We have stayed in both hua hin and koh samui, I have not stayed in chaweng but it looked quite nice, the position is fine on a good part of the beach, there are some very nice places to eat in and around the chaweng just walk out the back of hotel on to beach, and shops at the front.

We stayed at the Hilton in hua hin and i can recommend it, the position i think is the best for a quality hotel. we did see the sofitel and its not far from the hilton, whatever you book do not stay in any other of the 5 star hotels in hua hin as the position of these are not good, they are on very busy roads.

If you do stay in sofitel you will not be dissapointed as it is a quality hotel with more of an older feel, the Hilton more contemporary and modern, but both in the little bit off the main raod but beach side where all the best restaurants are, the fish restaurants are the best ever, real quality wonderfly spiced, and so cheap.

Have a lovely time, we certainly did.

Hi,

My husband and me are frequent vistors to Thailand. We have stayed in Koh Samui many times and once in Hua Hin.

When we went to Hua Hin we stayed at the Hyatt which was fantastic with a lovely beach and the biggest pool I have ever seen in Thailand. However the hotel is about 5mins from the main town by tuk tuk.

We personally prefer Koh Samui as we found Hua Hin a little bit quite with very few good resturants to chose from, whereas Koh Samui has a lot more resturants, bars, shops etc and trips including great water falls.

You are correct in saying that Chaweng beach is built up, but it is worth a visit. However my choice would be to stay in the Bo Phut area of Koh Samui (Bo Phut Spa is fantastic). There are some very good resturants on the beach and very close by is the Fishermans Village which also has plenty of excellent resturants and bars but on a smaller and laid back scale compared to Chaweng.

We can also recommend Krabi (Central Krabi Bay) for a really laid back holiday with hotel rooms and views to die for.

I am sure whatever resort you chose you will enjoy.

I am afraid am unable to comment at all on Koh Samui - but on 2 of our 8 visits to Thailand we have stayed at Hua Hin - and each time at the SOFITEL. We like Hua Hin very much - varied food available and the Night Market means that you experience some part of Thai Life. Would recommend that you stay in a deluxe room as the standard tend to be a little small and dark due to the wood panelling part way up the walls.

Afternoon tea in the old telephone exchange is a real indulgence - second only to that served in the Library at the Dusit Thani in Bangkok. The hotel has from the beginning been one of our great favourites - and Hua Hin itself and the excursions available only add to the enjoyment of this country and its wonderful people.

Having been to both on several occasions I would pick the Sofitel at Hua Hin every time

If you go to Koh Samui only stop in Chewang if you like night life and bustle

After the hustle of Bangkok the Sofitel is like going back to a bygone age of peace and quiet

The Hilton is anothe Hilton if you get my frift

Suppose it depends on your age and what sort of night life appeals to you

You are bound to have a good time

My wife and I have visited Samui and Hua Hin twice. Hua Hin is a more Thai resort with many residents from Bangkok staying at weekends. There are some very good restaurants espically for seafood. Samui is much more western with more choice of bars/clubs. My personal choice is Hua Hin as I like the fact it feels more exotic. It still has McD's, KFC etc but not quite as many as Samui.

I would not worry too much about location of hotels as getting a taxi is cheap. In Hua Hin we stayed both times at the Anantara, a great hotel. In Samui we first stayed at the Imperial Boathouse and then at the Anantara. We had no problem getting into town from any hotel.

We have been to both resorts for the past few years. Hua Hin is a very quiet resort, so if you want nigh life its not the place. Rhe Sofitel is a lovely hotel in a beautiful setting very close to all the action but not right in it. The beach at Hua Hin is nothing to write home about, but pleasant enogh to sit on, not so sure about swimming, we never went in - a bit crowded and quite a few hawkers. The Anatara Hotel is very nice a little out of town but cheap enough to get a tuk tuk/taxi in. Koh Samu's main town is very busy and built up we have stayed at the Centra Villas as the south of the island very nice and quite - a little out of the way but the hotel runs a free bus service so many times a day/night into the main town. We also stayed at Bophut which is very nice - nice beach and lots of eating places near - quite a few big hotels like Anatara etc. Hope this helps you.

GP

My husband and I have been to both Hua Hin and Koh Samui. If we had the choice we would definitely go to Hua Hin!! We have been 4 times - twice to The Sofitel....fabulous place. It is very central to the town - but an absolute oasis, very colonial style with wonderful facilities and staff. We found Koh Samui very comercial, and yes crowded. You don't mention your age...if nearer to student age you may prefer K S. Hua Hin has more of a family feel - people return year after year. HOWEVER if you still need to make your mind up have you considered Phuket??? Out of all the places we have been to in Thailand this really is our favourite. The Laguna Resort Hotels (any of the 5) on Bang Tao beach. You have 5* accommodation beach to die for (much better than Hua Hin), and you can walk into the local villages - we love it so much that we are buying a house there!!.(ps we live at Burton and are in our early 50's)

I think it would be very hard to compare Koh Samui and Hua Hin as they are completely different types of holiday destinations. I've heard Koh Samui has thousands of tourists, a great night life and the beaches look amazing; where on the otherhand Hua Hin is a small township along the coast that is full of locals, night markets and people just going about their lives -luckily the tourists aren't everywhere yet.

My husband and I stayed for our first time in Thailand at the Anantara Resort in Hua Hin in June 2007 for 7 nights. We were upgraded to a lagoon room for free (lagoon rooms offer compliently free 1hr drinks each evening, free mini massages, daily afternoon tea and use of an exclusive lagoon pool - highly recc)

The lovely hotel staff arranged a complientary birthday cake in our room while we were out. They also offer meal package deals which seem quite pricey on first look (however it ended up being 4 resturant meals each for about $200 odd) and all the restuarants in the resort are amazing - we also used one of our meal nights for a private birthday dinner with our own private waiter overlooking the beach - beautiful food and view!. The room service meals were also reasonable if you didn't always want to venture out every meal.

The main pool was where we spent most of our days as the private beach is not that great for swiming and didn't look as inviting as the huge pool which had a swim up bar and the lovely tropical surroundings are kept perfect. The hotel also runs a free hourly shuttle bus to and from Hua Hin town centre which was great for cheaper massages, eating out and the night markets were really great. Or a taxi was only 100 baht e/w.

If you just want a really nice relaxing holiday in a resort I cannot reccommend staying here enough, we just didn't want to leave, just thinking about it makes me want to book our next trip back.

Hope this helps, Cheers Andrea

Koh Samui is a great place, not too sure about chaweng beach being a great beach place, water is dirty and beach full at times.the food is great in koh samui, shopping good as well. krabi also seems like a great area. will visit krabi year end.

Some replied that Boh Phut is a great area, better beach and not too many pple. Would agree to this.ANd not too far from Koh Samui, after all taxi is cheap, 100 bhat for 2 pple in the back of a running cab.

Myself, wife & daughter went to Hua Hin 2004 (after Hong Kong) & stayed at the Hilton - slap bang in the center & loved evey minute.Come out of the Hotel cross the rd & there's bars, shops resurants, coffeshops etc etc, we even used the laundry across the rd !! Excellent night market use the Tuk Tuk's. Morning fish market not to missed.Elephant trip's 15min away by Tuk Tuk. Only down side was the 3 hour road jouney to Bangkok.

Going there was great in day light but returning in the dark & belting down with rain was not good. Would we go back = YES.