Thailand Hotel Reviews

Aleenta Resort & Spa Cha Am

For a tropical beach holiday with fine cuisine and wonderful service, the Aleenta Resort and Spa at Cha Am is hard to beat. This intimate 4½ star luxury resort is perfect for lovers, honeymooners and dreamers looking for a relaxing vacation. The interesting design of this boutique resort offers a range of rooms, villas and suites all with their own private pool and ocean view. The crossover architecture and interior design is in harmony with the calming simplicity and romantic luxury of this Resort.

Within the small and welcoming Aleenta Resort there is a central lobby, an elegant Spa and a Bar with wonderful views over the Bay of Siam. The delicious fresh seafood and international cuisine is prepared by an award winning chef in the beautiful restaurant, or enjoy the most wonderful breakfast in the privacy of your own suite.

The small Frangipani wing has 5 family rooms with private balconies around a delightful infinity pool. The remainder of the Resort is adult-only, and focuses on quiet relaxation. All the accommodation features luxurious Egyptian cotton sheets, fluffy towels, cotton bathrobes and complimentary slippers. From the Penthouse to the Pool Suite, the decoration is modern and understated, with natural tones and materials everywhere. All the suites have air conditioning and are equipped with an Ipod dock and Ipod for guests to select their own choice of music in harmony with their mood. There is also a fully stocked mini-bar, 24 hour room service and WiFi throughout the Resort.

Guests can simply chill out on their private sundecks, or choose one of the activities offered at Aleenta Resort. There are Tai Chi and Yoga classes which are appropriately offered at sunrise and sunset. Other activities include Thai cookery classes, Thai boxing, Meditation, kite surfing and cycling. There is also a luxury Spa offering a range of pampering treatments guaranteed to relax and restore both body and mind.

For a beautiful location and time out from the real-world, Aleenta Resort and Spa offers luxurious accommodation, wonderful Thai service and all the facilities expected of a top resort, at a very reasonable price.

Top Five Resorts in Cha Am

Cha Am is a peaceful little resort town on the east coast on the Gulf of Thailand. Celebrated for years by royalty as a unique get-away spot, Cha Am has come into its own as a resort town to be enjoyed by many as the Thai people flock to Cha Am hotels to escape the difficulties of everyday life and unwind.

For the best Cha Am hotels, read on.

Top of our list is the Yaiya Resort Cha Am.　Yaiya Resort is one of Cha Am's newest resorts, which opened in December 2008.

This resort features 11 bedroom pool villas with either one, two or three rooms. It also has twenty three deluxe rooms and 6 suites. The Bedroom Pool villas not only have bedrooms, but large dressing/bathrooms on the lower deck, a lounge room and a private plunge pool with sun deck. All the rooms are generously sized, with the smallest‚ one bedroom suite, weighing in at huge 157sqm. The larger ones are ideal for family size and have more accommodations. Even the standard rooms have a fantastic view of the Gulf of Thailand and all accommodations are equipped with high speed wireless internet access, rain shower and bathtub, coffee and tea making equipment, LCD TV and DVD player, as well as spa services available on the property.

Veranda Resort and Spa Cha Am is another one of our favorites.

The resort is located right on the ocean front and the resort is set among lush Feng Shui gardens.   Twenty two rooms have king-sized beds as well as verandas overlooking the gulf with day beds ‚ perfect for  catching the spectacular Cha Am sunrises. The resort also has a large pool with artificial beach, sand, bubble jets, slide and many activities available right on the property.

Aleenta Cha Am is ideal for the person looking or a hideaway.

There are pool suite bungalows with private plunge pools, and ocean view suites that have indoor and outdoor living areas. Whether you're with a family or are looking for an adults only getaway, the Aleenta Cha Am has what you need. There is the child-friendly Frangipani Wing, and then a larger adults only area. All rooms include an iPod dock so you can listen to your own music, but also have an iPod in the room pre-loaded with a large selection of music. They pride themselves on the luxurious Egyptian cotton sheets and big, fluffy luxury bath towels. The resort also offers complimentary wireless internet.

Alila Hotel is Cha Am's first designer boutique hotel.

It offers large rooms with luxurious hideaways, or connected rooms. The hotel has a tropical feel of relaxation and luxury with large lawns and deep blue pools. They pride themselves on offering state of the art modern amenities such as home theater systems, iPod docking systems, 42" plasma TV and free wireless access.

The Grand Pacific Sovereign Resort & Spa is a five star resort and deserves every single star.

The Grand Pacific Sovereign Resort & Spa offers breathtaking vistas not only of the Gulf of Thailand but the lush countryside around.  It is close to many attractions, as are all Cha Am hotels, but one does not need to leave the grounds to have a wonderful and relaxing time. They have an outdoor swimming pool, a spa offering massage, shops, restaurants offering authentic local cuisine, and a range of amenities that are sure to make you want to extend your stay.

Yaiya Resort Cha Am / Hua Hin

Continuing in the series of beautiful Cha Am hotels, next I'd like to give a heads up about a brand new resort which will be having a soft opening from December 20th 2008.

In case you were wondering, a soft opening is when a new hotel, (or any other new business really) opens their doors with little or no publicity a few weeks before the Grand Opening. During this time guests can usually stay for cheaper than they usually could, as a compensation to any small hiccups that might occur as the staff and management get used to the day to day running of the hotel. For example room service might take a little longer to arrive than you might expect etc.

During soft openings, hotels often are overstaffed and they limit the number of guests, sometimes extending the limit on the number of guests past the soft opening until the management is confident that the staff can handle a full guest load. As hotels don't really promote their soft openings, it can be difficult to snag such a deal if you don't know about it. Well not this time.

Yaiya Resort in Cha Am, near Hua Hin will be having a soft opening from December 20th this year.

Yaiya, like The Veranda Cha Am reviewed in a previous post below, features private and spacious pool villas, one of the most luxurious new trends in resorts throughout Thailand.

The pool villas at Yaiya come in one, two and three bedroom types ranging from 157 m² for the 1 bedroom pool villa to 375 m² for the oceanfront 3 bedroom Yaiya Pavilion, ideal for families or a group of friends.

There are also 23 deluxe terraces (21 with ocean views) and six 110 m² Sea Terraces.
 Some of the rooms have been fitted with wheelchair access and railings for easy access and safety.

All of the rooms feature high speed wireless internet access, rain shower with separate bathtub, walk-through closet, refrigerator, LCD TV, DVD player, full selection of local and satellite TV channels, in-room safe and tea and coffee making facilities. The luxurious bed covers are designed by the well-renowned Hua Hin cotton house, Khomapastr.

You can see in the picture above the Yaiya Beach Society leading onto the beach with a number of different pools and sun lounge chairs.

Yaiya Resort Cha Am/Hua Hin

Veranda Resort & Spa Cha Am

Just 2 hours drive south of Bangkok is a small, quiet resort town, unknown to most tourists called Cha Am. Popular with Thais, Cha Am is a sleepy beach town on the coast of the gulf of Siam, 18 kilometers north of Hua Hin, a more well known, but still quiet resort town.

If you are looking for a quiet and relaxing holiday in Thailand without all the hustle and bustle you get from most beach resort areas, perhaps Cha Am and nearby Hua Hin have something to offer you.

Resorts offering private pool villas, where, as the name suggests, guests can enjoy a private pool in their own courtyard adjoining their villa have grown in popularity recently in Thailand, The Veranda Resort & Spa Cha Am goes one further by placing their private pool villas right on the beach, so not only can you wander out of your living room right into your own private pool, you can do so within footsteps of the ocean. Imagine lounging by your private pool on your private deck watching the sun rise in the sky over the ocean.

The map to the right shows the layout of the resort, with the three Beach Front Pool Villas shown at the bottom right corner of the map. Each Beachfront villa is a generous 131 m² and offers spectacular views of the beach, while somehow maintaining privacy. The villas also feature sundeck chairs with umbrella, day sofa beds and an outdoor bathtub.

The villas also feature a canopy draped king sized bed, just in case the private pool and ocean views were not romantic enough.

Other facilities include DVD player, CD player, LCD satellite TV, an open style bathroom and separate rain shower.
The two pictures below show the private pool by the villa and the interior of the villa.

  

The Veranda Resort offers 13 luxury pool suite villas, including the beach front pool villas, as well as one and two bedroom pool villas and the Sky Pool Villas. There are a total of 84 rooms or villas at the resort.

The eight 2 bedroom pool villas (158m²), are built in a loft design and have glass walls. The  upper floor features the second bedroom and bathroom.

There are also a number of other accommodation options including the Veranda Deluxe rooms at 44 m² (shown to the left here) which also feature a daybed.

The design of the twenty two 54 m² Veranda @ Sea rooms is unique with a four poster bed positioned in the center of the room affording spectacular views of the Gulf of Siam. Leave the curtains open and be awaken by the unforgettable sunrise over the ocean. At the foot of the bed is a pop-up TV with international satellite channels, which submerges below the bed in order to not obstruct the beautiful ocean views.

Relax by the large free form infinity swimming pool with artificial beach, sand pit, bubble jets, slider and comfortable lounge chairs. For guests with children, the resort has a kid's club staffed by nursery school trained caregivers, offering a number of daily programs, indoor and outdoor activities and educational toys. It is open from 10 am to 7pm.

There are a number of sports activities available including mountain biking, tennis, dinghy sailing, kayaking, jet skiing, banana boat, beach volleyball and kite surfing.

There are plenty of off site activities as well nearby for those guests who want more. There are six world class golf courses all within 30 minutes of the resort.
Also, you can visit an elephant village at Pa La-U Waterfall national park, with it's 16 steps making it one of the biggest waterfalls in Thailand, and Sam Roi Yod national park, which are both within 60 kilometers (37 miles) of the resort and ideal for day tips.

Hua Hin can be reached by car in about 20 minutes, or the resort also has a shuttle bus running to and from Hua Hin several times a day for a cost of 100 Baht (USD2.80)

Veranda Resort & Spa Cha Am