Wonderful staff....clean and safe!

I spent the month of November 2012 at the Viangbue. The hotel is somewhat older but remains in good repair and is kept clean with prompt attention to any maintenance concerns. My A/C decided to stop blowing cool air on two occasions, both times, a stop by the desk resulted in a maintenance man resolving the issue in less than an hour. The staff all possessed some degree of English language skills, some more than other, however all attempted to be as helpful and friendly as possible.
My room was clean and for the most part everything was in good repair. You won’t find the plus western style shine and glitter. There are no blow dryers or irons in the room and only a small safe large enough for an e-book computer (not a full laptop), and you cash, credit cards and jewelry if you feel the need. You will not find electrical outlets in the bathrooms, nor is there a good make-up mirror / lighting for those ladies who feel the need. What you will find is a nice sized room with plenty of cabinet space, with a good sized western bathroom.
As several reviewers have mentioned the hotel is not located near the tourist areas. There is a large Thai market nearby, and several small shops and services, however few people in this area speak languages other than Thai. If you want daily site seeing, shopping, and night life, you will want some means of transportation. You may want to budget for motorcycle/car rental or taxi/tuk tuk…the staff will call cabs for you, often times a tuk-tuk is parked outside, if not I’m sure the staff can call one for you. The hotel has underground parking for those with vehicles.
All in all, this hotel worked well for me as I prefer to be located in more of a Thai setting than the tourist areas.