Thread: Holiday in Hua Hin...

My original plan when I first came to Thailand eight years ago to live was that I would have a couple of years spilling my seed in Pattaya then I would head somewhere quieter for a more normal life such as Chiang Mai or Hua Hin. Today finds me living a more normal life with a great girlfriend and a nearly three year old daughter but I only made it as far as the Darkside, Pattaya.

Never actually got round to checking out Hua Hin until last month when I packed up the car and took off there for a weeks family style holiday.

Booked a couple of places through Agoda in advance, first of which was an apartment for 4 nights in Blue Lagoon Resort.

Hua Hin Apartments Villas Properties for Rent - Home

What was good about this place is that the apartment had direct access to what is claimed to be the longest swimming pool in Thailand. It runs for one and a half kilometres around the whole resort.




The apartment was managed by a company called Sunvillas who were pretty shit as far as their management went but I couldn't fault the apartment itself. I say they are a shit company because there was nobody there to meet us on arrival to give us the keys for the place, nobody was answering the contact number we were given for their office in Bangkok and we had to chase up the local minders to get the place cleaned and towels changed after a couple of days.... But they were about 4000 baht per day cheaper than others for the same apartments so I let all that pass and got on with enjoying the holiday. (I ended up paying about 6000 baht per night after the electric was added on - still a bit steep but I think it was worth it...)

Couple of other bad things happened on arrival - the kids pet crab in a shell that we were going to release to freedom on the beach snuffed it on the journey and the missus reversed the car into a post while she was still in a rage after bollocking all and sundry about not being there to check us in.... But I had a couple of 5 litre wine boxes to aid my relaxation so none of this bothered me.

Few pics of the apartment:

We were bottom left of this block.



Nice living room:



Kitchen area:



Direct access to the pool:



Very nice going for a swim first thing every morning with the sprog while the missus cooked up breakfast....

And the little one loved it:



(more coming - next resort and all the touristy stuff we did...)

nice pic's Rawlins

So... After 4 nights at the posh place we had 3 nights in a traditional Thai house at a jungle resort about 12 km inland from Hua Hin.

The name of the resort is Vana Varin and I can definately recommend this place if you want a bit of peace and relaxation.

Vanavarin : Hua Hin

Through Agoda I paid 3000 baht per night for this Thai style house which they call 'Wooden Glory'...






The resort is set in 100 rai of forest land and has a river running through it.



They have kayaks free to use for anybody that is adventurish enough and lots of mountain bikes for use around their forest tracks. We took advantage of the mountain bikes a couple of times, strapping the daughter onto a kids seat.



We all had to rough it in one room here compared to the 2 bed apartment previously but it was great... Got evening meals delivered to the room to eat ferral style spread out on a mat on the floor.



View from the balcony:



This resort has another style of 'hobbit' house to stay in set around a lake which go for 2500 baht per night if pre-booked.



They had a nice swimming pool also and a restuarant / bar set over the lake.

View from the breakfast area:



Was a good find this one and I would stay there again if back down that way.

(Stuff and shit to do in Hua Hin next....)

Stuff and shit to do in Hua Hin:

1. Go to the beach... Although it was originally intended as a beach holiday we only spent 2 of the 6 days on the beach. Very nice beach it is though with clean sand (if you avoid the bits where the horses poop and pee)... I am ashamed to admit that I actually took a horse trek along the beach after being pressured into it by the missus and daughter and of course the blokes that make money out of the horse treks... Even bought the tacky photo plate of us on the horses. It was the biggest horse available that I jumped on though and it did well coping with my 100 kg.

You could do more exciting stuff like learn to kite surf if you were that way inclined.




2. Get some good karma - took a drive to the top of the hill bit at the end of the beach which is plagued with monkeys and where it was decided by the gf that we all should walk up loads of steps and do tambon at the small temple bit there.

View back to the beach from the temple:



3. Go to a night market - There are a few around and we only made it to the weekend touristy one called Cicada. Ate loads of food there, watched some live music and let the kid run riot in the ampitheatre area where there was clowns juggling and magic shows etc... Very family and touristy and crafty and a nice place for an evening.

Cicada market:


Pricey market food (100 baht for somtam!);


Bloke on an invisible bike:



End of shift - to be continued tomorrow....

Great real life thread with nice running commentary. These threads are always a winner.

Cheers mate.

very nice indeed. Takes me back to when my kids were smaller cuter and not hormonally infused teenagers. Thanks.

Nice reviews. Both places look real nice. Time to start saving for a splurge.

the second resort looks spot on, great thread cheers

I also like the seafood aspect with Hua Hin...yes a little more expensive but you can still get good prices along the beach if you head south of the town....this was a great presentation

Thanks all for the comments above and anybody who sent greens.

Originally Posted by ossierob

I also like the seafood aspect with Hua Hin...yes a little more expensive but you can still get good prices along the beach if you head south of the town....this was a great presentation

Yeah... We bought a load of prawns, crab and mussels from roadside places as you head up the headland to the south and barbequed it all up outside at the first resort.

Originally Posted by rawlins

Don't just say 'anything' when asked by your better half what you want to eat

Yeah, I made that mistake once.....


Good stuff mate, little one looked like she had fun!

Anything thrown at your head at all

Originally Posted by jizzybloke

Anything thrown at your head at all

Just a bit of abuse on a couple of hangover days...


Forgot to add a couple of things on 'things to do' list...

10. The Floating Markets - For some reason there are 2 touristy floating markets inland a bit, both within 1km of each other. Both opened at about the same time and are in direct competition with each other... These were not far from the second resort we stayed at so we checked both of them out. Both are worth a walk around and have nice spots to sit with some cheap food... The one called 'Sam Pan Nam' (3000 waters) is the better one I think.

11. Plern Wan - this is a mock up of an old style Thai street with shops and food. Bit like a floating market without the water. Again, nice enough for a 20 minute stroll around.

Think that's it all covered.

Nice report rowlins, i also like Hua Hin, six years ago when we moved back to Thailand, I wanted to do the same as you, we had stayed in Hua Hin several times on holiday during the previous 10 years. I said to the wife we should rent a place there for 1 year and do the same in Pattaya and Bangkok then decide where we want to live, ended up building a lovely home on the Dark Side, but I must confess I dislike Pattaya more and more each day. Should have followed my instinct and built in Hua Hin. Must meet for a beer sometime on the Dark Side.

^ Nice one jumbo... I'm offshore again for the next 5 weeks so will give you a shout on here during my next stint home.

Pattaya is OK and it has everything we need plus more... Kind of got settled there now and despite what others may think you can lead a nice normal lifestyle there. But places like Hua Hin and Chiang Mai do feel like a breath of fresh air after Pattaya...

why was my link to stickmans write up on Hua Hin Deleted? its not dirty or off and had some good info

I was there around the same time, even went to Cicada.

Sunvilla are fucktards, vowed to never deal with them again after last year when i inquired about the place you stayed in: First, they replied a few days after my request - way too late. Then a lady called me. When I told her no thanks, she called me again, and then another time! Each time she managed to piss me off, cant remember exactly why but I am not normally easily annoyed.

We ended up for 2 weeks in a new apartment block on the beach. 2 bedroom a bit on the small side at 75 square m, but it was actually on the beach and had a super nice huge pool, a bit like that at the sheraton. Stretching along the entire apartmet block, with fountains, jets, and whatnot. Was 30k for 2 weeks, and just under 3k/night after adding electricity... Managed by plus property.

Then we had another 2 weeks in the old but nice but too crowded Anantasila hotel. This hotel is on a beach on the other side of the monkey hill, the beach is nicer than the main beach and apart from this hotel its all small Thai restaurants and bars there. Some really excellent food right on the beach in the restaurant next to the hotel, which was always packed with Thais...

All in all HH would be awesome if it wasnt for two things:
- Weekend tourists from Bangkok, which has parts of the town only living for the weekend.
- Shit water quality, go into the ocean at your own risk. I love swimming in the ocean and theres occasionally nice waves there, and of course kite surfing. It was better on some days but on others it was like swimming in a garbage dump, trash floating in the water and kids developing skin problems from the crap you cant see. Such a shame but just like in other places in Thailand people have absolutely no clue about environmental issues....

Now in Koh Chang, so nice to have clean seas...

Originally Posted by nikster

Sunvilla are fucktards, vowed to never deal with them again after last year when i inquired about the place you stayed in.

Agree with you there... On the first page of their 'welcome pack' it stated "If you give us a good review on Tripadvisor we will give you a discount on your next stay with us"... Cheeky fvckers... Thankfully the only time I had to try and deal with them direct was on the day we arrived and couldn't find anybody to let us in the apartment... I still need to get round to giving them a shit review on Tripadvisor.

Originally Posted by nikster

We ended up for 2 weeks in a new apartment block on the beach. 2 bedroom a bit on the small side at 75 square m... Was 30k for 2 weeks, and just under 3k/night after adding electricity... Managed by plus property.

Sounds good - I'll search this lot out when I'm planning my next stay down there.

Originally Posted by rawlins

I still need to get round to giving them a shit review on Tripadvisor

chop chop..

Originally Posted by jizzybloke

Originally Posted by rawlins

I still need to get round to giving them a shit review on Tripadvisor

chop chop..

Done it... Will take a couple of days to appear though.

I'll probably get a 'bad review surcharge' added on to the price next time instead of their 'good review discount'.

Great post, its good to see someone post good thing about Thailand
instead of rubbishing it
You have a beautiful daughter reminds me of my granddaughter

Fantastic review, glad you had a good holiday despite sunvilla's best attempts otherwise.

^ Thanks grumbles and petercallen.

Originally Posted by jizzybloke

Originally Posted by rawlins

I still need to get round to giving them a shit review on Tripadvisor

chop chop..

My review now appears on Tripadvisor... I doubt it Sunvillas in bangkok will bother making the effort to respond to it.

Great room, terrible management company... - Sunvillas Hua Hin Blue Lagoon, Cha-am Traveller Reviews - TripAdvisor

Nice report Rawlins, still love that first picture of the smile on your daughters face as she plays in the pool.