Eco friendly accommodation with a view in world heritage town
Eco friendly accommodation with a view in world heritage town
Luang Prabang province is well known as a UNESCO-listed World Heritage Site that is booming, attracting more tourists to visit year by year.
At the same time, the number of hotels aiming to serve visitors each year is also in the rise.
Hotel offerings are a key factor to attract tourists during visits to Luang Prabang province.
The total number reached 61 hotels in 2015.
The province is now in third place nationally for registered hotels, followed by Vientiane with 208 and Champassak province with 62, according to the official 2015 statistics contained in a report on tourism in the country.
Hotels in Luang Prabang include luxury accommodations that have their own characteristics that feature the culture and tradition of this most well preserved ancient city in Laos.
Opened in 2009, Luang Prabang View Hotel is among the luxury hotels operating in the province.
Its location is outstanding, placed on the top of a peak that overlooks the town with clientele attracted to surrounding views of the town and province.
Luang Prabang View Hotel general manager Mr John Morris Williams spoke to Vientiane Times during the Asean Socia-cultural Community Council meeting held in the hotel recently.
Mr Williams said he had worked with Luang Prabang View Hotel for two and half years.
“We are one of biggest hotels in the province and our hotel is unique in the province because we have such a good view. Meanwhile, the hotel is designed as an eco-hotel and we just got an Asian standard award for green hotels,” he said.
He said the hotel had welcomed diverse travellers including groups from various public private groups and worldwide travelers from as far as Mexico, UK , Europe and other parts of Asia.
“We have mixed markets and we diversify, so we stay on top in Laos and go out into every market,” he explained.
The concept of green hotel was chosen because it was a part the local culture and a philosophy supported by the owner, a Lao national who owns has a construction company.
“As per the green hotel concept, we have recycling of our garbage, we manage gray water using three ponds and down to the land where we have our garden for planting flowers and vegetables.”
“Meanwhile, we also raise pig and ducks, which consume leftovers from the hotel we are able to feed them.”
“Furthermore, one of the main objectives is that we have to take care of our staff and develop their skills.
“I have worked all around the world for the last 35 years, working in Thailand, Saudi Arabia, France and some other countries.”
“As I have traveled in many countries I want to give back my experiences to the staff so they learn and become very professional in hospitality.
“I believe they can be very good at their work and ensure hospitality which is very important for the hotel to best serve its customers,” he said.
He added the staff also had the chance to attend training courses offered by a Lanith project in the province which trained them on hotel operations and hospitality standards.
The hotel also pays staff well and they can benefit from medical coverage for their health and receive extra income from overtime and service charges, he said.
He said the hotel currently has 128 s taff working in the hotel which boasts some 74 rooms.
“Our hotel has still a long way to go. We also plan to upgrade our hotel to become a five star hotel in near future. We are currently a four and half star hotel,” he said.
Despite the competition, he believes a cooperative approach remains key to selling the destination.
“We have to sell the whole of Luang Prabang. People don't know only one hotel. We cannot just sell our hotel individually; we need to sell the whole of Luang Prabang and what it has. If people don't like my hotel they have the options of looking at other hotels,” he said.
“If we want to be greedy and sell only the hotel it doesn't work. Luang Pabang has to be sold as one destination and everybody can get a piece of the pie”.
“We need to share to make Luang Prabang more fruitful. It is not just a hotel taxi drivers, it is also the people selling from the streets.”
