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Settha Palace Hotel, Vientiane

The Settha Palace is a luxury boutique hotel with French colonial architecture in Vientiane, Laos.

The Settha Palace Hotel was built by the French in the 1930s and known as Le Bungalow.

The Settha Palace Hotel of today was reimagined by Laotian born Frenchman, Billy Theodas who spent his childhood living at the back of the Settha Palace when it was run by his parents in the 1950s. Unfortunately in 1975 when the regime changed, the whole family left everything behind to begin a new life in France.

The hotel was then nationalised and converted into government housing. With little care or upkeep, it fell into total disrepair over the following years.

After 17 years in self exile, Billy and his mother returned to Laos for a visit. Seeing the cracked, falling walls and collapsing roof of the hotel broke their hearts once more. With his mother's urging, Billy decided to regain control of the hotel, and beginning in 1994 spent five long years passionately and persistently leading the difficult renovation and restoration work.

Settha Palace Hotel.

Interior of the bedroom on the ground floor.

Spirit house of Settha Palace Hotel.
A spirit house is a shrine to the protective spirit of a place that is found in the Southeast Asian countries of Burma, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

  • They are normally in the form of small roofed structure mounted on a pillar or a dais, and can range in size from small platforms to houses large enough for people to enter.
  • Spirit houses are intended to provide a shelter for spirits that could cause problems for the people if not appeased.
  • They often include images or carved statues of people and animals.
  • Votive offerings are left at them to propitiate the spirits; more elaborate installations include an altar for this purpose.
  • See more at Spirit house - Wikipedia.

See also

Source

Location

Location: Street, 6 ຖະໜົນປາງຄຳ, Vientiane, Laos