Hau Hin
 

Staying there for 1 week, what is there nearby worth visiting on day trips?

there is not a great deal to do...there is an elephant camp above the town in the hills....there are golf courses....there are 2, i believe, national parks, there is a paper making company, there are 2 pineapple factories...

we found that our time was best spent abound the pool and at the beach....we also spent one week there at the marriott...
we rented a car for two days---driving is very easy and there is little traffic...that allowed us easily to go up to cha-am, to visit all of the major hotels for future reference and to go to the national park south of hua hin and some other locations...

the shopping in hua hin pales in comparison to bkk...the nite market is boring...there are quite a few decent restaurants in town\

make sure you visit La Mer restaurant which is on a bluff overlooking the whole coast back to HH...it is roughly above the hyatt hotel up on that promotory which you can see sticking out at the end of the beach...you will need to take a taxi there and retreve you as well...

So, is Hua Hin a pretty place? How was the Sheraton?

After 5 nights at the HI Silom, I am planning to go to Chiang Mai for three nights (I booked the Sheraton in addition to River View after reading about the RV here). After that I have reservations for the Marriotts in Hua Hin and Pattaya but haven't decided which one to keep.

rhkkmk
What did it cost to hire a car for the day and did you have a driver

mrwunrfl---did you see the article in the boston globe travel section today about bangkok...it might be of interest to you... hua hin is not a particularily pretty place...it is an old fashioned thai sea side resort...it is kind of quiet--a good place to unwind...the marriott is the best we feel of the mid-upper range hotels...it is small...the hyatt is fabulous as is the sofitel...we would only stay in one of those three...
pattaya is quite another place...it is a real go-go type place..lots of honky tonk bars, etc...sex is one of the main attractions...the marriott looks quite nice and is attached to a large mall...i had to cancel my time there in june as we changed plans...i do hope to spend a day or two there some day to see what it is all about...it used to be a GI R&R place....
i would rather extend my time up north and go further north to the chiang rai (3 hour ride from CM or 20 minutes via plane) area and maybe stay at the anantara rather than go to hua hin or pattaya...unless you need beach in which case i would consider koh samui and stay at peace resort or on chaewaeng beach (more activity and a bit honky tonk honestly)...

john44--let me look...it was 2002---it was 1450 B per day...we had a pick-up truck which the girl at the counter suggested as it was brand new....it was great...