Of all of the places that I had heard about in Thailand, Hua Hin was not one of them. But one of K’s coworkers who lives in Bangkok suggested it to us as we were looking for something slightly off the beaten path Hua Hin is a beach side town, a 2.5 hr drive from Bangkok. K’s coworker was right, it was just what we needed.
As a side note, this is Part 2 of our Thailand 2018 trip, check out Part 1 in Bangkok here.
Getting around:
- Getting to Hua Hin: Hua Hin is a 2.5 hour drive from Bangkok so we booked a car that took us straight there. You could however also take a train from Bangkok but some of those trips might take another hour to two hours vs. driving.
- Public Transportation: There is no public transportation in Hua Hin so you either book a cab to take you somewhere or you walk
- Bike/Motorcycle Rentals: We didn’t look into this, but there are options available
- Cabs: There are a few cab options available, but we only used it once and relied on our hotel to call for us
Where we stayed:
Hua Hin is a beach destination so we chose to stay at another Marriott that was on the beachfront. If the Marriott weren’t on the beach, we definitely would have stayed elsewhere.
The Hua Hin Marriott Resort and Spa was great. The compound is really clean, well kept, and had several pools most of which connected to each other via a lazy river that wound around the resort. The beachfront is beautiful; the sand is so soft, and the staff was also particularly amazing; they were ready to help us with whatever we needed even if we didn’t ask for help.
What we saw:
Other than being on the beach and eating, the only other things we did was a trip to the Monsoon Valley Vineyard and get massages.
- Monsoon Valley Vineyard – It’s about an hour drive into Thailand from the coast, but it’s a great half day excursion. There are a variety of different things to do, e.g. tours and elephant rides but all we did was eat, drink, and talk.
- Massages – There are loads of salons you could pop into without needing reservations and they’re often open late – don’t worry, majority are not sketchy. But if you’re looking for a good full body, Let’s Relax is great. There are several options to choose from but we all did an oil massage which amazing. And to make the experience better, they serve tasty pandan tea at the beginning and the mango sticky rice at the end. So good!
Where to Eat:
The food in Hua Hin was comparable to what we had in Bangkok, if not better in some cases. And my sister absolutely loved the vegetarian options! Here’s where we went:
Of all the eats we tried in Hua Hin, DAR Restaurant, was our favorite with Suan Bua and Hua Hin Market Village being close seconds.
Visually, Dar Restaurant looks touristy and unappealing. But the chef is amazing. She truly listens to what you want and makes every dish drool-worthy, especially the mango sticky rice. We came back for that even if we had dined elsewhere!
We also really loved Suan Bua (the khao soi was amazing) and the food court at the Hua Hin Market Village. Suan Bua is a great dinner option and a place where you could wear any of the nicer clothes that you may have brought with you on holiday, and the food court is, well, a food court – a great casual lunch spot.
Other notes: Take bug spray with you because I got bitten up quite a bit. I’m not sure if they’re only around during particular seasons or not, but it’s best to be safe if you have the type of blood mosquitos love.
Blog edited by: Betty Ho
It is definitely a recommended place. Cool and calm