I have stayed in Hua Hin a lot and was hoping this hotel would officially be a part of the Hyatt family before my recent trip and luckily it was. I have stayed at the Hyatt in Hua Hin a lot and enjoyed it and took the in-laws there this trip, it is always solid. I was hoping this property would be as good and it was.

I arrived from a weekend stay at the Hyatt with the in-laws, the classic styling of the Hyatt is something that sets better with the mother in-law. Upon arrival, found a very busy check-in area at about 3pm on a Sunday. Almost immediately someone came to greet me and asked if I had a good trip, I said I just came from the Hyatt down the road so it wasn't too bad. She then started addressing me by name and took me over to a table away from the main check-in area and checked me in. That was an impressive start. She gave me her business card and said if I needed anything, to just let her know. She was the Front Office Manager. She then had someone escort me to the room.

The property is a long corridor from the road that you enter on to the beach. The first couple of building that you enter will be building A and building B, one on the left and one on the right. They looked to be mirror copies of each other. As you continue to walk down the corridor you will come to the cottages and as you continue on past the cottages then you will come to the pool and restaurant areas and ultimately to the beach. I consider this a very good layout and it is more tranquil and I thought it would be to be honest as it is a little more of a city center location. I was thinking it might have a feel of something more like the Hilton in Hua Hin. While it is not as sprawling as the Hyatt in Hua Hin, it is definitely a tranquil setting in my opinion.

The person that escorted me to the room mentioned that was I was upgraded to a Studio Suite. I asked if this was an upgrade that a Globalist could typically expect if available and they said that T&C's are one level upgrade but they wanted to me to try this room type. I did not discuss the T&C thing as I really didn't know how The Standard terms read but was happy with this spacious room. It was a very comfortable room. My only issue with the room is that there are ashtrays out on the patios, it is a personal thing but I do not like to encourage smoking and one evening I made the mistake of leaving my patio door open while showering only to come out to a room that smelled like weed. Probably one of the best welcome amenity layouts I have ever had including a bottle of wine. Also, they had a nice welcome note written into the mirror. Between the welcome by staff, the room upgrade and amenities in the room, this was off to a fantastic start.

I tried out all the dining establishments in my 4 night stay which included Lido the Italian Restaurant, the pool bar, The Juice Coffee shop and Praca the Thai restaurant. While I thought all of them were good, I did not really like Praca. The service was not quite up to what I received at the other food outlets, which was all excellent. Also, they label themselves as Thai food with a twist, it was too twisted for me. It gets good reviews and was busy so maybe I am just and oddball on this one. Breakfast was good. The first morning it was all buffet, the subsequent mornings it was partial buffet with the main dishes ordered from a menu. Most times, employees knew me without me needing to tell them who I was. I as impressed by that, it was obvious they take some time on training on service levels.

Comparing this property to the Hyatt is difficult, they are really two different styles of properties. This is more fashion forward and Hyatt is more traditional. I like them both and you can't go wrong with either. When I am with the family, I will probably stay at the Hyatt and when by myself, likely stay here.

I did not need a late check-out by I will note that my welcome letter did say that the late check-out benefit was based on availability so be aware there. When I was checking out, the Resort Manager made it a point to stop come out and ask about my stay and had a nice conversation. That was a nice touch and showed that they really take the customer service thing seriously. I have to believe this will be a favorite with people if it fits your style.