First of all debs- what would you be looking for in your holiday? What do you envisage as your ideal resort? Also, when are you looking to go?

hello,im hoping to go in april. ive had a look at both but i just seem to make up my mind,we like to look around and go to places and i do like to just sunbathe as well so the boys can do fishing and stuff.hubby wants to do phuket more i think.ive also read some of the threads and i think theres more to do in phuket.

I have visited both destinations and I would say Phuket is the nicer of the 2.
It is a tropical island as opposed to HH which is more of a scruffy town, beaches and scenery are better in Phuket , lots of different resorts there, from Patong - v. busy to Nai Yang beach which is very quiet , lots to do there also i.e boats to Phi Phi, James Bond Island etc. hope this helps, shirleyV

I'll let others stick up for Hua Hin. I would return there for a few days after BKK just to relax but it wasn't my favourite destination. ( Husband loved it though!) We went to HH in April as well. We were lucky enough to be there during Songkran, their New Year celebrations. Great fun- be prepared to be soaked, carry nothing that will suffer for it and join in!! This only happened during daylight hours- you are quite safe at night!
The beach at HH is not great at all. There are some really good hotels though with pools. Restaurants were also good.

thanks for replies,i think now itll be phuket for us.

Hi Debs,

You don't say when you are going in April, but you may wish to check out last years weather history:

Hua Hin http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/HHQ/2005/4/10/MonthlyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA

Phuket http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/VTSP/2005/4/10/MonthlyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA

Hua Hin gets less rain (is less cloudy?) than most other resorts. Not guaranteed, but something to ponder.............

This year, of course, the weather is definitely weird

Cheers

Peter

I've just spent a month in Hua Hin and loved it. We had originally planned on staying in Phuket for six weeks, we stayed in Karon which is just the sleaziest place that I have ever visited in SE Asia. We hired a car and travelled all round the island and came to the conclusion that unless you were staying in a resort everywhere in Phuket was much the same, all the bars had bar girls, the food was poor and the prices by Thai standards are sky high. Most of the restaurants are geared towards the scandinanvian tourists who like their food bland so if you do go there you have to add the words "Thai Style" to everything that you order if you want any flavour in your food.

We travelled back to Hua Hin overland and I have to say that the scenery on the mainland is just as good as it is in Phuket if not better and the people are much nicer. If you choose Hua Hin you will find yourself in a proper working Thai town that has all the benefits of western tourism without it being shoved in your face. The beach at Hua Hin isn't much although it gets better the further out of town that you go. We joined the Hilton Gym which cost twenty euros a month each and gave us use of all the Hilton facilities including the pool. The King of Thailand chooses to have his Summer palace in Hua Hin so it must have something going for it.

Forgot about the summer residence! When we were travelling from BKK to HH we noticed police lining the roads. At a certain time all the traffic was ordered off the road! The King was on his way! We had a half hour enforced stop. Our guide told us that most people don't know what he looks like as by the time you have stopped bowing he has passed by!!( I thought this was hilarious and I'm sure he's not meant to say things like that!)

Hi all
I stayed in HH in '92, was a wonderful place. Stayed in a little guesthouse called All Nations up by the old fish market (the other end away from the big hotels). Is it still there? I know it will've changed an awful lot but hope it hasn't lost too much of it's charm.....

Stayed in Phuket 7 weeks, food very good, huge choice of restaurants, weather good although Nov, shopping excellent. Patong always an experience! Try Laguna or Rawai area if don't want touristy thing. Kata probably better than Karon. Plus they could do with more tourists returning.

hello all. is HH safe to walk around at night? we are going to the anantara for our honeymoon in september and i believe it is a little bit out of the centre, we usually go to goa where we always feel safe walking the streets at night and i was hoping thailand has a similar atmosphere... i hope its as good as it looks

Phil
I certainly felt very safe!

The last time I was in HH it was just me and my 16yr old niece, no problems, we didn't feel the least bit unsafe.

Certainly feels safer than a town in the UK at night.

Sunbear is right, I spent six weeks in Hua Hin this year and it is totally safe. The Thais might have a propensity towards getting as much as they can for the goods that they sell but they are basically hard working and honest people. However, coming back to the UK after over two months in Thailand was a scary and it was with a great relief that we are now back in Ibiza where street crime and vandalism are almost unheard of.

phil wink - hi - and congratulations!

Hua Hin is a safe enough place. My wife and I have visited several times and stayed at the Anantara 3 times.

I think that you will love the resort. Beautiful garden setting and about 5 minutes from Hua Hin town (120 Baht) by taxi or tuk tuk. The spa at the hotel is fabulous and I recommend a pampering for BOTH of you. The pools are very good (small pool near lagoon rooms) and large pool between main building and the sea. The beach is very pleasant for strolling along, although we preferred to use the pool to swim.

The hotel does have a courtesy bus which drops you off in Hua Hin, FOC. This is fine for going into town (book in advance) but it stops running for the return journey quite early.

Hua Hin is a safe place with a large ex-pat community (you must judge for yourself if this is good or bad). There are many small bars (bar beer) and a selection of restaurants in the town. Many of the bars may not be to your new wife's liking as they tend to be full of bar girls. Don't worry - once they find out that you are not 'on the lookout' they will treat both you and your wife with respect.

The restaurants in town make a very pleasant change from the Anantara, where the food is excellent but expensive. Despite the good food, the hotel restaurants are usually fairly quiet.

I am sure that you will have a great time, both at the Anantara and around Hua Hin.

I am sure that you will enjoy!

Regards

Peter

hi peter, we chose HH partly because we thought there was no or very little sex tourism in HH compared to somewhere like pattaya, oh well we will find out in september cheers phil

Hua Hin is the one place in Thaiand where, as a guy I know who lives there likes to say "The police act like police." Simply because the King spends a lot of time in the area so any corruption / laziness etc in the force doesn't go down well. Probably the one place in Thailand where you can expect the boys in brown to do the right thing all the time.

Hi Phil,

we chose HH partly because we thought there was no or very little sex tourism in HH compared to somewhere like pattaya, oh well we will find out in september

I hope that I have not given you the wrong impression. Hua Hin is nothing like Pattaya - the main bar area, centred around Soi Bintabaht is easily avoided. The bars in Hua Hin are very tame - but there are always bar girls in Thailand.

I am certain that you will find plenty to do, the night market, various restaurants, the fishing pier all very good in the evening. There are many shops to stroll around, without having to hit the bar scene.

Please, please don't worry! You will both enjoy Hua Hin, I am sure.

Cheers

Peter