What the room actually is, country by country

The three levels we quote

Every price on this site is quoted at one of three levels. They are not star ratings, because star ratings in this region are self-awarded and mean very little.

What the same money buys, country by country

Cambodia is the best value of the four at every level, and it is not close. Siem Reap in particular has an oversupply of good hotels; a room that would cost USD 150 in Chiang Mai costs USD 90 there.

Thailand is the most expensive, partly because the domestic market is wealthier and partly because international brands set the floor. Laos is expensive relative to what you get, because there is very little supply outside Luang Prabang and Vientiane.

The places where the ceiling is low, and we say so upfront

• Nong Khiaw. The best available is a good riverside bungalow with hot water and a fan or a small air conditioner. There is nothing above that.
• Pak Beng. One street of guesthouses that exists because the slow boat stops there. Electricity is sometimes intermittent.
• Don Khon and Four Thousand Islands. Good bungalows. No hotels in any conventional sense.
• Savannakhet. A quiet colonial town with three or four decent hotels and nothing smart.
• Ha Giang and Dong Van. Improving fast, and still a long way behind Hanoi. Expect clean, plain and cold in winter.
• Battambang and Kratie. A handful of decent options each.

These are not failures of the itinerary; they are what exists in those places, and the places are worth going to anyway. What we will not do is quote you Excellent for a trip that includes them without telling you what the word means there.

What we book, and what we avoid

We name every hotel in every itinerary, with a link, before you pay anything. That is the single most useful protection against a quote that looks cheap.

What we look for

• Location you can walk out of. A hotel twenty minutes from the old quarter is not in the old quarter.
• Independent ownership where the standard allows it, because it is where the money stays.
• Rooms that are quiet. In Hanoi's Old Quarter and on the Bangkok riverside this rules out a lot of otherwise good properties.
• Somewhere that will hold your room to 16:00 on a departure day, which we arrange as standard.

What we avoid

• Large resort complexes outside the town, particularly in Siem Reap, where they exist to keep you eating on site.
• Hotels whose booking terms make a change impossible, because in a four-country trip something always moves.
• Anything in Sihanoukville, for reasons set out on the Kampot and Kep page.
• Properties on land with an unresolved dispute, which in parts of Cambodia and Laos is a real question and one we ask.

Seasonal price movement, which is larger than people expect

The hotel component of your trip is the part that moves most with the calendar, and in two towns it moves a great deal.

Guides, vehicles and entrance fees barely move. That is why a trip in May or September can be 20 to 30 per cent cheaper than the same trip in December, and almost all of the saving is in the room.

Homestays, and what they really are

Two of our routes include a night in a village house — in the Mekong Delta at Ben Tre, and on the optional trek from Nong Khiaw. These are genuine: a family home, a mat or a simple bed, a shared washing area, and dinner cooked in the house.

They are not a hotel with local decoration. There is no air conditioning, the bathroom is basic, and the household gets up early. They are also, for a lot of people, the night they remember.

If that is not for you, say so and we will substitute a small lodge. Nobody should spend a night of their holiday being uncomfortable to prove a point.

Questions travellers ask most

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