S Plus Bungalow in Sapa, Vietnam

When we initially arrived in Sa Pa, my wife and I didn’t have a solid plan for how long we’d stay, nor where exactly we’d stay for the duration of our time there. We had pre-booked our 1st hotel, Pao’s Sapa Leisure Hotel, for 3 days, and figured we’d just wing it from there if the weather was good and we wanted to stay longer.

So after spending 3 days at Pao’s Sapa Leisure Hotel, and thinking we’d like to try something perhaps a little more traditional, we booked 2 nights at Sapa CatCat Hills Resort, still within the Sapa Town area.

It was ok, but we wanted something more smack-dab in the middle of the rice terraces, if possible. Something like a homestay, but as we were booking last minute, we couldn’t find any decent looking ones available.

We did however find a place called S Plus Bungalow, which was quite a bit further out from Sapa Town, but it looked amazing in the pics. So we we decided to give it a try…

S Plus Bungalow Info

• Address: S Plus Bungalow, Day 1 Ta Van, Tả Van, Sa Pa, Lào Cai, Vietnam
• Official Facebook page: facebook.com/SPlusBungalow/

S Plus Bungalow

Arriving There

The roads in this part of Sapa are quite narrow in parts, uneven, paved or unpaved depending on the stretch of road, and very muddy when it rains.

S Plus Bungalow itself is located somewhere along a very narrow dirt path, only accessible by foot or motorcycle/scooter. So when we first arrived, our driver let us off on the main road (as seen in the pic above), where the owner of S Plus Bungalow was waiting on a motorcycle to take our bags for us, and lead us there.

One thing to keep in mind about Sapa in general, but especially in this area, is the entourage you’re pretty much guaranteed to have while out and about, as you can see in the pic above on the left.

The local ethnic minorities are friendly, but very persistent. They’ll often follow you around, chatting with you for a while, until they make their sales pitch to try to sell you various trinkets.

They’re not overly pushy, but it definitely gets a bit old after a while, so be warned!

After a short, and somewhat steep walk along the dirt path, we finally arrived at S Plus Bungalow.

The Location

As I mentioned, S Plus Bungalow is a bit out from the main Sapa Town area - about 20-30 minutes-drive from the town center. There’s also not a whole heck of a lot around the area, other than the bungalows, some homestays, a few shops, and of course nature!

So if you’re looking for something out of the way, and surrounded by nature, this is definitely the place for you. The views are absolutely stunning, and the air is so fresh and clean.

There are also a lot of hiking trails around the area, so if you’re into hiking, you’ll have a blast here. In fact, from what the owners of S Plus Bungalow told us, most of the people that come here are indeed trekkers, here for the trails.

The Accommodations

S Plus Bungalow actually has 2 types of accommodations: the bungalows, and a few tents.

Now, we’re not quite the camping type, and I personally like having a private bathroom, so we opted for one of the bungalows.

If you choose to book a tent though, you’ll have access to shared toilets and showers behind the main building.

The Wood Cabins

The bungalows are modern wood cabins, and really quite nice inside. They’re not huge, but they’re a good size, clean, and have a very cozy feel to them.

Above the bed you’ll find a net to keep the bugs out, which is great, and the bed itself was really comfortable.

While we did use the net to enclose the bed at night, we didn’t really have any issues with bugs in the cabin, which was a nice surprise. There were the few small ones that got in while we were coming in and out at night, but nothing major.

The bathroom was really nice as well, with a nice big deep wooden tub that was actually really relaxing to soak in at the end of the day.

And then last but certainly not least, the view from our balcony… was just incredible. We had a fantastic view of some rice terraces and mountains in the distance. It was just stunning.

Now to be clear, what looks like rice terraces directly outside our balcony isn’t actually rice. I forget what the owner said it was, but it’s not rice.

The rice terraces are just a bit further out, which you can see in the pic above on the right, and in the following pic…

The is also tons of rice growing at the front of the property, which is just beside the main building.

The Main Building & Restaurant

The main building is where you’ll find the restaurant, and the reception area. I say restaurant, but it’s more like a dining area, and they only serve breakfast, and from a set menu every day. For the days we were there, it was eggs and toast the first day, and then I believe the other days it was pho.

If you want something else for breakfast, or want lunch or dinner, you’ll need to head out to find somewhere else to eat. Thankfully there is a homestay just a few steps away that serves absolutely delicious food, so we ate there for lunch a few times while we were there.

Rainy Sapa

While we stayed at S Plus Bungalow, it rained pretty much every day! We did get a few moments to go out and explore, and do a little hiking thankfully, but we didn’t get to explore as much as we’d have liked due to the rain.

Thankfully we really loved the bungalow, and even if we were stuck inside while it was raining, it was a hell of an amazing place to be stuck!

It’s just so incredibly peaceful and relaxing there, and the views are about as good as it gets.

My Verdict

I have to say that, honestly, this was the perfect place to end our time in Sapa.

It’s a bit out of the way, but that’s what we loved about it. The views are just stunning, the air is fresh, and the bungalows are fantastic and really cozy.

You’re not going to find a happening night life in this part of Sapa, but if you’re looking for a peaceful, relaxing place to stay, with some of the best views you’ll find in the area and great hiking trails, then S Plus Bungalow is worth checking out… I really can’t recommend it enough!

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And that concludes the 3 different places we stayed at while in Sapa. I hope you found these reviews helpful, and if you have any questions about any of the places we stayed, feel free to ask in the comments below!