My husband and I are going to Thailand late September. 4 nights Royal Orchid Sheraton in Bangkok and 8 nights to relax at the Anantara Hotel in Hua Hin. I understand the weather will be wet for some of our stay in Bangkok but various websites say that Hua Hin will be fine in September. My husband is convinced we are getting to get rained on for our entire stay! Has anyone visited at this time of year? Any recommendations for things to do and has anyone stayed in these hotels? thanks

We've stayed at the Royal Orchid Sheraton twice and really liked it. The rooms were nice, but not overly fancy. We stayed in a Deluxe room. The Towers are more plush. The River Ferry is right next door. I suggest you eat at the Gallery Cafe, right around the corner (right from lobby, left at the Soi. My wife loved the jewelry at Janna in River City. The Mandara Spa on the third floor is very nice, even though I preferred the massages from Wat Pho as a better deal. You can call them and have them come to your room.

Yes, I've stayed at both. I've been staying at the Royal Orchid during my Bangkok trips for about 20 years, so obviously, I like it. I do always stay in the Towers, which has lots of extras, like breakfast, evening drinks and hors d'ouvres and laundry included in your room price.

I stayed in a "Lagoon " room at the Anantara. The Lagoon rooms were stunning!

Both places have a Mandara Spa. If you are into spa, you can buy a spa card (good at both places), which will save you a good amount of money.

I September yes you will not doubt get some rain in Bangkok but this is one of the main reasons that Hua Hin was chosen for the Palaces, and that is the almost 'unique' weather. To give that some perspective, average rainfall in Inches for Sept:-

Hua Hin= 3.2
Bangkok= 12.6
Phuket= 16.5

No, I did not miss a digit !!! When the south has over 16 inches of rain Hua Hin gets 3!! Add to that the fact that even 'that' rain tends to be a backwash from over the mountains that is probably just a couple of showers in a month, not spead out.

The Northern Gulf beaches have a 'dry' climate almost all year except for Oct/Nov.

Hua Hin a a quiet area but there are excursions to ther Sam Roi Yot National Park and Caves, the Pineapple plantations, waterfalss etc. Would be nice is you could manage a trip to the River Kwai between Bangkok and Hua Hin, it's a diversion a couple of hours west of Bangkok, but from River Kwai down to Hua Hin is about 3 hrs by road, just a thought. Hua Hin also famous for Golf, also sailing river cruise, elephant rides etc etc.

We also stayed at the Royal Orchid and Anantara and would highly recommend them both. Messages on the beach next to the Anatara are US$5. The girls have a thriving business! Also, we took a taxi to the "Teakwood Mansion" on the beach between Hua Hin and Cha-Am. It was designed by King Rama VI who built it for his wife who soon after died in childbirth.

See if you can stop on the way from Bangkok to Hua Hin in Phetchaburi and see the Hilltop old Palace, nice view, dinky little cable railway up the side, saves doing it as a trip later, it's about 50 minutes north of the Anantara. If the transfer isn't included remember a 'normal' small cramped BKK taxi will cost 1,500, Thai Limo service used Mercedes/Volvos for 2,500 ( worth the extra $25! ), or you can ask the concierge to organise you a car+driver, tell him you 'know' taxis are 1,500 and that Limo's are 2,500, so can he do you a nice comopfrtable car/wagon for 2,000 (almost every concierge has a brother or cousin with one!!)

Thanks for all your advice. We plan to spend 3 very busy days in Bangkok seeing all the sights and then spend a week relaxing in peaceful bliss in Hua Hin, so sounds like weather wise we should be fine for H.H. Will look into the idea of sighting enroute to H.H from Bangkok.... good idea. Kathie, we have also booked a lagoon room at the Anantara and they do look very nice, can't wait and those spa treatments sound wonderful. Thanks again, happy travels everyone.

Hi

I have been to Thailand in September on vacation twice. It is the wet season so it is most likely that you will get rain more or less every day. But it depends on your luck...I spent 5 days in Bangkok in September and didn't have any rain at all...but then we stay 3-4 days in Hua Hin and had some very wet days. But Thailand is still a great place to visit I have posted trip reports and pictures from my trips to Thailand on my personal homepage www.gardkarlsen.com. Maybe you can find some useful information there

Regards
Gard
Stavanger, Norway