Like many of the small guesthouses and hotels in the city, The Ban Lao Guesthouse is a former villa. This whitewashed two story has comfortable "better than backpacker" level accommodations. An addition was being added in the large backyard, so there may be more than 18 rooms now.

There is one room that costs more than others located on the second floor and inside a large bank-like steel vault. The owner told me that the villa belonged to a member of the royal family of Laos hence the safe. It may sound somewhat creepy to sleep in a bank vault but there are large windows in the room, and it is quiet. I don’t know if the vault door locks.

There is an open air patio bar and restaurant which pretty good but basic Lao cuisine.

The villa is across the street from the Forestry Authority building and there are a number of small hotels and hostels on this same road at the edge of the old quarter in a quiet residential area.