So Sofitel Hua Hin

We took holiday from holiday and headed from Bangkok to So Sofitel Hua Hin for two nights. It was an interesting experience.

It took 2,5 hours to reach the resort and 3,5 hours on the way back to Bangkok by car with a driver.

A cold towel and juice were offered at check-in which was done in an open-air lobby. Several staff members came to greet and welcome us separately. We certainly felt welcome.

I had booked an entry level comfy room and we were upgraded, as expected, one level to a studio. The difference between these categories is basically location: the studios are on the ground floor and have a terrace while the comfy rooms are located on the second and third floors and have a balcony.

Not much an upgrade if you ask me but someone who smokes might appreciate the terrace.

Our spacious 60-square-meter studio was modern as was the whole property but at the same time pretty worn. The style was minimalist and coldish with all the concrete used in walls and flooring. The interior design colored it a bit, though.

One could choose the room between two themes: art and nature. Our room had the nature theme which made us feel that we really were somewhere in a tropic. The terrace was facing a side walk but soundproofing was weak. The best part was bathroom. It had a huge rain shower in the middle and separate bathtub.

Complimentary minibar included water, juice and small snacks such as nuts. Illy coffee capsules and teas were free, too. The resort was full of mosquitos but luckily they had mosquito repellents available.

We had a pleasure to meet a management trainee who was very enthusiastic. She approached us proactively asking our opinion on the resort and its services and showed us one of the new villas which looked great.

Breakfast at White Oven was good, both quality and presentation. Variety was decent.

Lunch and dinner we had at Beach Society. The lunch was okay, the dinner not so much. Starter and main course were delivered at the same time and burger wasn’t made the way we ordered it. Also, meat tasted of low quality, like those cheap patties that can be bought in many grocery stores.

Prices were reasonable for a hotel located in the middle of nowhere.

In addition to the upgrade we were given four drink vouchers but hold your horses. We didn’t get eight drinks although this was stated on the voucher: ”One drink voucher per stay for the card holder and each guest sharing the room.”

Bartender insisted that one voucher is for one person only. Okay, no problem. When we wanted to use the voucher for Chandon sparkling wine (champagne wasn’t available) we were told that we can’t have that with our voucher but another Australian sparkling wine instead (wasn’t on the drink list). Fine, we took that and it was actually good. We felt having a refill and offered to pay. But no, now they weren’t able to sell that newly-opened bottle by glasses. One had to buy the whole bottle or order the more expensive Chandon.

Welcome gift consisted of basic fruits and local sweets plated nicely. Paper was delivered to our room each morning but turndown service was done only one evening.

The resort had three swimming pools: one reserved for adults, bigger one for everyone and a small one beside the beach bar. Water in the adult pool looked muddy and many tiles were broken.

The hotel also had a small beach but water looked dirty and there were lots of jellyfish so we decided to stay on the ground as was adviced by the hotel, too.

The hotel offered a shuttle van service to Hua Hin and Cha-am. Prices were reasonable: Hua Hin 100 TBH per person per way and Cha-am 50 TBH.

They also organized complimentary sport activities, for example water aerobic, yoga, and Thai boxing.

The resort was lacking a lounge which would be great to have. There was one large room beside the adult pool that was used as a gallery but it only had a few photographs on walls.

So Sofitel Hua Hin reminded of Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua but was a smaller version of it. It had more private feel and was quite empty during our stay. Actually, we sometimes felt we were in a ghost resort.

Despite those couple of hiccups we were able to enjoy our stay but weren’t wowed either and thus we don’t think we will return in the near future at least. However, it’s worth to try.