The Basics
Elephant Adventure Village Tree House
Road 13, Vang Vieng, Laos
$25USD | 170RMB | 215,000kip per night
Book here and get 10% off
Breakfast included
No WiFi
How to get there
A 30-minute tuk tuk drive away from the little backpacker’s town in Vang Vieng will put you on the path to utopia. After the tuk-tuk drops you off, you’ll cross a bridge by foot and walk through a small local village. Passing cows and fields along a dirt road for about 15 minutes before arriving at the main entrance of Elephant Adventure Village Tree House. You’ll be greeted by 20+ dogs, every girl’s dream!
Amenities
Transportation
There’s a free shuttle, or tuk-tuk, that runs between Vang Vieng, Laos to the Elephant Adventure Village Tree House. It runs twice a day, around 9am and
Definitely note these times as you’re making arrival arrangements (which is likely by bus).
Check-in
I received an email before my stay at Elephant Adventure Tree House Village requesting my arrival time. I responded that the bus arrived in Vang Vieng from Vientiane around 6:30pm.
No reply.
The email stated an address for the office in Vang Vieng. Upon arriving I found out it was right next to the bus station.
One of the first things the guy at the counter said was “Why didn’t you call?”
Well…I responded to your email, “Oh, we don’t check that”. Nice.
We figured since we had already missed the 1pm shuttle, we could leave our bags while we wandered around town for a bit and grab a bite to eat as we’d been traveling for over 24 hours.
The receptionist spoke to the owner over the phone and said we needed to leave right now! After spending 15 minutes on the phone with the owner, we negotiated for 15 minutes to grab a bite to go. He kindly waited for us!
We grabbed an awful sandwich and jumped in a tuk-tuk for our journey.
Luckily, the owner picked us up on a motorbike at the bridge in the dark to take us to our treehouse.
I was never checked in, asked for identification, or given any information about the grounds, tours, hours of anything, etc. We got up to our treehouse excited to wake up and explore in daylight.
Food
Breakfast is included. There wasn’t a set hour for it, basically whenever the locals were awake. You’ll have to go down and find them in and around the kitchen area.
I woke up early to watch the sunrise. When I climbed down from my treehouse to find food at 7am, there was not a soul in sight. Only a mob of puppies to keep me occupied while waiting for someone to wake up.
Both mornings, I found someone was in the kitchen at about 7:30ish. They offered rice, noodles, or Pad Thai for breakfast. I’m not sure what was included with rice or noodles because the women in the kitchen had very limited English. I opted for Pad Thai both mornings.
The Pad Thai was very good. It was pleasant to sit on the picnic benches and enjoy the quiet surroundings of nature. Double bonus: puppies lying on my and at my feet!
Choice of tea or coffee. I don’t drink coffee but did notice that it was instant coffee packets, for those who care.
Activities
Surrounding the Elephant Adventure Village Tree House is the Tham Nam Water Cave and Tham Xang Elephant Caves. For the adventure seeker, there’s zip-lining and tubing onsite. Looking for relaxation? Chill out in a hammock or wander around the beautiful garden grounds.
In nearby Vang Vieng, you can check out some of Laos’ famous attractions; Blue Lagoons, Nam Xay Viewpoint, inner tubing, or kayaking down the Nam Song River. Rent a buggy, push-bike, or motorbike to check out these and other nearby attractions.
Check-out
We had no idea what time checkout is and no one was around when we were leaving. We assumed my card had been charged upon booking or arrival. High hopes that maybe our stay was free since no one checked us in!
Our bus was meeting us on the main road and it didn’t look like anyone was offering to help us down the dirt road and across the bridge.
As we exited the main gates, there was a group of local guys but none of them spoke English, so we headed down the dirt road, suitcases in tow.
They must’ve called the owner because 10 minutes later as we’re halfway down the dirt road, the owner came after us on his scooter. He was asking about our payment. At this point, we were in a rush to get to our bus and a bit annoyed at the lack of service, so I wasn’t going to turn around to swipe my card. We paid in cash (after he tried to overcharge us) and went on our way.
Overall Experience
Staying in a treehouse is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I highly recommend it.
With hardly anyone around, it was peaceful and quiet. Listening to the roosters in the morning and the surrounding sounds of nature provided the perfect setting to watch the sunrise.
In the evenings, there are no city lights and not a soul in sight. There are plenty of creepy crawlies (take your bug spray!), so spread out a mat on the patio and enjoy gazing at the stars.
While I had a pretty disappointing experience as far as the service and staff went, reading the fabulous reviews on Booking.com, I’m optimistic that my experience is not the usual.
I think my experience could have been better if I had arrived earlier to get the “check-in experience”. Also, If I had booked a tour through their company instead of planning things on my own.
If you’re heading to Vang Vieng in Laos, book your
Looking for another unique experience in SE Asia? Check out this cooking class in Hoi An!
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