As I walked up the wide stairs to the hotel's entrance, I felt I had found something good. Behind me I heard the noise of Hua Hin's main street, buzzing and honking around the clock. In front of me I was greeted by an oasis. Ornate tree walls, water ponds, vertically growing grass. Am I really still in Hua Hin?
Reception at reception was friendly and efficient, as you would expect from a five star hotel from Thailand's premier hotel chain – Cape & Kantary. We settled into the sofa group, hot and sweaty. We were quickly served small Thai sweets, cakes and tea. No aircon in reception, but a small fan helped to keep us cool.
The rooms were not yet ready when we arrived before check-in time, so we were given a ride by the hotel's golf cart to the restaurant by the pool. In the rear part of the restaurant, it was both high-ceilinged, cool and beautiful. The hotel is built with a lot of glass, dark woods and light textiles and perhaps a little more Scandinavian simple compared to many other hotels in Thailand.
We ordered a plethora of different dishes and we were not disappointed. My Pad Thai, wrapped in a net of egg, topped with cilantro was one of the best Pad Thai I've ever had. Also, definitely the most beautiful. The fried chicken wrapped in palm leaves did not disappoint us either.
The rooms were ready. All rooms have a large pool on the balcony(!), so we knew the room would be a bit more spectacular than a regular hotel. We had also booked a "Deluxe Sky Pool Suite" with direct access to the pool from the bathroom. It sounded very strange and unnecessary when we booked, but when we stepped into the room we understood its allure. The room including balcony was over 100 square meters, but what really caught the eye was definitely the pool. The pool took up almost the entire balcony and also embraced the entire left side of the room, so that it became a pool passage that gave direct access to the shower. Very practical to avoid getting the floor in the hotel room wet when you bathe.
The double bed was king size, so it was no problem to fit two adults and a child in the bed. However, we had booked an extra bed for the daughter, if it's a holiday we all need to sleep well.
As the hotel area is very narrow, the hotel stretches all the way from the main street to the beach. The plot next to the hotel is undeveloped, so there is no view of the balconies. Here you can sit in a bikini without feeling exposed.
The bathroom took up half the hotel room, with a large freestanding bath, shower, double sinks and toilet. The children quickly figured out that there was a secret passage between the bathroom and the hall, via the closet. Why go through the regular door when you can sneak into the toilet without anyone seeing you?
Time to inspect the hotel pool. Can it really be this good? Something must be wrong right? There are no people in the pool, right? Mind you, it was just as good as I thought. I was alone by the pool. Picked up the phone and called my sister on facetime, a good opportunity like this just has to be shared. As we stood there facetiming, the hotel's head chef came by, a nice and chatty Italian who told my sister about how great it was here. I began to believe him.
Beautiful beach sofas overlooking the ocean, rattan lounge chairs on the beach, cabanas by the pool and fresh pool chairs. There wasn't much to think about anymore. It was time to take a swim.
A little more people came to the pool, but during the whole time we were here, we were almost always first at the pool in the morning after breakfast and it was never full in the sunbeds. In a hotel where each room has its own pool, you don't have to crowd around the shared pool. However, the children thought that the shared pool was a bit more fun than the pool in the room, easier to find games together in a big pool.
The service at the pool was very good, with fresh and well-prepared lunches. It was very nice to have access to such a good lunch so close, to not have to get dressed and go out hunting for lunch every day.
The beach in Hua Hin is not as paradisiacal as one might expect in other places in Thailand. Here there is a big difference between ebb and flow and the waves can be quite high. But for us who prefer the pool to the sea, but who like to take a walk on the beach, this was perfect. There were also unusually few vendors and wild dogs on the beach and the few we encountered left us alone. The children loved rescuing hermit crabs stranded at low tide, so they ran back and forth on the wide beach in their rescue attempts.
For me, hotel breakfast is a serious matter. Without a good hotel breakfast, I might as well check out straight away. But luckily, Cape Nidhra delivered in this branch as well.
Everything you wanted was here, tastefully laid out in small glasses or cooked to order. The fruit was cut up to order, you just had to point to what you wanted and your plate was filled with super fresh freshly cut fruit. Sparkling wine and fruit juices of all kinds were available, of course, and also pancakes/waffles/eggs to order. Of course, there were also some Thai and American classics. As usual in boutique hotels, the guests eat breakfast for a long time, there is no reason to stress anywhere - here you live to enjoy yourself.
On the roof of the hotel was a roof bar, overlooking the sea and the pool. Every evening at sunset was happy hour, so it's popular with guests to gather here for a drink before heading out to Hua Hin's many restaurants and bars.
So what will be the combined family rating? AWESOME! We would love to go here again and highly recommend! To note is that this not is a family hotel for families with kids who like to loudly run around and splash in the pool and make the bomb, this is a boutique hotel where guests expect the kids not to spill their Kindle or wine glasses.
Read more about the hotel and how to get here: Cape Nidhra
