Aleenta Resort & Spa, Hua-Hin

Perhaps the key to Thailand’s popularity as a destination is its endless variety: from the urban excess of Bangkok to the solitary eco-escapes or package-holiday crowds of the famous beaches, it’s got more faces than many nations twice its size. Time to get used to another: the upscale destinations along the gulf coast, surrounding the resort town of Hua Hin.

Twenty miles south of Hua Hin on a spectacular and secluded stretch of beach is where you’ll find Aleenta, a one-time family vacation villa that was apparently too good to keep private — it’s multiplied into a number of villas and suites, and even spawned a sister hotel down in Phuket.

That old guest-house vibe is intact — your fellow poolside loungers are as likely well-heeled Thai travelers as they are foreign tourists. Rooms are suitably homey — some, like the Beach House or the Grand Villa, positively dream-homey — breezy and urbane, rather more like private apartments than typical hotel suites.

Few private residences, though, would have spas of this caliber, and however skilled the cook, few vacation homes could quite match the output of Aleenta’s kitchen, serving an ever-changing menu of health-conscious Thai and Mediterranean fare. A package holiday it most certainly isn’t, and nor is it a rough-sleeping desert island exile (unless you consider a night without television rough) — instead, it’s the best of both worlds, urbane comfort and peaceful seclusion all at once.

How to get there:
Pranburi is a 3 1/2 hour drive from Bangkok on a scenic and well paved road. Several daily flights make the 45 minute trip from Bangkok to Hua Hin airport as well. The Resort is approximately a 30 minute drive from Hua Hin.