d3vski

Hi,

For my honeymoon in January i have booked 5 nights in Bangkok followed by 7 nights in Phuket but now i am having seconds thoughts.

I am a newly minted Intercontinental Royal Ambassador and have duly booked the IC BKK.

I originally booked the burasari hotel in Phuket, cancelled it and booked the Holiday Inn and i was all happy with every thing.

Now about two months later, ive had two colleagues from work who both with their respective partners went to Hua Hin on honeymoon and cant stop raving on about it.

I also work at Heathrow airport and have seen thousands of "Chavs" heading to Phuket.

This got me worried and am thinking of switching to Hua Hin. There is a new Intercontinental and it sounds far more romantic then Holiday Inn or Burasari.

I am also swayed by the thought that Thai Royalty and the countries elite spend time in Hua Hin. This makes me think that Hua Hin would be far more classier then phuket.

Dont get me wrong, i would love to visit Phuket but i am thinking it would be more appropriate when i have kids or if im with the lads or a in a group rather than on my honeymoon and with my newly wedded wife.

basically i am having "Too much choice syndrome" in that i do not know where to go!

I tried to search for Hua Hin on FT but there does not seem to be too much on it.

What do you think?

ScottieFlyer

I guess it depends what floats your boat. HuaHin is much quieter than Phuket and is an older resort. Despite it's Royal connections I don't think it's any classier than Phuket. Many package tours from UK and elsewhere go HuaHin because that is where they can get the cheap hotels and is a 3-4 hour drive from Bangkok so no additional flights are needed. There is much more to see and do in Phuket and the sea and beaches there are much nicer too. I have stayed in Holiday Inn Phuket and it is a really nice hotel. It is just across from Patong Beach and surrounded by the clubs, restaurants, shopping malls etc. It is not cheap so doesn't attract budget travellers. If you want to get away from Patong Beach it's easy because Phuket is a large island, hire a bike or a jeep and go explore all the small quiet beaches on the island by yourselves. If you do a search here you will find numerous threads with Phuket recommendations on activities, tours etc so I will not repeat them here. If you want to hedge your bets with activity and tranquility and get the best of both worlds then I recommend you cancel a few days at Holiday Inn Phuket and reserve a few at Holiday Inn Phi Phi Island. You take a boat there from Phuket. If you do finally go to Phuket/PhiPhi then be sure to take a tour to the mainland Pha Nga/Krabi areas as the coastal scenery is stunning.

HuaHin could be great too but IMO does not offer same benefits and potential as Phuket. Have your friends who raved about it been to Phuket too? If not, I recommend you trust your own initial instincts and research.

If you want really quiet and romantic then forget both places and chain hotels in favour of a small family resort or beachhut on one of the small, much less developed islands such as Koh Sammet.

yosithezet

For a honeymoon I think you'll find far much more to do and see in and around Phuket than in Hua Hin.

CrazyInteg

More activities to do in Phuket. Hua Hin is pretty small and quiet.

You may have seen many chavs heading to Phuket, but Phuket is a big island. There are romantic quiet places and there are the 'dirty' red light areas. You have the freedom to move about the island. If you wanted to preview the red light area you could, and after you got bored/disgusted you could head back to your hotel or to some other quiet area for some wine or whatever.

I like Hua Hin, but I like it because it is so small and quiet. It's just a nice and easy getaway from Bangkok.

d3vski

I'll be honest, we will do all the shopping, clubs and partying in Bangkok and then just want to chill out for the next 7 days in a nice 5* resort.

The future wife and i just want a nice resort, local culture and some local attractions (temples, sights, beaches, local tours etc). We also want to be able to go to nice restaurants and bars but nothing to vulgar. Not really bothered about late night parties, raves, sex shows, shopping etc

what i have researched about Hua Hin seems to tick all the boxes. The new intercontinental resort (although yet to open) seems great from the descriptions. The Hua Hin area has some nice golf clubs, some nice cultural activities, decent spas, reasonably nice beach, jungle tours and enough restaurants and bars to vary things up for 7 days.

Im am inclined to give Hua hin a go but i always ask on FT for final thoughts. FT seems to have wise and knowledgeable travellers whose thoughts can be counted on.

just out of curiosity: anyone else ever suffered from "too much choice syndrome"?

jiejie

I've been to both. Hua Hin is OK, but for honeymoon I wouldn't change plans to go there. Remember that in January it will be high season both places, and Hua Hin will seem more hemmed in with people given its relative compactness. Phuket is big enough that there is a bit of sand for everyone, and the beaches and water are much nicer than HH. Do NOT go to Phi Phi to stay, I'd even suggest giving it a miss as a daytrip. DO go on a Sea Kayak trip in Phang-Nga bay with a reputable operator, or if you/spouse are the lazy type, at least do a boat trip.

Bangtao Beach would be my likely first choice on Phuket, rather than Patong. Another good non-Phuket choice for a January honeymoon is Khao Lak, further up the coast. If going to Khao Lak, a rental car (out of Phuket airport) is a nice thing to have, as public transport options are more limited, less convenient, pricier. KL is very laid back and not into noisy rowdy nightlife.

yosithezet

^

I hadn't suggested Khao Lak only because of the lack of an IC property. The Le Meridien Khao Lak is an excellent place for relaxation on a honeymoon.

ScottieFlyer

Everything you say here is true in most respects to a large extent. However, you could say the same about every major resort in Thailand. The question you don't answer is why you are changing although the two reasons I can fathom are concern about 'chavs' and desire to follow up colleagues experience. You say you are consulting FT as a final check so to speak. Thus, it makes me curious that despite most of the posts so far (and I'm sure most of those that will likely follow) advocating Phuket that you are still inclined to change. I think you can go to HuaHin and have a nice time and not be disapointed but I think what the posts are trying to tell you is that you can stay in Phuket and have the same thing, only better. One word of warning; this is Thailand, be very very surprised if IC resort Hua Hin opens when they say it will. Also, being Thailand, expect them to take some considerable time to get over the teething problems (of which you can probably expect many) once it does open. Don't be misled into believing HuaHin is something beautiful just because the Royal Family lives there. The reality IMO is that it is a little run-down looking in comparison to Phuket where the money and investment is. Also, some posts here refer to HuaHin being small; caution is needed here too because by UK standards its quite a large town so do not anticipate that it is some small idyllic village on the seafront with a few resorts.

Despite my comments I like HuaHin and would never advise anyone not to go there. But I like Phuket better, and I tried to answer the questions you asked as frankly as possible so you might be better informed. As to you final question on 'too much choice', yes, me too, I change plans all the time!

canred

A big advantage for Hua Hin is that you get there via car from Bangkok. Thus, you don't have the hassle of dealing with air travel. This can be especially useful on your way out of the vacation as you will be able to drive directly from Hua Hin to BKK and not build in a several hour cushion at BKK. In my book, this essentially gives you 2 more days of vacation (1 on the day going to Hua Hin and the other on your last day). Of course, if you are going to one of the few places that have direct flights from Phuket, this advantage isn't present.

With that said, I prefer Hua Hin over Phuket. It is a nice city to visit with many activities available.

ScottieFlyer

Yosi, JieJie, is this the hotel that stands alone and is sprawled up a hillside besides an otherwise deserted beach? I remember visiting a beautiful beach with a single hotel on one of my trips and have always been trying to recall which it was for a future trip. I have a feeling it wasn't far along from Karon Beach but that may be wrong. Thx, SF.

edit. apologies for confusing, was enquiring about Bangtao beach not Khao Lak

yosithezet

JieJie?

Anyway, this sounds like the Le Meridien Phuket which I really don't like.

The Le Meridien Khao Lak is about an hour and a bit north of HKT in Phang Na. Wonderful property.

d3vski

Thanks for all your advice,

Just for the record, i have already booked flights and hotels in Phuket but when you have lots of time before the trip, doubts start to creep in. I booked everything without doing major research and went with the typical foreigners view of Thailand: Bangkok and Phuket.

I am very paranoid about getting the right location and right kind of place. Honeymoons only happen once unless you get divorced and start again.

Ive just spent the last few hours looking at Bali and the IC club services and rooms look something special. I'll be lying if i said that im open to suggestions regarding hotels. Im trying to stick to IC properties now that i have some status with them. This way i can get nicer rooms via upgrades and offset costs.

Will let you know where i finally decide where to go. thanks for all the feedback.

jiejie

That lonely hotel on the hill could be the L.M. Phuket which I also don't care for (location wise, unless you have rental car). Yes, it's technically at the edge of Karon. There's also another L.M. Yacht Club hotel way down at the south end on Nai Harn beach which is fairly deserted.

Bangtao beach is mostly upscale now--it has the Banyan Tree, the Laguna/Dusit/Sheraton resort properties on the main part, and some independent more mid-range properties on the south end. The beach itself is very long and possibly the nicest on Phuket (it's the one often used in tourist brochures). Some good local (non-hotel) Thai and western restaurants scattered on the beach and on the roads but not a nightclub/bar place like Patong (thank God). Bangtao proper doesn't have hills. At the far north end is the Trisara but it's almost at the headland going up to the next beach--that's on a hill and more of a private resort not a beachy place. At the far south end you get to Pansea Beach with the Chedi and Amanpuri on the hill, but that's accessed by a different road further south.

I also agree with above poster who cautions that any new hotel is likely to either not open as scheduled, or have "teething problems" while they are fixing the physical facilities and training staff. Frankly, making the major criteria on choice of honeymoon location = having an IC hotel is to me a bit baffling logic, but horses for courses and that's OP's choice. If our suggestions didn't help him, likely there's another FT reader who can benefit from the discussion.

ScottieFlyer

Thanks Yosi and Jiejie. I'll drive back that way again next time I'm there to find out for certain which it is, however, if either of you are right it doesn't seem worth bothering about anyway.I will though add Khao Lak to my future plans.

anaggie

and with that comment in mind, I recommend cancelling Thailand altogether and head to the most beautiful place on Earth -- Maldives !!!