Ive stayed at the Regent Hotel, just up the coast at Cha Am.

Nice little town, good beach, interesting night market.

You can go out to the Kings Old Summer Palace at Petchaburi ( but watch out for thieving monkeys!) and to the huge underground caverns filled with massive statues of Buddha.

Should be a good place for a hol!

Have stayed just outside Hua Hin at hotel that is now called The Anantara..saw some good deals for this year for 13 nights twinned with Bangkok Marriott for £660...not bad for the standard of hotel and direct flights.

Have you considered doing Bangkok as well.

I have stayed at the Regent Cha Am and visited the Dusit which is situated between Cha Am and Hua Hin both good hotels but I usually rode the shuttle bus into Hua Hin most evenings and decided that if I return to the area again I would stay right in Hua Hin. I think I had a walk round the Hilton one night and it looked pretty good.
As per previous post, have you looked at spending a few nights in Bangkok, you will fly into Bangkok from the Uk so it would be simple to have a few nights there before starting your main holiday. Hotels in the city are very reasonably priced.

HI. Thanks for your replies. To be honest we havent really considerd stopping at Bangkok. We have 2 children (they'd be 3 and 10) and I dont know if it would be suitable with them. Think I d rather just get to Hua hin. Have had a very good quote from Kuoni. Havent found anyone that beats them yet.

Hi Micky,

We are staying at the Hilton, Hua Hin, for the second time this October having visited last autumn. We booked with Travelbag (e-bookers) at a cost of £745 each, whch includes return economy flightls with Thai International, return private transfers and 14 nights room only at the Hilton. It would have been a bit cheaper had we not specified Thai Airways but this is our favourite airline on this route. Also note this is an off-season rate with free night offer included so don't know how it would compare with the time of year you're going.

We love the Hilton. Despite its rather ugly high-rise exterior, it is a wonderful hotel. The staff are friendly, the rooms ("bay rooms" in our case) are spacious and tastefully decorated and the pool is great. There are various organised activities for children and daily water aerobics and water volleyball for adults (purely voluntary, of course). There is a lavish buffet breakfast and Thai, Italian, International and Chinese food available at the various in-house restaurants, though it's more fun (and a lot less money) to eat out. On the downside, the very nice grounds are small and the balconies, though well protected, might be a bit of a worry with a 3 year old. The hotel is right in the middle of town, the main attraction for us - you walk out of the front door into a bustling street thronged with restaurants and shops and the swimming pool is adjacent to the beach. We didn't use the Spa, preferring the much cheaper option almost opposite the hotel, but it does have a very good reputation, offering a wide range of treatments. We had room service several times, drinks at the swim-up bar, lunch most days, a few evening meals and a couple of evenings in the Hua Hin Brewery. We paid for everything by plastic at the end of our 2 week stay and we were pleasantly surprised by the bill. Although there is very little difference in the cost of our holiday this year compared with last year, I am expecting the overall bill to be higher as we don't have breakfast included this year and I wouldn't miss that buffet for the world!

We have also stayed at the Regent 2 or 3 times, both in the standard rooms and in the Regency wing. This was also a nice hotel with lovely, extensive grounds and great food but we preferred the central location and the more luxurious rooms of the Hilton.

Ken Diamond Travel ( http://www.travel-huahin.com ), a few yards away from the Hilton and in the same street, offers a range of excursions. There is also a wealth of information about Hua Hin on http://www.travelforum.org/thailand/main.html, including an excellent restaurant review of the area (and a bit about the hotel) by emdee. You will find unbiased hotel reports, including some of the Hilton, on http://www.asiahotels.com. Hope this helps and please don't hesitate to ask if you want to know anything more about the Hilton.

Regards,

Heather

Hi , I stayed at the Anantara hotel in Hua Hin last August - all I can say is wow!!!!
absolutely beautiful, Hua Hin is quite a bustling little town with a fab little night market and plenty of restaurants - it is very cheap to eat out.
The only thing I do not like is the beach and scenery which do not in my opinion live up to the rest of Thailand i.e Krabi, Samui.
However if it is in same price range as the med then I would say go for it as Thailand and the Thai people are great - I just love the place, we travelled there with Kuoni and the price and service were excellent, hope this helps, shirleyV

micky
The only thing with going directly to Hua Hin is that it is a long flight anyway and then you will be getting a minibus which takes about 3 hours. This is very tiring for adults let alone children! ( trust me - I did just that as we only had a week and didn't have the time to spend in BKK)
Word of warning- if you decide to go directly go to the toilet first! The favourite stop they have is at a supermarket type complex where the only toilets are squat ones!
We went with Kuoni to Hua Hin as well( stayed at the Marriott- a lovely hotel). I had priced it DIY and Kuoni's price came out slightly cheaper.
I have to be honest and say that HH was not my favourite Thai destination. I was not enamoured with the beach, however, the Hilton does have a big pool area. We did enjoy eating at the Hilton restaurant- the one which you can enter directly from the street and it is the main place for entertainment in the evening. We did go to the caves and the summer residence but didn't really fancy the other options. However, if it is R and R you are after, cheap prices and some great food you can't go wrong.