Hua Hin Hotel Reviews
There are some excellent restaurants in Hua Hin and hotels serve excellent food at reasonable prices, such as the Hilton which has a Italian-Thai buffet for less than 600 baht. Hua Hin city is the usual mess and the main shopping street seems to have been built with the purpose of getting you to hospital. The small pieces of sidewalk are neck-breaking and if you walk on the road there is a fair chance you will get runover by a car or motorcycle. Just close that road in the evening! Is there any restaurant and retail organisation in this country to make such a drastic decision? Why do you guys have to make such a mess out of it? The nearby nightmarket is supposed to be for pedestrians, but motorcyclist nevetheless hold their races there.<br> <br> There is nothing to visit around Hua Hin and renting a car for a day, which we did, is a waste of time and money. Go here to relax in one of the nice hotels and enjoy the food. The beach is average with parts covered by uncomfortable chairs and unhygienic looking restaurants, with galoping horses all over as a bonus. Its may be difficult to get around here without getting injured.
We drove up to Hua Hin from Bangkok, and it took about 3 hours direct. The roads are in good condition, and the signages are bi-lingual (Thai & English), so even foreigners would not have a hard time finding the city. Hua Hin itself is a rather small charming place, with the city center around the Sofitel and Hilton hotels. There are thankfully not that many bars nor other red-light districts that plague other touristic cities in Thailand. There''s also a night market worth visiting if you''d like to sample some local crafts, desserts and bootlegged cds/dvds. If it gets too hot, you can take a break at the Starbuck''s at the end of the street. Other than these, I would recommend that Hua Hin is best enjoyed in the comfort of your hotel!
If you are a golfer shop around for greenfees and never go straight to the golf club as this is the most expensive choise. Example Palm Resort charges Baht 1800 but I bought it for Baht 1400 at a travel agency in the Bookazine shop. If you want a break from Thai and sea food, visit Brasserie de Paris which is very good with excellent service at reasonable prices.
As the Anantara is a bit out of the centre we hired a motorbike and used this to get around - the town, the elephant village etc. Saw places and things that we otherwise would have missed. If you are careful and drive slowly , motorbiking is a great option at only 200 baht a day. We did 200 km''s in 4 days and the petrol cost us 70 baht
Hua Hin is a seafood lover''s paradise. Giant prawns the size of small lobsters, crabs and mollusks and fish - some swimming in tanks - beckon from the dozen or so jetty restaurants set on Hua Hin Beach but accessible from Naresdamri Road. Do ask for your choice of seafood to be cooked in the aromatic Thai-style as they bring out the flavours best. But specify less "spicy" - the local term for chili-hot if required.<br> <br> Work off your dinner excesses with a stroll through the lively Night Market just 10 leisurely minutes away down Dechanuchit Road. En route, you can also pick up a copy Tag Heuer for 400 baht, or order a custom tailored suit for 3000 baht. Golfers will love being pampered by the lady caddies on the many resort courses. But don''t leave Hua Hin without having a massage or three at the Royal Thai Spa opposite the Hilton. Did someone mention paradise?
Seafood restaurants along the jetty is a must to try. Seafood is fresh and tasty, ambience is good and most importantly, price is reasonable. Another must try is the mango sticky rice stall located just outside Hilton Hotel. Delicious.
I can recommend a visit to the Elephant village. Very friendly people, cute elephant baby performs and a very funny bumpy ride on an elephant plus drink costs 700 baht/person. Easiest way to get there is by Tuk-tuk.
Frequent buses to surrounding areas but difficult to get tourist information in English. Nice walk to far end of the beach to Wats, with monkeys in surrounding area.
After one week in Bangkok, Hua Hin is a nice change at this time of year. It is quiet and much less hectic than the capital. I found the high number of Italian restaurants quite surprising. The Springfield golf course is nice and easy, and my compulsory caddie was quite good. She knew the course and could read the greens very well.
We played golf at Lake View, Majestic Creek and Springfield. All three courses is very nice and professional. There is a little to save if booking Springfield by a golf shop 200 meters left from the hotel, about 500 THB per person. Remember to tip the caddie, normally doubble the caddie fee (200 THB). The caddies are normally young people living only from the tip. We were transported round in Hua Hin first by bicycle, 2 hours 200 THB, later in car for 4 hours 500 THB.<br> <br> Elephant riding was not that good, ½ hour 1000THB for both of us. Interesting to go to the monkey mountain, and feeding the monkeys. It is cheap to buy suits, and a lot of other things. When having a suit, go for the best quality - Kashmir wool with Thai silk. I got 2 suits for 10000 THB.<br> <br> Don`t forget to get massage - Thai massage for one hour 300 - 400 THB. My wife and I can highly recommend to go to Hua Hin. We have only tried Bangkok and Pattaya earlier, and Hua Hin is a lot better - we think. The people in Hua Hin are very nice and always smiling. If you say no, not interesting to buy, they always accepted a no. You can exchange money a lot of places on the streets, and withdraw from a lot of ATMs. But the max level for withdrawing per card/day is about 10000 THB. Weather in march is OK, 2 days cloudy for a week.
Hua Hin is a great place to stay it is my second time to the area and would certainly recommend it to any discerning traveller. Having travelled the lenght and breath of Thailand and South East Asia for a short stop over enroute to Oz it easy to get too. It is only a 2 and half hour to three taxi ride to Hua Hin. The beach is nice however it is not the islands but the food available is outstanding, probably some of the best Thai food I have eaten with seafood to die for at a minimal cost.
Restaurants near the Blue Wave Beach were expensive and nothing special. Best to take the 4 o''clock hotel shuttle bus and go in to town for dinner. Just near the Bus stop is an excellent open square of restaurants, good value and good food.
Apart from the hotel, which I can recommend, Hua Hin has great golf courses close by and in comparison with other countries " dead cheap" and some of them are a real chalenge like Former Royal Millor or the Springfield golf club. I experienced the best and the worst caddy over here. The best was no. 284 from Lake View Gulf Club. She was my personal coach for 4,5 hours. Very good and very profesional. Great Caddy. The worst ah what, forget it. Furthermore if you don''t like golf, it is a rather quite (boring?) place Hua Hin. But I liked it very much. For families probably the best, Pataya and Phuket are loud and noisy.
We took a private tour of northern Thailand - I highly recommend this. It was amazing. We stayed both in hotels and villages in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai - I recommend the villages and guesthouses if you want a true feel for the country (although a bit rough, most have no electricity and showers). You really get a feel for the area and how others lived. We ended our trip with 5 days in Hua Hin. We stayed at the Marriott Resort. It was a perfect ending to a perfect vacation!
You will find almost every type of food in Hua Hin. Naturally there a lot of seafood restaurants, but if you like lamb I can recomend "The Orcide". If you like to do some shopping, you have come to the right place.
''Pasta Factory'' located directly opposite the entrance of Sofitel has exquisite decor with excellent cusine. A romantic and delightful experience dining on the balcony.
Good food at some of the pier restaurants, night market is great, avoid "hello mister"-bars.
Pa-La-U waterfall is worth a visit though not recommended for kids. The train station is worth a visit too. Temples not as outstanding than in other part of Thailand. For those interested in Spa and Golf, this is definitely the place to go to enjoy, relax and unwind. The place is also very safe as their King has been staying there for the last 4 years and you can see battle ships parked out in the sea daily. There are a lot of eateries along the street outside Hilton and the food is yummy and not expensive. Ambience is good too.
Near the hotel, the restaurant ''Jasmin'' was good.
Excellent value golf at imperial lake view. Chaolay seafood restaraunt, near port is excellent. Lo stivale is a good italian choice. One of the best night markets in thailand with excellent seafood stalls and chicken satay.