The Idiot's Guide to Hua Hin

My family and I love Hua Hin. We take weekend trips to that fabulous white-sand beach almost annually. It's a 2-hour drive away from Bangkok, the roads are recently paved so it's an easy drive (a plus). The seafood there is great, it's less touristy than Pattaya or Phuket (another plus!), but most of the better hotels are located far, faraway from downtown Hua Hin, so some sort of a vehicle is essential (oh-uh for the tourists).

Food:

It's probably universally acknowledged that people prefer to eat seafood when they go to the beach. Therefore, the restaurants that are going to be mentioned are mostly seafood-centric. (These are the restaurants that I remember about and seem more special than other ones. So KFC and Burger King won't be mentioned here.)

Sawasdee Restaurant - located at the heart of downtown Hua hin, directly opposite this hotel which I forgot the name of, and with all its old pictures and claims of famous people having eaten there, this is definitely a tourist trap IMO. We used to like this place a lot back in the old days, but now its services and the food are mediocre at best.

All Seasons - located right next to Sawasdee. Caters to foreigners and tourists mostly, offers international cuisine. Better services and better food than Sawasdee. I recommend their pizzas and deep fried seafood platter :)

Breakfast at AKA resort - I don't remember the name of the restaurant anymore, but there's only 1 breakfast place at AKA so it shouldn't be that difficult to find. Prices are SO jacked up there but their breakfast is simply divine. The best blueberry pancakes I ever had. Good juice and coffee too.

Chom Talay - seafood restaurant near the Sheraton. Admittedly this is probably another tourist trap, but a lot of locals eat there too. We got a table near the beach, the salty wind felt so good on my face. The baked scallops and the tom yum goon were awesome, but the Pepsi they served was lukewarm and disgusting. The tab wasn't so great when it arrived at our table. There was some confusion over the bill and they definitely overcharged us.

The Deck at Sheraton - the continental buffet breakfast was pretty decent on our first day there, but the quality and quantity definitely dropped the next day (a Monday), when most of the hotel guests had left. The dinner entrees (as well as the appetizers actually) were definitely overpriced and, in some cases, mediocre would have been a praise for them. The dessert sucked. Services were nonexistent, and the waitors looked downright sullen and hostile. The worst part was when this manager (a farang) came and smilingly serviced the other tables, turned around, and saw me scowling at him (we had been trying to get the wait staff's attention for the past 20 minutes and were ignored repeatedly), and promptly turned away instead of coming over to ask what was wrong. Again, there was confusion over the bill, and this dish that sucked the most (Lime Chicken, if I can remember correctly) ended up costing 490 baht++. It tasted more like grilled charcoal more than anything else.

Accomodations: (these hotels cost more than what I can personally afford, but that's the best thing about traveling with your family -- they pay the bills):

Hilton Hua Hin - at the southern end of Hua Hin, this is actually quite far from downtown as well as from Cha-Am beach and other places. If you're driving it will take you an extra 20 minutes to get here after reaching Hua Hin.

Pros:
-private white-sand beach, well-kept

-relatively good food
-abundance of cute sea creatures like crabs and hermit crabs
Cons:
-too far
-the oldest of the 3 hotels that are being compared
-so not special I don't remember much about it

AKA resort and spa: Owned and operated by a Japanese designer, this nice little boutique resort has got style. Went here in September '07, and I have almost nothing but fond memories of this place.
Pros:
-cute little villa with your own private swimming pool
-great food, really really good services
-the rooms were so adorable - comfy beds and lemongrass incense
-quiet, relaxing atmo
-very un-touristy
-classy
-really good breakfast
Cons:
-room rates
-in the mountains (chances of frolicking in the sea is next to zero)
-location - oh gawd it was so hard to find this place
-definitely need a car
-hard to find parking space after their tiny parking lot is filled up

Sheraton Hua Hin: at the very northern end of Hua Hin, this hotel has been operating for less than 3 years and is the newest of the three. Famous for their rooms with private entryways into the swimming pool. We stayed there this time.
Pros:
-closest to the Hua Hin airport
-shortest drive from Bangkok
-new-ish facilities
-really good swimming pool
-private white-sand beach
Cons:
-the wait staff
-room rates
-faraway from downtown
-food just wasn't worth the bill
-more touristy than AKA

Picturefest :)

AKA