The last hotel we visit in Hua Hin is called Ananda. Not to mistake with the Anantara, which is completely different in both location and design. Ananda is located more in the north (so closer to Bangkok and is open to the public for not more than a year. This means a positive review would help, right? 😉

Things we liked

Ananda. We could make this a love letter instead of a review if we wanted to. There’s so much to like. The resort is relatively new and the fact that we’re kind of the only ones making use of it usually doesn’t help ‘vibewise’. But for Ananda it won’t matter, because the resort is so good you won’t need other guest to make it an even better experience.

At check-in we receive the news that we’ve been upgraded. Best and simplest of ways to get a good start of the stay. We now have access to the pool instead of before having a room on the second or third floor.

The room is just perfect. Not that big but big enough for two. 2/3rd of the room is sleeping/living area and the other part is the bathroom. In this weather you just spend a lot of time taking a shower removing sun screen and feeling a bit warmer after another night in airconditioning (which we’re not used to).

There are two restaurants. Staa’s and Brezza. Staa’s is where the breakfast is and is located right next to the entrance. To our opinion there’s a big quality difference in both. Staa’s was very, very good and Brezza wasn’t. It could be that Brezza had opened recently and both the kitchen and staff hadn’t really had the time to either get adjusted or create a feeling/signature of it’s own. The food is practically the same where you might expect a Thai specific restaurant and a International one.

The resort is long and not really wide. It’s different than other things you might have seen. The entrance from the busy street doesn’t really appeal, but once you enter the grounds you can tell you’re entering something special. And special it is.

Staff is perfect. All of them speak English. This might sound funny, but in Hua Hin it’s not that normal for the staff to communicate in the second most popular language in the world (Spanish being number one according to the internet).   

What we also liked? Buggy’s. Or golf carts. They are all over the place. You can be drive to any place you like on the ground. Just call reception and ask for a buggy to take you to place X and they’ll come racing. Really fun to have this hop on hop off system. For both the staff and guests.

Things we didn’t like

Nothing. Maybe the fact that there was still a lot of construction going on. Or the fact that there was practically no-one there. Or the fact that it’s a bit remotely located in the North. They do however fix this with a free shuttle service to town (!).

Conclusion

We love Ananda. We really do. We love the lay-out, the buggy driving, the food, the people. The pools! We would definitely visit again and recommend this place to everyone who’s thinking about visiting Hua Hin. Everything just works, and we have the feeling it can only get better. And the best thing? It’s not that expensive!

Price range: Around € 80,- a night
More information: Ananda Resort Hua Hin website
TripAdvisor: link
Google: maps
Rating: 8,5