Laura_A

Just returned from a wonderful visit to Thailand. Spent first 6 nights in Hua Hin at the Hyatt Regency. The resort is fantastic and it was especially nice staying at the Regency Club. In addition to free breakfast and happy hour, the staff are really great there and it's nice having a separate, quiet pool area. The grounds and regular pools are also quite beautiful and the kids pool even has a white sandy beach reaching to the water. For the bigger kids and adults there's a very tall water slide that's fast and fun. The Hyatt's Thai restaurant was quite good and the weather was perfect for sitting outdoors.

My husband golfed every day and I mostly relaxed, although I did hire a private driver one day to see some sights around Petchaburi. We both went to the Nirvana Spa for half-day treatments which were excellent and so inexpensive (with the internet discount, only about $30 each). We also had 2-hour Thai massages at another nearby spa called Praewa for only $10 each; they even provided transportation. The treatments at the hotels are more expensive, of course.

I didn't have a chance to see much of the other hotels, although we walked around the grounds of the Sofitel and saw a little of the Hilton, Marriott and Chiva Som. I felt as though we picked the best place for us ... others may prefer to be closer to town but I didn't see much in town that interested me. I did notice that other hotel restaurants seemed to be more expensive than the Hyatt's Thai restaurant (we didn't try the 2 others at the hotel).

One last note about Hua Hin, we used Ken Diamond travel for transportation from Bangkok and were supposed to get a free massage, but the one girl they use was always booked and the manager at that agency was quite unfriendly and arrogant. I would much prefer dealing with Thai people.

Our last 3 nights were in Bangkok at the JW Marriott hotel which I had booked on Priceline for $55 per night. Very nice hotel and friendly staff, it's been described here before and also on the Priceline website. We ate at 3 of their restaurants and they were all excellent. Did a little sight-seeing and even more shopping; got some great bargains at the weekend market. Bought a gorgeous ruby tennis bracelet at a place called Royal Lapidary that mainly sells wholesale. Took the Loy Nava dinner cruise which was overall good, but a lot of the patrons were late so we hung around the pier for almost an hour. Once we got going it was much better, but then we turned around early and sat still for about 15 minutes, which was strange.

If you have any questions, I'd be happy to answer them but may only check the board for a month or so.

JamesA

Good to know about the Hyatt. I 'heard' actually that they had a new Manager installed a few months ago and that improvements had been made especially on the 'staff' scene, better though to get first hand reports! I have a conference to go to later in the week at the Regent Cha Am ( just north of Hua Hin ), haven't stayed there before so will be interesting.

veronica4

What is the main difference between thr Hilton, the Marriott, Evason, Hyatt and Hilton, what about the Regent, stuck which to choose in Hua Hin

Richard1148

Laura - I would like to stay at the Hyatt in Hua Hin, but I understand that the Hyatt is away from town unlike the Hilton or Marriott. Are there any restaurants nearby other than the Hyatt restaurants? Also, anything like a convenience store to buy snacks and beer?

JamesA

The Hyatt is about 7-8 minutes by tuk-tuk from the very center of Hua Hin. The Marriott you 'can' walk or 3-4 minutes by tuk-tuk. The Hilton is a skyscraper and I would put it far down the list, though the list is long because there is such a concentration of top resorts. All of them have absolute beachfront but to get to the proper beach from the Hilton you have to go to where the Sofitel is and onwards. The beachfront at the Hyatt is way down South beach. There are no 'beach roads' which means no roads to cross, hotels/resorts are right on the beach itself, which is certainly not the case in many other places.
I would not say the distance from town is a problem for the Hyatt, there are a couple of local shops nearby but to stock your mini-bar I would go to any mini-mart in Hua Hin, better choice.

Laura_A

If you stay in a Regency room, you may not need extra goodies because they have a breakfast buffet from 6:30-11am (one morning I ate twice!), fruit and cookies throughout the day, and drinks/snacks (good ones) from 5-7 pm. But as nice as the resort is, you'll probably want to get to town at least once and can buy things there or between the Hyatt and town.

As for the Hilton, I have two friends who love the place and would go again in a heartbeat. They like walking to cheap seafood restaurants by the pier, which is understandable because the Hilton menu I looked at (can't remember name of restaurant) was quite pricey. They also like the spa. I understand it's a tough decision between all the great hotels... it was for me!

JamesA

ttt for cch1

Gpanda

Just back from Thailand. stayed at the Sofitel and were very pleased. We liked being a short walk from the center of town and the night market. The hotel was wonderful. Nice room with patio. The buildings were pleasant to look at and it was very relaxing to sit on the lounge chairs and soak up the gentle breeze from the Gulf. I would strongly recommend it.

rhkkmk

my favorite restaurant in hua hin is very near to the hyatt---La Mer Restaurant up on the hill overlooking the beach---a must at least once during your stay...i went twice last time..