Stayed in this hotel for a couple of nights in early March and found it to be perfectly fine. Vientiane is pretty basic, so you can't expect luxury. However, while the decor is a little past its best, the facilities are perfectly good. There's a reasonably well-equipped gym, a fast(ish) internet connection and a decent breakfast included. The staff are helpful too, getting us to the international hospital in the middle of the night when struck down with, ahem, a digestive condition. The hotel's on a quiet road with a few good bars and restaurants and is just off the main road along the Mekong.

I stayed at this property in January 07. It is a nice, little hotel very well located, and very clean. The rooms are large, and the staff very helpful. Broadband internet in the room was a plus (at only USD$3 per day a bargain too). This is of course Vientiane, a very modest and quiet capital with no skycrappers or the normal hustle and bustle of the modern world so one has to take this into consideration when reviewing properties in a city which is, by an large, still only a backpacker destination.

Because booking online for hotels in Laos was a difficult exercise I booked my room (3 nights) directly with the hotel staff by email. They came back to me within the hour, and were extremely efficient and offered a free transfer to/from the airport. They did not ask me for a credit card guarantee or other consideration to keep my booking. Please note this. In Laos, hotels still don't ask for credit card imprints when you check in. It is still an innocent place (hopefully you won't abuse their trust so they can keep it this way!). They gave me their promotional rate of USD$50 per night (which is a steal for one of the 'best' hotels in the city). It is not a 5 star, probably not a 4 star, more like a 3.5 property but in Laos this is very good, safe, and modern.

Recommended with the provisos made in the circumstances. Vientiane is an interesting place to visit for a short stopover. Go there before it is 'modernised' and they start chasing you in the street with watches, tours, or worse. City is backwards and restrained (extremely cheap too) and this part of its appeal.

This is not the Hilton. But if you go to Vientiane looking for the Hilton, then you may as well stay in Paris. The hotel has the faded charm of a colonial era (the building, not the ideology) and is within a half block of the Mekong with delightful local restaurants suspended precariously on wooden planks over the river, where drinks and conversation are in plentiful supply. This is a hotel that perhaps lacks some of what world travelers have come to think of as the "amenities", but in staying here you will have an experience of Vientiane that will remain with you, and never be confused with just another hotel in just another town. And if you are a runner, training for the Boston Marathon by running along the Mekong cannot be beaten.

Just returned from a trip which included a stay in the Tai Pan Hotel.
The hotel is a good value no nonsense top end hotel. We asked for the family room and ended up with a 3 room suite which was fantastic. The public areas are inviting and the staff pleasant and helpful.

The swimming pool is clean and simple and a welcome relief from the heat at the end of a busy day.

Location is excellent on a quiet side street off the main road, across from the Mekong. This makes finding transport and tuk tuks easy.

Just across from the hotel are a few really good eateries such as the Full Moon bar which are well worth a go.

All in all a good, comfortable clean and value for money if you want all the ameneties of a top end hotel with out too many frills.