Reviewing an Ibis hotel is a bit like critiquing an eating experience at McDonald's: there doesn't seem much point, as if you've ever been to one, you pretty much know what to expect from all of them. But seeing as this particular Ibis at Hua Hin was brand-spanking new, opening not two weeks ago, I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I had taken the blue aircon bus from Bangkok's Sai Tai Mai bus station to Hua Hin, and by 5 o'clock we had crawled along Petchkasem Rd into the centre. I had read the buses terminated south of the centre at a (fairly new) aircon bus terminal at Soi 96, which was handy for me, but the driver sadly kicked us all off up at Sra Song Rd near the nightmarket. I could've grabbed a tuktuk but a combination of desiring exercise and wanting to check out the local sights saw me trundle the two or so miles south to where the Ibis was situated, not far from the Hyatt Regency, and south of Soi 110 where Route 4 bends away from the coast slightly.

First impressions were good: the lobby gleamed with newness. If you've ever been to the Ibis at Nana, Bangkok then you'll get deja-vu in Hua Hin, as the layout is the same: reception straight ahead, brekkie/restaurant to the left, and bar round the corner to the right.

The check in staff were very friendly, although they took some time checking me in - maybe because it was a third party booking from hotels.com, maybe because they were fresh from training. No worries, regardless - I wasn't in a rush. Eventually I was assigned a room and told that breakfast was included in the steal of a rate I had booked, which was a welcome surprise as I assumed it wasn't at time of booking.

The whole place smelt of newness, sometimes in a good way, but other times in an unpleasant, plasticky/gluey way. It reminded me of the YHAs I had stayed in during my time in Germany: clean, efficient, sterile and completely devoid of any soul or character. My room was equally spartan, but had all the things I needed, and was of course new and spotlessly clean. There was a tiny balcony good for drying towels and for those of the smoking persuasion and little else, and the bathroom was the Ibis small triangular fare but perfectly fine for the daily ablutions.





The next day I was first out of the traps for breakfast at 6am - I'd been up since 4am from jetlag - and it was a fine spread. Bit of a disappointment when I was given the go-ahead to proceed to be seated on giving my room number, but then later hassled mid-scrambled egg to ask if breakfast was included in my rate. I replied honestly that I didn't really know, but I was told on check-in that it was; the lady busied herself away and then came back saying it actually wasn't, so I needed to pay up. Bit of lost in translation, but it's "only" 250 Baht, which might sound like a lot but I intended to eat a huge breakfast and then only have a snack for lunch. The Ibis spread is superb, all freshly-prepared and laid out for me to load up my plate at my leisure, untouched by the still sleeping ravenous hordes. I had a Western(-ish) brekkie of scrambled eggs, sausages, baked beans and, er, ham as well as another plate of small dollops of Thai-style dishes - fried pork noodles, vegetables with rice, ginger chilli chicken and so on - as well as yoghurt with cereal, a plate of fresh fruit, banana cakes, pancakes with maple syrup... all the main food groups seemed to be covered. Well worth 250 Baht to me.







I checked out the pool and it seemed very pleasant - again, functional springs to mind - clean, neat, with new sunbeds and umbrellas. The pool had a kiddies area but I noticed even the main pool was only 1.2m deep, which seemed overly shallow to me. Guess it stops people diving/bombing. The hotel and pool is located such that the sun (at least in late January) does not hit the sunbed and pool area until after lunch, about 2pm ish, and even then only one side of sunbeds gets sun for most of the afternoon (the side away from the hotel). Design flaw? Seems like it, but very few people were lounging around, so I had the pick of the beds.







The real downer of the Ibis was the location; it's several miles outside of the action. The hotel runs a shuttle bus, a brand-new (like everything else here) 3-bench pickup truck with about 9 seats - 12 if you can squeeze four sets of cheeks per bench - but it's only every two hours in the day, increasing to every 1hr in the evening but the last shuttle into town is 8pm (and was already full on the day I arrived), with the last shuttle back being 8.30pm. So if you want to stay out beyond that you'll have to factor a taxi home every night into your budget. It's not going to break the bank but it's worth noting. At least the hotel is only one block from the beach, which is pretty clean.

The Ibis won't be for everyone, but if functionality and cost suit you over exoticism and soul then it's perfectly decent and incredibly good value. Including the 12% cashback I got from booking with hotels.com through TopCashback I paid less than 950 Baht per night, plus 250 Baht breakfast per day. As a solo traveller, for a brand new clean, safe hotel with a comfy bed and a decent pool/sunbed area I thought this was an outstanding price.

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And how about Hua Hin Steve? Has the damage from the recent storms been cleared up? How about the main beach areas? The photos I saw on the internet seemed to depict the beaches of being almost devoid of sand after the storms.

What about the infrastructure in the city centre?

Thanks for the report and the photos Steve- a good read and its seems to be a bit of a bargain for the price you paid, although its a pity its so far away from the city centre and the action. Like Emdee I am also interested in your advice about the condition of Hua Hin after the recent storms. In particular, I would be interested in your opinion about the Sofitel Hotel as I was going to stay there in May but would be reluctant to do so if it was noticeably damaged. Don't forget to eat at some of the places I mentioned in my reviews last year- Moonshine and Platoo was good for its stir fries and also NA NA place. The night market has good seafood as well - quite cheap.

Hi chaps

In the central areas I have not noticed anything untoward in terms of storm damage, although I am not known to be the most observant chap in the world! I did notice that the edge of the beach (I just walked along under a mile-long stretch up from the Ibis to where it was blocked off due to the Hua Hin International Film Festival) was quite thin on sand so that you could see rock beneath, but didn't attribute at the time to the storms I saw you post about; then again I had never spent any real time before at Hua Hin beach so had nothing to compare it with. Here's a pic of the stretch I walked:





Rabbit, I will see if I can get in the Sofitel and have a poke around. Reviews of the establishments you speak of are in the pipeline!

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Hi Steve,

I hope you are enjoying yourself in the delightful town of HH. Those pics of Hua Hin beach are as I remember the beach so maybe the storm damage has been cleared up.

I am absolutely loving Hua Hin, Emdee. I had been here before about four years ago but I was only passing through on the way to Pran Buri, so I saw virtually nothing of the town then. This time I am bowled over by its cleanliness, its relaxed vibe and its distinct lack of seediness. It is definitely on my "regular haunt" list for all future trips.

Looks like the rain is on its way today, which is unfortunate, but I've had four dry days here so can't complain too much!

cheers
Steve

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My latest travels: Shikoku Pilgrimage