Chanthavinh Resort and Spa, Luang Prabang

Awful location, not really in Luang Prabang, but 10 km down the Mekong, on the other side of the river. No (practical) land access to L.P., no real way to/from the resort to L.P. and area attractions, except the hotel's one boat, and an occasional entrepreneurial private boat owner. Hotel boat goes from resort to Luang Prabang at 8 am and 6 pm each day, and from Luang Prabang to the resort at 4 pm and 10 pm each day. Any trips "off-schedule" are $5 US (per person). Hotel took the wrong people from Luang Prabang to hotel when we arrived from airport, leaving us waiting at the pier. They didn't think to come back for us, despite us never checking in. After waiting in the mid-day Laos sun, we walked into town, bought SIM cards, called the hotel, walked back to the pier, and waited another 30 minutes for the boat. What should have taken 30 minutes, airport to resort, took 2 1/2 hours. Good thing my wife speaks Laos and I speak Thai, or finding SIM cards for our phones wouldn't have been "so easy." Next day we waited for the 4 pm boat back to the hotel, again in the Laos sun. We called every 10 minutes to hear that the boat would be another 5 minutes, eventually a private boat operator arrived at 4.46 pm. The hotel's only boat had engine problems. That was enough for us -- we left the resort two days early, frustrated with the location and the issues with the hotel's boat, but Agoda graciously refunded our hotel payments because of the troubles we'd encountered. The Chantavinh staff was apologetic about the transport problems and eager to serve us, and the resort is truly beautiful, but given their location, they should have a number of boats, and free, routine transport between the resort & Luang Prabang. They couldn't meet our transport needs, and we were two of only four customers at the resort. Imagine if the resort were booked full!