Cha-am in a couple of days... where to stay?

[Bettyboo]

Hello Cha-amians,

I'm gonna pop down to Cha-am on Wednesday (usually go to HH, never been to Cha-am before) and was wondering if anybody had a recent recommendation of where to stay - maybe around the 1000 bpn mark, give or take (no Butters, down boy...).

I'm gonna check through the Southern Thailand thread, but thought I'd quickly post this too.

Just a relaxing couple of days, read a book, stroll along the front (it is like Southend I presume...), have a coffee, read a book, have a beer, have something to eat. Missus may come, probably won't, don't much care either way, just a 2 or 3 day break from Bangkok to recharge my battery; I'll be driving down.

Thanks, BB

[dirtydog]

This will help find the Cha Am threads as the td search thingy don't do less than 4 letter words.
TeakDoor.com - The Thailand Forum Cha-Am-Hotels-Guesthouses-things-to-see

[Bettyboo]

^ thank you, looking now...

[BobR]

I just stayed in Hua Hin at the Thipurai City Hotel and was very happy with it. The hotel is a 10 minute walk to the beach, very close to the bars and nightlife and many restaurants and cost about $26usd a night through Agoda.

It's also close to the shopping areas in Hua Hin/Cha Am

[taxexile]

It's also close to the shopping areas in Hua Hin/Cha Am

if by close to cha ams shopping areas, you mean 25kms, then yes its close.

[Bettyboo]

^ come on... the HH night market is 10 minutes walk away, as are the pier seafood restaurants and numerous shopping areas. It's a good location with many shopping areas (HH) within 2kms.

^^ thanks Bob, worth a look if I continue down to HH.

This place looks good, in Cha-am, for 700 baht, on the beach, parking...

https://teakdoor.com/thailands-beache...revisited.html (Cha am beach revisited)





I might even try to get the same room as benbaa and Bangyai; on second thoughts, maybe not...

[BobR]

Sorry I should have read your original post better, I've always thought of HH and Cha Am as the same even though they are not.

[Jesus Jones]

^^ Stayed in the bungalows, very nice and contemporary. Cost about 800bht and a little more at weekend. Well worth it in my opinion. Has a pool too although not very big or practical.

[sabaii sabaii]

Hey BB, let us know if you want a few cold ones when you get here.

I won't be up too early Wednesday as Man U play in the morning

Bangyai's place looks nice for the price

There are also hotels in the main bar area for 500 baht a night, no pool, but it's a stones throw from the beach if you wanna pee (it all goes to Psttaya anyhow Socal )

I know someone with a fishing rod if you are into that.

She'll lend you her bike too

There's a big night market on wednesday night. I normally sit at the bar, people watching and leave her to that

There's also another Thai music festival on the beach, until the 5th of next month I think, maybe not the best place to park up.

There's always trouble down there.

I went the other night. sat there with a big pack of Lays, you know how they are glued together, I popped them open, you should have seen the amount of people who thought a gun went off . 3 people got shot there last year apparently

Apart from that it's pretty quiet

[Bangyai]

^ come on... the HH night market is 10 minutes walk away, as are the pier seafood restaurants and numerous shopping areas. It's a good location with many shopping areas (HH) within 2kms.

^^ thanks Bob, worth a look if I continue down to HH.

This place looks good, in Cha-am, for 700 baht, on the beach, parking...

Probably a wee bit more now but great location. If you do stay here or near here there is a great restaurant on the second road back from the beach immediatly behind these rental houses . Unfortunately, there is no short cut through this resort as the owner locks the gate at the end but only a 300 yard walk up central road and take the first left.

The restaurant ( forget its name ) serves very good western and Thai food and has a very nice ambience , being filled full of antique clocks with an open terrace out front.. Western owner I think and no corkage charged if you bring your own plonk. They also sell that cheap South African wine from Tescos for hardly any mark up. Our girls thought the garlic fried prawns were excellent and my hamburger and chip was very tasty, ( sick of Thai food sometimes ).

[taxexile]

There's a big night market on wednesday night. I normally sit at the bar, people watching

imho, one of the best people watching spots in the kingdom.
a wonderful way to pass a couple of hours.

[bedu]

That's the Nirandon 3 resort in the picture. Air con, cable TV, fridge. Very clean and new.

It's 700 for a normal room, more for a chalet, Mon to Fri, goes upto 900 at weekends. Breakfast not included. New swimming pool is nice but a little small. There's a car park space for only 3 -4 cars.
The rental houses are next door to the Nirandon 3.

If you've got cash to burn, try the Bann Pantai nearby, very nice.

[English Noodles]

There's a big night market on wednesday night. I normally sit at the bar, people watching

imho, one of the best people watching spots in the kingdom.
a wonderful way to pass a couple of hours.

You are probably watching each other.

[rickschoppers]

Good stuff on this thread since my first holiday after retiring will either be to Hua Hin or Cha Am.

[Bettyboo]

Stayed in the bungalows, very nice and contemporary. Cost about 800bht and a little more at weekend. Well worth it in my opinion.

That's where I'll stay then, not sure if I'll get a normal room or a bungalow; we'll see...

Hey BB, let us know if you want a few cold ones when you get here.

There's a big night market on wednesday night. I normally sit at the bar, people watching and leave her to that

This looks like a plan! I'm gonna get up late on Wednesday and start to drive down to Cha-am around 11ish. (I'm not sure if the missus will come or not, she does love a night market though...) Once I've stuck meself in the hotel, had a mossy around town and read a book, looked at the beach, it should be mid-to-late afternoon. I'll pm my number, give me a call when you feel like it; maybe the night market would be good...

If you do stay here or near here there is a great restaurant on the second road back from the beach immediatly behind these rental houses .

Thanks, I'll give it a go.

a wonderful way to pass a couple of hours.

If we triangulate our positions, we can cover the entire market and exchange notes after.

It's 700 for a normal room, more for a chalet, Mon to Fri, goes upto 900 at weekends. Breakfast not included.

Great, thanks.

You are probably watching each other.

But who's who???

[taxexile]

If we triangulate our positions, we can cover the entire market and exchange notes after.

i'll be carrying a rolled up copy of pravda, smoking turkish cigarettes and wearing a bowler. my handler, lek will be wearing purple tesco flip flops and discreetly blowing a balding german pensioner at the third table on the left.

[Bettyboo]

^ I'll be disguised as a balding German pensioner...

[benbaaa]

If you've got cash to burn, try the Bann Pantai nearby, very nice.

Yep, stayed there too. Very nice.

[sabaii sabaii]

I'll be disguised as a balding German pensioner...

haha

The restaurant ( forget its name ) serves very good western and Thai food and has a very nice ambience , being filled full of antique clocks with an open terrace out front.. Western owner I think and no corkage charged if you bring your own plonk. They also sell that cheap South African wine from Tescos for hardly any mark up. Our girls thought the garlic fried prawns were excellent and my hamburger and chip was very tasty, ( sick of Thai food sometimes ).

Aroy Restaurant. Yep a lot of clocks

[Bettyboo]

***TRIP REPORT***


Left Bangkok (Bangmot) at 10:30 and arrived at Cha-am at 12:10. Drove along the beach road, unlike Hua Hin it has a long straight beach with a long straight beachroad, maybe 3 kilometeres long (? I'm guessing here); the beach was clean and the water fine, old style deckchairs with tables are spread along the beach (you can prk you car or pickup on the beach a few metres behind these), 10-20 metres of sand in front of this to the water, a few horses on the bach, many hawkers (they were not aggressive, a simple 'no thank you' and they smiled and went on their way), a couple of banana boats, that's about it... The roadside was full of hotels, guesthouses and restaurants, as well as a few shops. Felt a bit like the main tourist street of Kanchanaburi with the beach on one side of the road.

It's not beautiful, as per Phuket or Krabi or any Islands, but it's nice, the missus liked it.

We checked into the hotel pictured above, and it looks like the pictures... Some work was going on, the pool was not in use and there was a very noisy pump close to the hotel at the back, so we decided to get a room/hut in the middle, about 15 to 20 metres back from the beachroad, had a car parking space next to it which was nice, we stuck the car in and left it there. 800 baht, it was fine (hot shower did't work...) for the money, not spectacular, not bad. Would I stay there again? No. I just think better places can be found for a bit more money or very similar places can be found for 500 to 600 baht (saw some aircon rooms on the beach from 300 baht - in Thai...).

The North end and central beach areas are busier and more expensive. As soon as you get to the start of the south side, say cha-am south beach soi 1 or cha-am south beach soi 2, then places get cheaper - there are lots of roads running perpendicular to the beach road with many many many guesthouses, hotels, rooms and houses to rent; many look nice. If you were staying for a few days or a week then you should have a look around and find something that you like - whatever you like, you will find it...

What we did:

Sat on the deckchairs looking at people fall off the banana boats and ate a crab curry. The food was good, the service was fine (60 baht for the table with 6 chairs - I think this is the all day price), the cost was okay; crab curry, 2 rice, big bottle of water, big bucket of ice, chairs and table and service came to 295 baht. We sat there for a couple of hours and it was good. Relaxing. Pleasant... Not beautiful to me, but the missus liked it.

We ate in cheap beach road places where the missus ate typical Thai food for typical Thai prices (I didn't eat at these places, I was on holiday of sorts...). 35 baht for a stir-fried rice with whatever...

We went to the market that is in the middle of the beach on a couple of sois that run off it; prices were a bit cheaper than Bangkok, nice street food, some games for the kids (dodgems, guns, balloons, darts, etc), a nice big 10-baht stall, clothes, shoes, etc. That took a couple of hours and was fun.

They had a seafood festival in the middle of the beach on a flat tiled pavilion type area that is around the size of a football stadium. A stage was in the middle, live acts playing increasingly loud music, yellow Singha chairs and tables, the perimeter was ringed with seafood stalls (I had muscles, welks, oysters, prawns, etc - 50 to 100 baht a pop), and last but not least a big Singha beer area; 1 litre jugs were 130 baht - I had 2 before the missus started to complain and we had to be on our way... I quite enjoyed the beer and muscles whilst looking at the bands a bit and the singha girls a lot... Generally people watching. It was fullish, not bad for a Wednesday night -felt busy but comfortably, the weekend must be a heaving; don't think I'd wanna be in Cha-am at the weekend. BTW, it is pick-up heaven... Weekend nights will have (a few were here already) pickups reversed onto the beach, playing very loud music surrouded by groups of whiskey drinking Thais - not my thing...

Had breakfast at Aloy restaurant on the second road back from the beach (as suggested above, by the good member ) right behind the hotel. 130 baht for a nice sized plate of scrambled egg, sausage, bacon, ham, chips, beans, tomato, toast and coffee; comfortably place, good staff, a good recommendation that would be worth another meal if you stayed for a few days. It was full of old codgers that looked liked they lived there; at 8am I was one of 5 or 6 miserable old gits positioned alone, looking out at the world and each other, maybe reading the paper. I had a book. Nice(ish).

Headed back this morning because the missus' mother was at home alone and she wasn't feeling well... I was planning to meet up with Sabai Sabai later today for a beer, but now I'm back in Bangkok... I chatted to him on the phone, seemed like a nice bloke, well worth having a beer with, and I look forward to doing just that next time I go. (He sounds like a Northerner, but I'll try to ignore that... ).

Stopped at Petchaburi for some Kanom, my favourite, a kind of egg custard affair... There are many big air-con places (you know, the kinda places the long distance buses stop at) selling the local food and wares.

Coming back was quicker. I averaged about 95kph on the way (It's 157 KMS from Bangmot), I averaged around 110kph on the way back, much less traffic. The bad traffic is on Rama 2, once you get past Samut Sakhorn (about half way) it's a breeze. Hua Hin is 30kms further, you'd be there within 15 minutes going at 120kph on that stretch. The little Honda City was perfect and felt solid at 130kph (for me, 140kph feels a bit too fast for her; she fills a tad light and skittish...), much better than a Yaris that I often travel in - the City is all but the same size as a Focus or Mazda 3, and for me, this is what you want on these highways with the pickups, minivans and trucks playing havoc... She averaged 17.4kpl on this trip, I had expected closer to 20kpl...

I'd go again. The missus would go again, although we'd maybe scout a bit further afield for accom; having said that, nothing wrong with the place we stayed, nice place, nice people, very very central and convenient - when the missus wanted to go to the loo, she just walked from the beach to our 'chalet' and back... it doesn't get much easier than that.

[Stumpy]

We enjoy the Cher Resort. Super quiet. Private beach. Huge pool. Very cool sitting area over the water. Excellent restaurant within walking distance and eat on the beach. Rooms are extremely nice, very clean. Huge bath tubs.

My GF and I enjoyed going there before we moved to Cha Am. The ambiance is definitely a quiet couple place. Its really more of a retreat style and mostly Thai people.

[Bangyai]

...... the missus liked it.

............. but the missus liked it.

The missus would go again,

Well thats the main thing isn't. Even heaven would be hell in the other half didn't like it .

Nice report BB. Shame about the hotel. Only 600 before and everything worked when I first went there. Why can't they maintain standards ? Yep, further up the beach I noticed a place with air con rooms and sea view from 400 , the White Beach hotel I think was its name. You could see it had seen better days but nice view for half the price.

As you say, not the most spectaclular beach resort in the country for beauty but a very handy short drive from Bangkok , especially if you live West of the river. Also has a very laid back feel to it, unlike Hua Hin.

The parking on the beach is another plus and makes a day trip very easy to do. Leave in the morning, park on the beach with your nose to the sea, then leave at 5 and be home as its getting dark.

[Bettyboo]

^ I'm not sure I'd want to park my sweet little car next to all those bloody ugly pickups - their sound systems might blow me doors off!

The hotel was fine, and the staff were nice. It's just luck of timing... Maybe another time it'd be perfect. It's a nice place in a perfect location - worth the money. I think I could stay in Cha-am for maybe 3 days, with a book, then want to move down to Hua Hin for a day or two, then maybe down a bit further looking for beautiful beaches... Or, just fly to Krabi... A day trip of a Wed/Thur break would be just about perfect...

[Bettyboo]

We enjoy the Cher Resort. Super quiet. Private beach. Huge pool. Very cool sitting area over the water. Excellent restaurant within walking distance and eat on the beach. Rooms are extremely nice, very clean. Huge bath tubs.

My GF and I enjoyed going there before we moved to Cha Am. The ambiance is definitely a quiet couple place. Its really more of a retreat style and mostly Thai people.

At these prices, I'm sure you did...

Room Type Rack Rate Special Rate Panoramic Sea View THB 5,500 ++ Start from 3,500 THB The Sea Spirit THB 8,000 ++ Start from 4,000 THB The Pool Paradise THB 9,000 ++ Start from 5,000 THB Blissfully Green Villa THB 12,000 ++ Start from 6,000 THB Sky Jacuzzi Beach Front Villa THB 25,000 ++ Start from 12,000 THB

Cher Resort

I'd be in Bali instead...

[Stumpy]

^ I understand your thoughts and agree at face value it is very pricey however we never paid that much. Usually 2000 to 2300. We go to travel shows and get vouchers + 500 baht vouchers for whatever at the resort making it about 1500 to 1800 a night. My GF is an awesome shopper.

We did the few stays in the 600 to 900 baht nights deals. Just not for us. Chased no hot water, bedding was dirty, beds were uncomfy, no AC, no pool, room smelled like cigs etc. I'd rather pay a few more baht and have it be clean and all working especially when you want to get away to relax. I mean its not like you go everyday right? When the missus enters a room and you get that "Look" you know it is gonna be a long night.