Takiab Beach Hotel Hua Hin

Relaxing, and quiet, but not your usual Thai Beach.
by Oriana from United Kingdom, 17 Apr 08

“The hotel is great! Very clean with HUGE rooms-mine was just for 1 person but had a super duper king bed and a single bed. Very comfy and the a/c worked really well, and there was a good TV with about 60 channels ... about 5 in English including about 3 movie channels. Free water provided and a pretty good mini bar and fridge with freezer. Loads a clean linen and ample amounts of beach/pool towels.

The bathroom was a good size but the shower over the bath had an movable shower head that pointed straight down over the bath taps! Had to stand almost against the wall to get wet, but there was good water pressure so wasn't really an issue. Soap and shampoo provided.

The food at the restaurant was good and moderately priced...lovely brekky with pineapple juice, 2 cereals, 2 types of toast with jam and marmalade ... eggs cooked any way you wanted, rice, noodles, ham, pork sausages and a few other Asian things.

Very nice staff and the restaurant setting was good with fans to keep you coolish.

Great pool with sun loungers, but the water, although pristine, was over chlorinated so you couldn't open your eyes underwater without goggles.

Safe kiddie pool attached and a very deep end made it enjoyable, with great shadey spots to get away from the permanent sun shine!

The hotel is about 50m walk from the beach (situated behind another hotel), which has masses of tiny wee crabs all over, so not a lot of sunbathing done. The sea, although very clean, shallow and very warm, was very murky and not a snorkelling spot at all.

The hotel is situated a long way from the 2 night markets and city life, certainly not walking distance, although there are several cafes and restaurants that you can walk to that are local. You walk a couple of minutes down the road to catch a taxi (exceptionally clean) which costs between 150 and 200 baht to the city/markets...a bit of a pain if you are wanting to save money, but really not too bad at all.

To do anything other than lie by the pool (which is definitely better than the sea if you are wary of crabs) you have to catch the taxis to the centre of town/markets, which offer the usual array of Thai food, fast food, and other trinkets.

The sunsets are spectacular, and generally if you want a quiet, very relaxing, non touristy spot to wind down at, then give this place a go.

I booked online on AtSiam.com and had no problems at all. Costs 140 baht by bus from the Southern bus terminal in Bangkok (takes about 4 hours max depending on traffic and no toilet stop), with a taxi to the hotel costing 200 baht, and the return journey by bus costing 166 baht (one toilet stop and a bottle of water) taking about 2 1/2 hours. I would defiantly recommend the Takiab Beach Hotel, and I would go there again if I wasn't interested in doing your usual Thai water sports stuff ... snorkeling, diving etc.

There were quite a few families around with kiddies aged from about 5 to 12 years, and it felt very safe and secure at all times.”