Rooms range from riverside rooms and suites to waterfall pool villas and, up a trail of about 140 steps, hilltop tents dressed in the colours and textiles of the hill peoples who still live in the surrounding mountains. The Great House serves a French and Lao menu inspired by the banquets Pavie once hosted, the Elephant Bridge Bar mixes cocktails with local herbs, and dinner can be set beside a secluded waterfall. Sense, A Rosewood Spa works with local botanicals and Lao healing traditions. The programme looks outward: alms giving with a resident former monk, mountain biking to Khmu and Lao Lum villages, a working rice farm and the MandaLao elephant sanctuary.
- Nearest airport
- Luang Prabang International Airport (LPQ), 6 Miles / 10 Kilometres
- Rooms
- 23 rooms, suites, villas and tents
- Taken whole
- All 23 rooms, villas and tents, with restaurant, bar, pool and spa
Insider tip Rise early for the Tak Bat alms offering with the resort's monk, Noi, then a guided walk through the morning market.
Why I choose it A Bensley hill station in the forest above Luang Prabang, with hilltop tents, village rides and dawn alms giving.