We are traveling to Thailand in 2 weeks, staying at the Marriott in BKK, in Hui Hin and in Phuket. Lots of info on the 1st and 3rd. Does anyone have info on Hui Hin? What to do there, where to eat, what to buy?

you have picked excellent hotels all around...they are all owned by the same ex-pat american man...skip heinike..

hua hin....this is quite a small hotel...it has the best and widest seciton of the beach in HH...the pool is fantastic...food is comparatively expensive in the hotel as you would expect but it is excellent...food around town is fairly reasonable....make sure you go to La Mer restaurant up on the point south of the hotel for fish...it is sort of above the hyatt hotel...
there are a couple of good indian restuarants in the town...we ate at maha raja (sp) which was excellent...

there are many restaurants in the town itself...

have tea one afternoon at the sofitel...

a tuk tuk ride from the marriott to town is 50B....

i found a good internet place on a street parrell to the main street and one block back in back of the grocery store...there is also a nice little restaurant across the street from it...

visit the railroad station to see the king's waiting room


there is a small elephant camp in the hills above the town

there are pineapple factories that you can visit outside town...

we rented a car for two days to go out exploring...it was about 1450B per day...

the italian restaurant is especially good at the marriott...

Do a search on this board. While the Marriotts in Bangkok and Phuket get pretty consistently good reviews, the reviews of the Marriott at Hua Hin have been more divided.

There is plenty of information but if you are searching for 'Hui Hin' you won't find it, I don't know if just a typo but you should be able to find lots of sites searching for 'Hua Hin'. Famous restaurants include for seafood: La Mer, Ketsarin, Chao Lay and Windy, some new style places for seafood are Fisherman's Way and the Oyster Pot, for Indian the Maharaja or the Taj Mahal, the Sawadee restaurant opposite the Hilton has great Thai food, nice atmosphere and is cheap! Japanese the new one of the corner by the Sofitel Central. For cheap goods head for the Grand Plaza Night market, much much better than the downtown Night market as it caters to locals, even if not buying it is a great place to mingle, get some real cheap Thai food and enjoy the atmosphere, for trips the Sam Roi Yot National Park, cruise on the pranburi River, Elephant rides, fishing trips, Pala U Waterfall, and a full day trip to Bang Saphan and Koh Talu for snorkeling, it's about 2.5 hrs each way but worth it, also day trips to River Kwai, the trips with an overnight stay are good too, also an early tour to the Floating Markets. Ken Diamond Travel opposite the Hilton have lots of trips and they post all the trips the day before, very helpfull people. Lots of Golf Courses, old Palace etc.

i think the negetives about the marriott HH is largely about the rooms...they are a bit small and not the most modern...ours was dark as well with only one window--a slider...we kept the curtain closed to keep the sun out....you are never in the room except as nite, or at least we were not....the bath is adequate...the price is right and the facilities are 1st class....its not as fancy as the hyatt or sofitel...and it is not as spread out...i like the compactness....

Hua Hin is a lot more laid back than other higher profile Thailand resorts and is an excellent place to chill out yet not feel as though you are cut off from civilisation.

It has some excellent sea food restaurants and a bustling nightmarket.

There is a good choice of excellent quality and value golf courses right on your door step.

Much of the local sightseeing I personally found not really worth the effort, yet there are some nice limestone caves nearby.

I stayed at the Marriott in late August and had a wonderful time. It's a 2.5 hours drive from BKK but the journey is pretty smooth. I do agree with rhkkmk that the rooms are small and a little worn-out compared to say hilton but the beach in front of the marriott is far superior and the hotel landscaping is a whole lot nicer. If you need transfers, you can check out www.huahintaxi.com They provide pretty reasonable priced private transfers and have a special massage package which is way, way cheaper than the spa at marriott. I strongly recommend the hotel's thai restaurant. Also, do try out the food stalls at the grand plaza market (in front of the hotel). We packed a whole lot of food back for a feast in our room. Enjoy your holiday.