Hotel Review: The Standard Hua Hin
Hotel Name: The Standard Hua Hin
Hotel Classification: 5 star
Book this hotel: On Booking.com
The Standard Hua Hin hotel is a 5-star resort located right on Hua Hin beach.
The Standard is a hotel chain originating from the US, and has various locations also in Bangkok and Pattaya (opening soon). It was the first time for me at a Standard Hotel and I was very much impressed!
I stayed at the hotel for a 6 night stay which I booked for my birthday in April. All in all I really enjoyed my stay at this hotel and I thought it was exceptional value for money too. Also check out my post on 3 days in Hua Hin - Things to do, see and where to eat!
Check out my full hotel review below!
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Note: The below review summarises my independent thoughts on my stay at The Standard Hotel Hua Hin. This isn’t a collaboration with this hotel as I stayed there on my own cost. Also, the views and opinions expressed in this blog post are solely mine, the content creator of Things Nomads Do.
Hotel Grounds
The tropical and lush hotel grounds, cleverly combined with the modern interior design contribute to the aesthetic appeal of this hotel.
What I particularly liked as well about the design, is the hidden little sculptured you could find scattered and hidden around the resort. I found garden gnomes hidden in the bushes and even sculptured of small lambs in on the rooftops. It’s the little details that count! Or, in the picture above you can see a sort of bench but it looks more like an artwork! Didn’t really know if I was allowed to sit on it 😂
Lobby
The lobby is surrounded by lush nature and is an open and breezy space with earthy and somewhat retro tones. I loved the bamboo accents and the stylish furniture.
Pool area
The salt water pool is located near the beach and is surrounded by a lawn with plenty of sun loungers and seats to choose from.
What I thought was convenient is that each lounge chair-pair had a table with a buzzer and a QR code to scan the menu. So if you wanted to order something you can just press the button and someone would come to take your order. Much better than spending time waving to the staff 😄
One downside was that during ‘peak’ times (usually after 4pm) the pool would get quite busy and even though the pool was a decent size, it would feel quite crowded inside the pool. I love doing laps, but I couldn’t really do any, especially in the afternoon.
Gym
The gym was small but convenient and there is the usual standard fitness equipment, including treadmills and weights. It’s still slightly small for my taste, but because there was rarely anyone in there, it felt pretty ok.
Opposite the gym there is also a sauna.
Hotel Grounds rating: 9/10
Room
We got a room upgrade upon arrival, which meant getting a room on the highest floor. There was definitely a gorgeous view from the room, and I could even see the sea a bit.
The bed was really comfy and big and I actually loved both pillows when I usually just choose one and stick with it. Now I just alternated 😅
I also loved the design of the hotel room - it was stylish and minimalist with lots of yellow touches and well as bamboo lamps, which I love. There was also a couch, which was nice. Maybe the only thing that was missing was a dining table.
The bathroom was spacious and I also liked the shower amenities, which were from Davines (an Italian brand). The shampoo smelled so good!
There were plenty of outlets too, including USB ports next to the bed, which I always find super convenient. Another pro was the wifi speed - it was really quite fast in most areas of the hotel.
Room rating: 8.5/10
Food
Breakfast at Lido
Breakfast was in buffet style the first three days and then in the last three days, there was an order system + buffet, which I actually preferred. They had a small breakfast menu with both western and Thai options and you can order as many dishes as you want. The dishes are quite small, which is good because you can try different items.
The pastries were a bit of a let down - they were a bit dry and I tried one on the first day but then just stuck to the other foods.
Dinner at Lido
Lido is the Italian restaurant in the hotel and they serve pasta’s, pizza’s and other Italian dishes. I got the Spaghetti with Vongole, which was quite decent, but definitely not the best I ever had. My boyfriend got a pizza which was so-so, but I do need to mention that he is Italian and he has extremely high standards for pizza 😆 All in all, I think the food at Lido is pretty good especially for the price! I think it’s great value for money, especially as it’s a hotel restaurant.
Praca
Praca is a Thai-Izakaya style restaurant right next to the beach. The ambiance is lovely and there is some nice Portuguese music playing. We got the Miso roasted Eggplant, the pork BBQ ribs and the soft shell crab coconut curry. All of them were delicious!
I also recommend the coconut creme brulee as well as the coconut panna cotta with pandan and taro ice cream. Very delicious!
I also thought the prices was pretty good value for money, as in total it was around 45 euros for 2 people (not counting drinks). Not bad for a hotel in a 5 star resort!
The Juice Bar
Just located next to the lobby you can find a small cafe nestled in the corner and surrounded by greenery. You can get coffee, juices and pastries here, and I think the coffee was pretty decent (and I am a coffee snob 😅). It’s a really cute cafe and you can either sit inside the airconditioned room or have a seat outside in the garden, and sip your drink surrounded by tropical plants.
We went here everyday to have a nice coffee; definitely one of the nicer on-site cafes in a hotel ⭐.
Food rating: 8.5/10
Spa
The Hotel Spa is nestled right next to the hotel gardens and when I went for a massage the staff greeted my warmly and gave me a cold tea drink as well as a cold towel. Then, I had one of the best massages I had in a while! I don’t really like hard massages so I asked for a soft, relaxing one and it was outstanding. I felt so relaxed and content after!
Afterwards, I got a hot tea and some sweets and was enjoying sitting in the garden, feeling very pampered and zen.
Spa rating: 9/10
Service
The service at the Standard Hotel in Hua Hin was exceptional throughout our stay but what really stood out is what happened on my birthday.
I was greeted in the morning in the hallway by a member of the cleaning crew and she wished me a happy birthday! I was kind of shocked and pleasantly surprised! When I came back to the hotel room later, I found a handwritten birthday note, a chocolate mousse cake as well as a sign put up over the bed saying “It’s your day!”. This was a really cool gesture. The interesting part is that I never mentioned in the booking that this stay would be to celebrate my birthday - I guess they simply saw it on my passport. These small surprises throughout the day truly elevated the whole stay and I thought this is world-class hospitality experience!
Another worthwhile aspect to note is that as we arrived quite early for check-in (around 10AM) we were fully prepared to wait a few hours before we could actually check-in. But we only had to wait 30 minutes! Of course, this is most likely because it was low season, but nevertheless, it gave us a good start to our stay.
Pet friendly
Another big plus point of this hotel is that it’s pet friendly! You can bring your pooch or cat along. I think you may need to pay a bit extra. It was so cute to see all the doggos relaxing and chilling alongside their owners at the hotel!
Service rating: 9/10
Location
The Standard Hua Hin hotel is located on a quiet side street just off of the main road in Hua Hin. It’s right at the beach, so you can easily take a nice stroll on the beach in either direction. You can also easily walk to the old town of Hua Hin as well as the Hua Hin Nightmarket.
There are plenty of other restaurants and cafes surrounding the hotel, so if you’re sick of staying in the hotel, there’s plenty of options around the propery as well which is great.
There’s also a 7-eleven close by as well as a supermarket.
Location rating: 8.5/10
Pros & Cons
PROS:
The hip and stylish design of the hotel as well as the lush gardens that were exceptionally well kept.
Extremely comfortable room, with comfy bed and amazing view and very quiet.
The exceptional service on my birthday, including birthday wishes from the staff, a handwritten note and a chocolate cake in the room, and a free scrub that I received after the massage!
I rarely go to hotel spa’s as they can get quite expensive, but I thought this one was great value and the massage was amazing. I even got a discount because I went during ‘off peak’ hours!
Location was convenient, lots of cafes and restaurants around and right on the beach
Fast wifi in most areas of the hotel (upwards of 100 Mbps!)
This hotel is pet friendy! You can bring your pooch too 🐕 You can even get towels at the pool for your fur-friend.
CONS:
The booking experience was a bit strange. I found a really good rate on the hotel website, and I booked it, but did not get any confirmation email. There was a screen with the confirmation number but when I navigated back to the website, it refreshed and I couldn’t find the number anymore! So I had to email the hotel separately to ask if the booking actually went through. Thankfully it did and they wrote me back (only after 1 day though), but this experience could definitely be done a little better.
The pool was crowded at the ‘peak hours’ and sometimes even early in the morning. I think they should have thought about adding another pool maybe, but I guess the grounds are not big enough.
The breakfast was good but not amazing. I think they could definitely do better on the pastry selection.
Overall Hotel rating: 8.75/10
Book this hotel
I really enjoyed my stay at The Standard Hua Hin! It’s a great hotel to chill out and relax and I loved the design of the hotel.
If you want to book the hotel, you can do so via this link or below in the form:
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