Name: Pon Arena
Address: Khangkhong, Muang Khong, Laos, Khong Island, Khong Island, Khong Island, 01000, Laos
Rating: 8

Air conditioning

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Cable TV

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Restaurant

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Internet

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Free Parking on Premises

Parking

Swimming pool

Outdoor pool

Pool and beach

Pets Not Allowed

Pets

Location

At the hotel

Room amenities

Pon Arena

Khong Island

child-bed

child-bed-fee

external-private-bathroom

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limited-time

lounge

treatment

no-window

bay-view

bosphorus-view

canal-view

city-view

courtyard-view

garden-view

golf-view

harbour-view

inland-view

lake-view

land-view

mountain-view

ocean-front

ocean-view

oceanside

panoramic-view

park-view

partial-ocean-view

partial-sea-view

partial-view

pool-view

river-view

sea-front

sea-view

street-view

sunrise-view

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water-view

with-view

annex

basement

main-building

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not-guaranteed

wired-internet-access

smoking

sauna

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safe

mini-bar

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pets-allowed

wi-fi

kitchen

We stayed only 1 night at the hotel as we were visiting the Island as part of our tour.  This is considered the best on the island and i know it's not 5 star but nonetheless it could have been better for its cleanliness, food and service. 

The Good Parts:
Nice Pool, View from our room and Pool of Mekong and the sunrise and sunset was wonderfull.  The hotel overlooks with an unobstructed view of the Mekong. 
The Rooms were Large - but for best views i would take room on top floor ( which we had) .

Some of the not so great parts: 
The room on first appreances looked clean - but we found dust on several items in the room, and there were dead insects in places in the room, especially near windows and coners of the room,
The Bathroom had a dead cockroach which my wife had to get a staff to come pick up - staff attitude was severally lacking in apology for it.
The balcony had such great views but was dirty with bird droppings like it had not been cleaned for several days. Even though we enjoyed the view this uncleanliness spoilt the enjoyment. 
We found a number of restaurant staff would ignore you till they saw the hotel manager or the Restaurant manager. 

There is little or nothing to around the hotel so you ended up with eating at the hotel, but the food was just ok nothing great. The Breakfast buffet was ok and no complaints on it, 

This hotel with some due care and attention and better service from the staff could be a wonderful hotel, it has magnificent views.

Could be so much better

I realise that this is by no means a 5 star hotel, but what I would expect regardless of stars is somewhere clean, good food and good customer service from friendly staff. Sadly this was lacking in all these areas.

The good
The pool was lovely and overlooked the Mekong
The rooms were large and ask for one on top floor for best views

The not so good
The duvet was wedged between two sheets, rather than duvet cover - whilst the sheets were clean the duvet was stained. 
The staff seem to lack leadership from management and lacked basic customer service training. They didn’t smile, some ignored you when you said hello (in Lao), didn’t clean plates away, you had to ask for cutlery and at busy breakfast times did not keep an eye on coffee machine (that kept running out of water) or replacing other items like milk, fruit etc.

One morning we were woken at 6am by staff clearing away tables of plates of food left on tables from night before. Hate to think what animals had been on table overnight eating left overs.

The room smelt of bonfire all the time and you were limited to 1 small bottle of water for 2 people. The towels did not smell fresh and were stained.

Outside the sun beds had no cushions and were very uncomfortable.

We ate only one night in restaurant and the
 Food was not great so we ate at the family restaurant just up the road whose food and customer service was first class.

Could be great, but staff let it down

A lovely stay for just one night. The bed was very comfortable and the room nice and clean. It was great overlooking the river and pool. We were made very welcome. We ate in the restaurant in the evening and had an excellent  meal for a great price. The breakfast was lovely too. 
Thank you!

A Lovely One Night Stay

Only stayed here for one night but would loved to have stayed longer! Beautiful location on the river bank with amazing views from the lovely rooms. Two great infinity pools also. Staff are friendly and helpful and the food in the restaurant is fantastic. Rooms very large clean and comfortable and great beds and bathrooms Highly recommended. One of the best hotels we have stayed in whilst visiting Laos.

Beautiful Hotel, amazing views.

Just reviewing our  our trip to Laos and our stay at the Pon Arena and felt so sick in the stomach and had to post our previous review. 
Stayed 2 nights 16-17 Aug 13. We booked a deluxe Mekong River View double for $55 per night which the web site says are spacious rooms with private balcony. On arrival I made sure that we were getting the room we booked. The owner convinced us to upgrade to the new building across the road, for an additional fee of $25 per night. WHAT A MISTAKE. The web site lists the NEW Mekong River View rooms for $85 per night and are spacious with private balcony.

We were allocated room 216 – NO private balcony, NO opening window, NO wardrobe, NOwhere to put luggage other than on floor or on small lounge which reduces seating to one chair, NO hot water, bath water smelt, NO shower screen, NO phone, NO welcome booklets, NO writing materials, NO instructions on how to operate the safe which sits on a bedside table, NO pool towels – had to go to reception who expected us to use our bath towels, got two more towels!. Tea making was on a table near the lounge however the kettle cord could not reach the power point, had to go to the bathroom.

The restaurant staff had very poor English and the prices were way overpriced. I had the worst Caesar Salad you could expect to get anywhere – looked and tasted like crap. My wife had the red curry which she could not be eat. Breakfast was something else. Included in the room charge it consisted of a small amount of chopped fruit, half a small glass of juice, bread and jam.

The existing pool is dangerous.

Another reviewer said “Mr Pon, dripping in his gold chains, and all his staff looked unhappy. Hmm.
Seems he has a dominance over this island, and having the only pool, and 'luxury' accommodation, along with his guesthouse up the road”. COULD NOT AGREE MORE. Mr Pon needs to lift his game.

Of the hotels we stayed in during a holiday thru Laos and Cambodia this was by far the worst - even worse than the Riveria Hotel – Thakhek (Read other reviews). If you can avoid the island, do so. Rating 3 out 10 (for the view only).
Show less
Date of stay: August 2013
Room tip: Do not fall for the trap of accepting Room 216 or its equivalent under any circumstances

If not the worst hotel we have stayed in, it's in the grand final.

Certainly the best hotel on the island but be aware there is absolutely nothing to do on the island. If you want a boat trip you have to drive off the island and head south, so why stay on Don Khong island? In itself the hotel is not that great as a resort.

We choose not to eat in the hotel and reasonable food can be found at one of the several restaurants just along the road as you turn left out of the hotel. The place we ate at had a menu in English with photos and the waiter spoke English. As you can imagine the food was significantly cheaper than in the hotel. 

Breakfast was weak but in the time of Covid you have to lower your expectations.

The rooms are ridiculously huge. The bed mattresses are very soft, if you like that then enjoy. I could only stand one night of sinking without trace. 

The hotel kettle in the bedroom was full of dead ants but otherwise the hotel is clean.



Best on the Island

For us it remains the best accommodation to visit the 4000 islands.
The hotel is located along the Mekong on the island of Don Khong, the largest of the 4000 islands.
It has large and spacious rooms that overlook the two swimming pools perfect for relaxing after a day around the islands.
Perfect the possibility, two hours by boat, to leave directly from the Hotel to visit the best known islands, that of Don Det and Don Khon.
Special thanks to Philipe, who accompanied us to the islands and who allowed us to eat fresh fish every evening cooked very well by the hotel restaurant.

The best accommodation to visit the 4000 islands

Was booked at this hotel for three nights:
March 8th, 9th and 10th by VietVision Travel, in Vietnam. I advised VietVision Travel many times in the long process of organizing this tour for me that my two top requirement for hotels is cleanliness and airconditioning.

I booked in, went to my room, turned the air conditioning on, turned the temperature setting to 18, waited half hour, and the room temperature was no where near 18. I paid more money, upgraded my room, and still the temperature was nowhere near even 20. Yes it may have been near 22 degree if I stood right under it. But even after one hour the room was still warm.

I am definitely not inclined to upgrade again. So I am going to forget about my other booked two nights, compensated or not, and ask VietVision to change my itinerary, and get out of here.

The owner or manager should check their air-conditioning systems, service them, and, if that does not help， have them changed.

The hotel needs it's airconditioning systems upgraded.

Laos and these island are packed with good food and eating options. At this restaurant across the Pon Arena Hotel, it’s theirs, the kitchen was unable to deliver anything and what we got for our dinner was uninspired, sloppy, greasy and very badly done. It’s supposed to be the first restaurant around there, but tradition and history didn’t learn them anything, Im afraid... Now only a very well located tourist trap... avoid it, please.

A remark on their restaurant only

I strongly recommend the Pon Arena Hotel in Muang Khong, South Laos. A delightful place to stay while visiting the beautiful SiPhanDon (Four Thousand Islands ) in the Mekong River. The owner and his staff had been our
friendly and gracious hosts. Come and enjoy your stay

Pon Arena

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