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Smart digs. Photo: Cindy Fan

The guesthouse has eight rooms. Six are in the two-storey building block, which has a communal balcony, while two are part of the main house. Despite the age of the building, the rooms still look fairly fresh, with white walls, shiny tile floor, windows and “no smoking” signs, and the one we inspected had one of the newest looking bathrooms in a town where there’s an epidemic of mildewed bathroom tiles. Overall, it’s a relatively well thought out room, with a desk and plug, a bedside plug and light, fan, mosquito net and WiFi. It’s all presented in a tidy fashion.

The three rooms on the upper floor (Room 4, 5, 6) have the best view, while the two rooms that are part of the house (Room 7, 8) are closest to the river since they jut out and have a balcony. Of course, this being Nong Kiaow, it’s usually first come first serve regardless of efforts to reserve ahead of time.

Above standard rooms for Nong Kiaow. Photo: Cindy Fan

Don’t despair if you are in one of the ground floor rooms. There’s an enormous communal terrace with some picnic tables and benches that get you as close to the water as possible without actually going in it.

It is a bit of a hike (800 m) to reach the bridge where all the restaurants are. The streets in Nong Kiaow are not lit so anticipate a walk in the dark returning from dinner. Also, no one spoke English when we visited, so we spoke Lao but no one was interested in getting up to show us a room, so communication and service may be an issue.

A deck worth sharing. Photo: Cindy Fan

The family who own Nam Ou River Lodge also own Nong Kiau Adventures tour company (not to be confused with NK Adventures). For any assistance, you may need to contact Mr Mang, who speaks English, at their tour office located at the end of the bridge on the same side of the river. Guests shouldn’t be surprised if there’s a sales pitch on some tours.