Once the home of Lao royalty, today Villa Maly is an exquisite boutique hotel, ensconced by a profusion of tropical flora. Its rooms evoke the sudued elegance and creative flourishes of yesterday’s aristocrats. Its wonderful situation, in an enclave of classic old homes, will embed itself in your dreams of Luang Prabang.

The 33 guest rooms of the Villa Maly occupy five different buildings, including Plumeria, which was once the home of a royal Lao family. Each was designed as individual grace notes, to be inhabited by guests for a day, or three, or a week at a time, and then to inhabit that same guest’s memory for years to come.

Villa Maly’s own culinary options are a good base for exploration. The hotel’s kitchen serves a mix of Western and Eastern dishes, from Italian favorites, beefsteak from New Zealand and local fish to green curry, fried glass noodles prepared Lao style and Chinese fried rice.