Hua Hin New Visitor

[breadbin]

Dear Friends

Having lived in BKK and Pattaya 12 years ago and sold a property myself, wife and child want to visit Hua Hin.

Never been there so looking for advice as to decent hotels, best beach, kind of nightlife, family friendly etc.

Hope to come in August.

Cheers

[hhfarang]

Never been there so looking for advice as to decent hotels, best beach, kind of nightlife, family friendly etc.

The hotel depends on your budget. Hua Hin has everything from cheap guesthouses to 5 star hotels. Try agoda.com to see what is here and read the user reviews for details on a particular hotel. Look carefully at the location though, as hotels all the way from a half hour north of town to a half hour south of town are advertised as being in Hua Hin. The beaches are better the farther you go south. If you want a beach that is not crowded with vendors, other tourists, and horses, but still has facilities for eating and drinking, Takiab beach just south of Takiab mountain is a good one nearby. You can take the (ten baht) baht bus to within a couple of kilometers of that beach but then it is a walk or tuk tuk for the final two or three kilometers. The baht bus may take you there for a little extra but I'm not sure as I've never tried it.

[breadbin]

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

I'll have a read of some websites about good hotels and beaches etc.

Cheers again

[HUAHIN62]

Sorry I only saw your post today. If you have your own transport I can suggest the following (depending on what you like to do):

On Cha Am beach you can get good seafood at good prices (lunch). You can sit under umbrellas on the beach, get a massage, swim, go for a jet ski ride.

You can visit the Big Monk temple, from there go to the vinyard and then take a walk up Palu waterfall.

You can drive to Bangkrud and stay a night, one of the better beaches in Thailand. From there you can take a snorkelling trip.

In Hua Hin you can visit the night markets, one next to the Grand Hotel and one we call the tourist market. Cicida market is open on Friday to Sunday evenings and is different. There is off course Plearnwarn which most Thai's visit just to take pictures. You can also visit the Palace. If you are into more lively night live then the beach front strip will be the place to visit.

Hope you enjoy your stay.

[geriatrickid]

I have a fondness for Hua Hin. The beach isn't the greatest, but the great part is that even in high season, there are stretches that are not busy. It is difficult to access the beach from the city center, so some of the advice to stay sort of adjacent to the center are good if you are trailing kids. I haven't explored Cha Am so I won't comment, but the HH city center is quite walkable. The downside is that there is essentially only one big "highway" that bisects the city and it is a hassle and dangerous to cross the road at night. I think you will like the big Market village, not that there is anything special there, but I am a new devotee of Sizzler. I love their salad bar. They can keep the processed meat products though. The night markets are nothing special but make for a nice visit. What I liked best of all was the relative safety and absence of scum. Well, scum as in Patong. The tourists in Hua Hin are a cut above the rest of Thailand and with all the elderly golfers, they don't have the time to get drunk and puke and pee on the streets as they do in Patong. You might get bored after a week or so, but it is well worth the visit. A word of caution: The seafood is not as clean as it is on the other side of Thailand. (e.g. Krabi, Phuket). The Gulf of Thailand is an overfished polluted area and it is reflected in the heavy metal levels and chemicals in many of the seafood products. I avoid the shell fish, but that's just my personal preference.