We're thinking of a couple days in Cha Am following a 15 day tour of Vietnam and a couple days at Angor Wat. Our flight leaves from Bangkok so we're looking for a little down time after these travels. Now we're looking at the Long Beach Cha Am Hotel or the Cha Am Methavalai Hotel as mid range hotels where we will have a shuttle from the Bangkok airport. Anyone have any other ideas or does this look good???
Thanks!

imuch prefer hua hin to cha am....its only 10 miles further

hotel site: www.huahin.20m.com

Thanks. What is it about Hua Hin that you prefer to Cha Am?

Cha Am and Hua Hin are next to eachother. But the layout of accommodation relative to beach differs. If you wanted restaurants and shopping you would be going in to Hua hin anyway, if on the other hand you wanted 'quiet beach area' you would be better off at Khao Takiab beach and takiab Bay as quiet but only a short trip into Hua Hin center.

The Long Beach is a tall hotel set back from the road, walk down street to beach, near the beach at Cha Am, Methavalai is just across the beach road, out of the 2 much better.

The beach at Cha Am is quiet during the week but packed at weekends. There are a few shops and restaurants but very little to do and the beach itself gets cars and pickups parked on it.

Now, from Cha Am heading along the coast you no longer have a road between hotels and the beach and this is where you find resorts such as Novotel Tipviman ( undergoing upgrade and building at the moment ), Springfield, Regent and Dusit. The beaches nere are very narrow at high tide.

The resort areas are 20 km apart but in fact some Cha Am places are closer to HH than Cha Am.

Hua Hin as a town is very large compared with Cha Am, lots of restaurants, shopping, markets, etc etc.

If you want a beach hotel that is close enough to get to town for the evenings or shopping ( 5-7 minutes ) but at the same time wide beach quiet and relaxed then the hotels around Khao Takiab beach and Bay are the best choice, top resorts but also mid price range places such as Kaban Tamor, S'Mor Spa, Baan Talay Dao etc, or if you want budget modern then the Bluewave is an absolute bargain right on the beach at Takiab Bay..

I do know the area very well and although I don't like knocking a place the reality is the Long beach is a very tall block of a hotel and although the Methavalai is nicer you can't compare the beach there or facilities with further along the coast around Hua Hin, the difference in journey time to/from Bangkok is like 10-15 minutes so nothing in it at all. Take a look at www.huahin.20m.com, click on hotel and you will see Cha Am places sorted, followed by Hua Hin and then Takiab places , also www.khao-takiab.com gives you photos of the beach area there which is way nicer than around the Long Beach or Methavalai area.( don't look at Pranburi or Prachuap as these beaches are much further south and very quiet and remote ).
For your price range the Bluewave would be a bargain or the Takiab resort although the smaller boutique places might be of interest too, Kaban Tamor, Baan Talya Dao, Sabai Jai etc.

we just found cha am too local....it looked more like a back packers type place....i did think the beach looked a little more natural than in hua hin however...

Thanks a million. I'm taking a look at your suggestions now.

JamesA and rhkkmk -- thanks a million for your postings. We stayed at the Baan Talay Dao and LOVED it. There were 4 of us and we had the suite by the pool. There were lots of giant jellyfish in the water so we spent more time in the pool than the gulf. The staff was great, the accomodations were really nice too. We were able to walk along the beach and see other places such as the Hyatt and the Sofitel but we liked the Baan Talay better. The hotel arranged a van taxi for us from BKK and back. The fare was 2900b

Would also recommend the Hua Hin area. Cha Am is predominantly for local tourism and attractions, food places etc are set to match that. Baan Talay Dao is indeed quite charming. If you prefer something more "international" but still cost effective, both Sofitel and Hua Hin Hilton are centrally located and should be around the 85$ / night.

cha am may be better suited for day trippers.

----
darn locals. mucking up the place. I guess Cha Am is where your hotel maid and restaurant host in hua hin lives and bathes at the beach.

------
After Angkor and Vietnam I'd probably choose Hua hin as well.

Glad you liked Baan Talay, small but nice. Did you get to see the Wora Bura?