CHAMPASAK PALACE

This palace is the fruit of the ambitious dream of Chao Boun Oum, Prince of Champasak. It should have housed a thousand rooms but was never completed, as the prince had to go into exile in France in 1974 when the royal government was overthrown by the Pathet Lao Communist Party. So the Palace was never inhabited by the royal family. Now the Champasak Palace Hotel, it has been run by a Thai group since 1995 and still overlooks the city with some pride. You can stay here or have a drink at the hotel bar.