Kaban Tamor Hua Hin: Review and rant

[Guest]

Thanks to all those members who recommended I stay at the Kaban Tamor. I can see the potential this place has but I have to admit I was disappointed in the attitude of the management and would be reluctant to stay here again.

 

After a fantastic train trip from BKK things started to go tits up from the moment we arrived at the station: Our hotel driver played hide and seek on the platform and only after two phone calls did we finally find him.

 

Arrive at hotel and the Boyz Town Boyz in the front office want to play silly buggers, dancing around like wankers before showing us to the room. The concrete dome tent would be more at home in the fields of Mongolia than by the sea in Thailand. Air con took 90 minutes to kick in. Room had no fan nor fly screens. The ocean view was a glimpse over the hut in front of us. The balcony faced the empty paddock filled with buffalo dung. No furniture apart from a TV high up on the wall at 3 o'clock as you look from the bed. The bog is strategically positioned two steps from the bed head with no fan for those, ... er, spectacular supernova of the bowl moments.

 

Took a wander around and noticed two empty bungalows right up the front by the pool facing the beach. There were also some bigger huts next door with 'splash pools'. Returned to reception and told the boys that I'm not happy with the room and would like to change. They ask for 5,500 baht for the splash pool huts. I laughed this off and told them I can get a better deal at the Hyatt Regency or Marriott. Rooms up front are reserved for 'better paying' customers, I'm told. So with it getting close to 7 p.m. and having prepaid I conceded we're stuck in the crap room.

 

Headed out to the open-air restaurant and chilled with a few largers and a bottle of wine. The young waiter was sympathetic and confirmed the reception boys are dickheads. Ask the lad for my favorite 'pla lard prik' dish and am told, 'sorry, today no have fish.' This was so ironic as heavy floods a few days before had left thousands of dead fish washed up on the shore. A few hours later I noticed the two front rooms are still empty before the reception boys showed a late-arriving Thai couple through the rooms asking them which one they'd like.

 

Can't believe they treat all farang this well.

 

Awoke late and made our way through a well-kept garden to a poorly prepared breakfast buffet served in a furnace-like hut (the fan problem again!). Took the plunge in the pool and felt like a MP girl in the fish bowl with everyone surrounding us so took a walk along the beach where we discovered the Hyatt Regency. Smooched our way to the pool bar and after a bottle of wine the staff were bringing us towels and asking if we'd be around for dinner. Explored the huge pool and found the odd pocket of privacy. :hubba: :hubba: Will definitely stay here next time.

 

Perhaps it was the shoulder season or the recent heavy rains, but the attitude at the Kaban Tamor had all the appeal of a salmonella-filled sate.

 

It seems good mid-range hotels are becoming harder and harder to find in Thailand with everyone raising their prices but not their level of service. Feel your now better off paying an extra $20-30 for a real 5 star place or go the other way and pay 3-500 baht for a room with a bucket above the gold shop.

 

BTW, apart from the hotel, Hua Hin was great.

[Guest]

Thanks for sharing. I'm sure we've all arrived at a place and had the "oh shit, this is going to suck" experience one time or another. 5500 for a step up from shite would boil my blood as you just know thai's are paying 800 baht max for that. I don't mind paying a lot when you get a lot, but there's that sector lurking out there waiting to trap unsuspecting people in a mediocre place for a big price.

 

Glad you found the Hyatt; they have some great ones. I see your location and if you are ever have a side trip to Fukuoka to have some fugu, the Hyatt there is sweet.