I am planning a trip to Thailand in November and for the beach part I am considering Hua Hin mostly for the seafood; Emee comments:). I went to Pucket before, not worthed, too rocky and taxies and hotels are a ripp off, stucked in Kata beach the whole time. I am looking into this hotel in Hua Hin, it advertizes private beach and chairs? What that means in Hua Hin, that they have the resort chairs on the beach for their guests? Also, this is close to Sofitel Centara where there are rocks on the water, is the case for Banyan as well?

Please share your experiences and feel free to suggest another beach vacation as well.

One more question, would Chian Ray be a good destination for North, I've been to Chian May already so I want to see something else.
best regards

if you didn't like kata, i don't think you will enjoy HH. main city beach is rocky, and not a swimmers beach, actually, quite disgusting lately. further south it clears a bit, but very shallow.

since you say they advertise private beach (technically illegal), but the bigger resorts, which aren't located near town, are isolated, and maintain their beachs, but you will be at the mercy of tuk tuks again, and out of town.

the seafood is rather good though. HH is a quick hop from BKK, so a lot of weekenders fill up the town. you will also have 'resorts' listed for HH and Cha Am, which seem to be in between the 2 towns, both get the same opinion from me. i enjoy HH, but only because of familiarity and a nice pit stop on the way to points south and phuket. 3 days i more than enough for me, and a pool is nice, as the beach is not swimmable, or the main beach relaxing. ugly chairs and umbrellas, horse ****/piss, as horseback walking is allowed, and extremely boring and overpriced.

if going for the 'private beach' expect a nicer beach, but isolation, and at an inflated price.

i would keep searching. i really enjoy kata beach, and for me, there is plenty right there at that beach. though i do self drive, so can drive around the cape point and get out. if that didn't offer enough, HH definitely will not. though you can hop a train, and hit some more southern beachs, AO Manao, ban krut, bang saphan, will have more relaxed feel, but offer even less than HH, except excellent R & R.

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I did like Kata Noi beach, it is the prices everywhere; 1200 baths taxi to airport, 200 baths to go to the Kata city (about 100 m down the slope), the $250 room that smelled paint and plastic, rude staff and a few more things. But the beach is beautifull, white sand and in the afternoon one can see the Big Buddha from the water. And then you feel stuck with a choice of 3 restaurants which are 3x more expensive than Bangkok or the hotel ones which are super expensive.

Does anyone know if el murphy's is still open for accomadation? i am sure i looked at a website with pics and info on it but cannot find it now,anyone have any current details.

I would agree that Hua Hin is not the best beach to visit if you are coming from overseas. It's nice for a weekend away from Bangkok. One quick point about Banyan Resort that you mentioned - it's not on the beach but away on a golf course. Excellent resort and they offer a free shuttle to the beach and into downtown.

If you are looking for good beaches but don't want to go all the way down South again, I would suggest the following options:

Koh Samet - only 3 hours from Bangkok, beautiful beaches, very chilled out, great seafood restaurants right on the beach. Good for around 3 nights.

Trat islands Koh Chang, Koh Mak and Koh Kood - you can easily spend a week just jumping around these islands. Koh Mak and Koh Kood are some of the few places in Thailand that have not yet been overrun by tourism.

In the North, I would recommend to rent a car ( or a motorcycle if you can ride one ) and do the 'Maehongson Loop' at your own pace. This is by far my favorite trip in Thailand! So much to see and do along the way!

Hope this helps.

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