It’s not everyday that one can call a UNESCO World Heritage site "home". But at the 3 Nagas by Alila, guests can do precisely that: the design hotel is housed in three World Heritage buildings located in the heart of Luang Prabang, itself a World Heritage site and the ancient capital of Laos.

The three buildings were all restored in 2003 in a marriage of traditional Lao architecture with modern comfort, time-honoured local aesthetic and contemporary, international design. Hotel 3 Nagas's 15 superior rooms and three suites are divided amongst two of the houses, The Khamboua and The Lamache. The former was built in 1903 and opens onto a 500-square-metre garden nestled up against the Nam Khan River; the latter was built in 1898 to house the royal family and later converted into an ice cream factory in the 1930s. The small number of rooms located in these two buildings ensures guests a luxurious amount of space and a pronounced feeling of intimacy and seclusion.

Each individually-designed room at 3 Nagas has a distinctive character of its own, but all are unified by certain shared elements: exotic wood floors and furniture, traditional "torchis" walls, clay-tile roofs, silk fabrics, traditional weavings, king-sized beds, sofas and wireless Internet. Each also comes equipped with a large, private terrace or veranda overlooking the bustling street or quiet garden. The three suites offer the same luxury but on a grander scale, the largest featuring a private entrance hall, exquisite bathroom and sumptuous living and dining areas.
 
In the third building, the Les 3 Nagas restaurant offers authentic Lao cuisine with a French flair – so tasty that it garnered glowing reviews from the New York Times online travel site. For more casual dining, there’s the open-air Mango Tree restaurant, where guests can enjoy Asian-Western fusion cuisine with a Laotian twist. Also in this building: the hotel library and La Boutique, which offers handicrafts celebrating Laos’ cultural heritage – appropriately made by local craftsmen and artists themselves. The collection includes hand-embroidered items, wood crafts and silk textiles produced by local hill tribes as well as a variety of Laotian teas and a selection of infusions and spices from Luang Prabang.

The 3 Nagas also provides a leisure concierge devoted to creating tailor-made itineraries that will help guests get the most out of their time in the "kingdom of a million elephants". Visiting the ancient temples, gorgeous shrines, golden-spired stupas and lush greenery of Luang Prabang is a must for all guests; and for those in search of a bit more adventure, the leisure concierge will be happy to arrange mountain treks, eco-tours, hikes to local hill tribes or a visit to nearby Kuang Si waterfall and park.