Located just 2.5 to 3 hours away from Bangkok, Hua Hin makes the perfect beach getaway for anyone who is looking to chill and relax after a hectic shopping spree in the Thai Capital. With its pristine white sand beaches, turquoise waters, and lush jungle backdrop, Hua Hin has something for everyone. For our recent long weekend getaway to Bangkok, we decided to weave in a relaxing getaway within a getaway at SO Sofitel Hua Hin. The resort promises a mix of quiet seclusion along Cha-Am Beach and offers an ‘Imaginative Escape’ concept that combines the destination’s upscale vibe with a playful luxury attitude exhibited by the White Rabbit from Wonderland that greeted us the moment we arrived.
The friendly resort staff quickly helped us with our luggage and we were guided up this impressive flight of stairs to the main lobby. It was such an impressive display of space. We were told that Hua Hin has long been the preferred seaside escape for Thai nobility since the 1920s, giving the region the air of an elegant coastal retreat. Home to two summer palaces – including the nearby Mrigadayavan Palace of King Vajiravudh (Rama VI) consisting of sixteen beautiful teak buildings – the vibrant coastal town is famed for its long white-sand beaches, local seafood delicacies and colourful markets.
SO Sofitel Hua Hin – The Welcoming Lobby
We love the expansive, open-concept lobby. Donatien Carratier, a forward-thinking interior designer famed for creating deeply resonant environments in which vivid dreams blur with reality was the visionary behind SO Sofitel Hua Hin’s ‘Evolution of Life’ concept.
Drawing inspiration from the Grand Gallerie de l’Evolution natural history museum in Paris, he begins with the iconic animal statue that greeted us as the staff handled our check-in.
While serving our welcome drink, the staff shared that there are more wild animal sculptures around the reflecting pond as well as rabbits hiding throughout the resort, we can keep a look out for some of these surprises around every corner.
SO Sofitel Hua Hin – SO Lofty Pool Access
We were soon guided to our room and it was quite an interesting walk. Award-winning Thai architect Duangrit Bunnag created the resort’s original bold structure, featuring an interwoven maze of open courtyards and private pathways. The property’s geometric lines and solid shapes, are softened by a palette of naturally aged woods that blend with the beauty of the surrounding nature, creating an environment of contemporary tranquility.
For rooms, suites, and villas, Donatien developed two distinct room styles: SO Nature and SO Arty. SO Nature rooms showcase the simplicity and pure beauty of Mother Nature, providing a relaxing environment and featuring award-winning photographs by environmental artist Martin Hill of New Zealand. Inspired by contemporary French art, the SO Arty rooms are a bit more modern in design, painting the spaces with a dreamlike luxury and featuring the award-winning work of American photographer Lois Greenfield, known for her distinctive approach to capturing the human form in motion. We were staying at a SO Lofty Room that embraces the splendour of Mother Nature in SO Nature style. We loved the extra high ceilings that provided an extra comfort of space.
The room was equipped with a rainshower, MyBed™ with a sleep menu for a fabulous night’s sleep, the latest cutting-edge technology sound system, complimentary Wi-Fi and a complimentary in-room private bar as well as a comfortable day bed if you need to accommodate more than a couple.
I love the spacious round bath tub that was right in the centre of the room. Both of us were able to dip in comfortably.
Bath salts were also thoughtfully provided in case you forget to bring your bath bombs.
We are not sure if this rotatable wardrobe with an attached TV at its back is a signature piece in all of SO Sofitel hotels because we saw something similar at Sofitel Singapore Sentosa Resort & Spa. This means that we can turn the TV to face us when we are in the bathtub.
As we were on the first floor, our room opened out directly onto the private terrace furnished with a large round chaise lounge.
The best part of living on the ground floor, we literally have SO Sofitel Hua Hin Signature Pool right in our backyard!
SO Sofitel Hua Hin – Facilities & Activities
For me, SO Sofitel Hua Hin most iconic facility has to be its Signature Pool. You can spend hours of fun time navigating your way around the 47M Wibit inflatable water pool adventure course running down the middle of the 16M X 60M watery playground.
For folks with young kids, there is also a dedicated 5M X 5M shallow kid’s pool area on one end bordered by SO Sundae poolside ice cream and snack bar to ensure a splashtastic time for all. SO Sundae was also where we got our cakes as we binge watch the latest drama on our streaming services.
Besides the Signature Pool, there is also the SO Pool by the Beachfront as well as the Solarium Pool right outside SO Spa. If you want some quiet time away from children, this is the perfect spot for you.
If you are here with children, SO Wonderland 18-Hole Adventure Golf will offer hours of fun bonding with your little ones.
At SO/ SPA, we got to experience the quintessential spa experience combining Italian Modern Plant Chemistry™ skincare from Skin Regimen and ancient therapeutic arts with Asian wisdom products from YTSARA. It was amazing having a massage right beneath the stars. We will share more in our next post on things to do at the resort. For fitness enthusiasts, you can check out SO/ FIT, a compact fitness centre with state-of-the-art equipment from Technogym located next to SO/ SPA.
SO Sofitel Hua Hin – Wine & Dine
Designed around its eponymous white oven, White Oven was where we had most of our meals.
The breakfast was amazing with the usual international buffet spread,
local Thai breakfast favourites as well as
all-you-can-eat mango sticky rice and other desserts! This was definitely a major perk for us.
If you are still in need of a simple lunch after a sumptuous breakfast buffet, they serve quality Western and Thai dishes as well. At night, the restaurant transforms into a Thai BBQ and Hotpot Place!
For the 2nd night of our stay, we went for a beachfront dinner at Beach Society.
With open-air seating steps from the sea, gentle breezes and stunning views over the Gulf of Thailand, dining here was quite a magical experience – the perfect dinner to end our two nights stay at SO Sofitel Hua Hin.
SO Sofitel Hua Hin – It’s Our Perfect Getaway Within A Getaway!
Bangkok is still one of our favourite cities to visit but it has the tendency to develop into a rather hectic getaway as we strive to maximise our retail pleasures from the malls, markets and night bazaars. Throwing in a few days of relaxing and pampering side trip can help us detox from the crazy sprees and intense urban built-up areas. We really enjoyed our stay at SO Sofitel Hua Hin, it was our perfect getaway within a getaway.
The resort is extremely family-friendly and most of its guests were local Thais. We were probably one of the few foreigners around, in fact, many of the staff spoke to us in Thai when we first approach them. We hope you find our brief review of the resort useful. We were also surprised at the wide range of things we can do within the resort and around its immediate area, we will share our findings in the coming blog post. Stay tuned!
SO Sofitel Hua Hin
115 Moo 7 Tambol Bangkao, Bang Kao, Cha-am District, 76120, Thailand | Website | Email
