Poonwana Cottage — Wooden Cabins in a Garden, and a Host Who Packs Your Naga Cave Lunch
If you're booking a Naga Cave trip and the identical concrete hotels in town are leaving you cold, Poonwana Cottage — known locally as Baan Rai Poonwana — is worth a look. This isn't a row of rooms; it's a cluster of standalone wooden cabins spread across a garden, surrounded by trees and open grass. What guests keep coming back to mention is the big sit-down breakfast and the fact that the host packs you a lunch to carry up to Naga Cave — small touches like that are exactly why people tell their friends about this place.
Poonwana Cottage is a small garden-style stay in Bueng Khong Long, a fair drive from Bueng Kan town but with one big advantage — it's only about a 10-minute drive to Naga Cave, which is the main reason most people come to this corner of the province. The accommodation is a set of standalone wooden cabins, each with its own name and its own look: Baan Boonmak, Baan Jongrak, Baan Cherda, Baan Phakdee. Walk into the garden and you'll find the cabins scattered among the trees — some raised on stilts, some with a porch and a hammock strung up for lazy afternoons.
The cabins are compact, roughly 12 to 24 sqm depending on which one you take. Inside you get air-conditioning, a water heater, a fridge, a fan, a hairdryer and a bathroom kit — everything you need for an overnight stay. To be straight about it, these aren't big resort rooms, and some cabins don't have a TV — but most people who stay here are coming to sleep surrounded by nature, not to watch television anyway. The host also leaves four bottles of water and some snacks in the room, a small detail that gets a lot of mentions.
The thing guests talk about most is the breakfast. It's included in the room rate and served as a generous spread by the garden — fried egg in a pan (khai krata), rice porridge, toast with fried egg and sausage, fruit, and fresh orange juice. Better still, on a day you're climbing Naga Cave, the host will pack you sticky rice with pork and a little cup of chilli dip to take up the mountain, because there's nowhere to buy food up there. Guests who've been say this is the moment that makes the owner feel more like a relative than a front desk.
One guest recalls the owner "looking after us from arrival to the day we left — waking up to find sticky rice and pork already packed for the cave was the part that really stayed with me."
Beyond the rooms and breakfast, there's an open yard where you can set up a Thai BBQ (mu kratha) in the evening, with the equipment provided. A few of the cabins have a small plunge pool built in, handy for a cool-off after a full day of hiking. There's an airport/town transfer service for an extra fee if you didn't drive yourself, and — important for pet owners — pets are welcome at 200 baht per animal per night. Pet-friendly stays around Bueng Kan are genuinely hard to find, so that's a real point in its favour.
A few honest caveats first. The driveway in is quite dark at night with little street lighting — past guests warn you to watch the signs carefully and slow right down if you arrive after dusk. Rates also climb noticeably over festival periods like Songkran, so check the price before you book if you're travelling then. And because this is a small property with a limited number of cabins, rooms book out fast during the Naga Cave high season (November to February).
Rates start around ฿1,740/night including breakfast, which is genuinely good value for a standalone wooden cabin in a garden with a full morning spread. Compared with the concrete hotels in Bueng Kan town at a similar price, this is a different kind of experience altogether. The trade-off to weigh is distance — if you want to be near restaurants and convenience stores, town is more practical, but if your goal is Naga Cave and a quiet setting, this delivers far more of that.
The bottom line: Poonwana Cottage works best for travellers visiting Naga Cave who'd rather sleep in a quiet garden than a concrete room in town. You get your own wooden cabin, a big breakfast, an owner who looks after you personally, and the option to bring the dog or cat along. If you can live with the dark driveway and the distance from town, this is one of the most word-of-mouth stays among people heading to Naga Cave.
Summary from Booking & Agoda
- ✓ Owner looks after guests personally from arrival to departure
- ✓ Wooden cabins in a garden — quiet, close to nature
- ✓ Generous breakfast, with a packed lunch for Naga Cave
- ✓ 10-minute drive to Naga Cave
- ! Driveway in is quite dark at night
- ! Some cabins are small and have no TV
- ! Far from restaurants and convenience stores in town
- ✓ Each wooden cabin is cute and styled with its own character
- ✓ Some cabins have a small plunge pool for a post-hike cool-off
- ✓ Yard for an evening Thai BBQ, equipment provided
- ✓ Pets welcome
- ! Rates rise over festivals like Songkran
- ! Limited number of cabins — fills fast in high season
- ! A private car helps (transfers available for an extra fee)
- 💡If you arrive after dark — the driveway in has little lighting and gets quite dark → drive slowly, watch the signs, or call the host before you arrive so they can come out to meet you
- 💡If you're travelling over a festival — Songkran and long weekends push rates up noticeably → compare a few platforms before booking and reserve early, as cabins are limited
- 💡If you're not driving yourself — the property sits outside town and transfers carry an extra fee → ask the host for the transfer cost when booking, or arrange a rental car for more freedom