We chose to stay on the boat for a unique experience, and unique it was (in a good way). The boat is huge, with a lovely area on the top deck where we had a chilled evening drinking beer under the open sky. Premala is a great host, he gave us some great advice on the local area and let us leave our bags on board after we'd checked out to go exploring. The only downside was: As you might (or might not) expect on a boat, there's some steep stairs to get down and a narrow bridge to cross, so it may not be suitable for people who are less mobile. Also, the shared bathroom was a bit of a pain as we weren't quick enough to get in there and had to wait for other guests to finish showering etc before we could use it (apparently there's a captains room with more space and an en-suite though which I'd definitely stay in next time). Overall a great 'unique' experience which I would definitely reccomend!