Making a last-minute dash for the school holidays? Here's what we loved about our recent stay at SO/Sofitel Hua Hin in Thailand, with amazing pools, a fab kids' club and more!
Thailand may be best known for its islands, but if you’re looking for somewhere that’s laid back, quiet and feels oh-so-private, we highly recommend Hua Hin. Located about three hours by car from Bangkok, Hua Hin is a coastal beach town with a handful of luxury resorts and fun kid-friendly attractions. Located right at the top of this beachside enclave is SO/Sofitel Hua Hin, a 5-star luxury resort with some 100 rooms and nine private pool villas. We dare say it’s arguably one of the most kid-friendly resorts in area, and even Thailand – keep reading to find out why!
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The rooms: Two-bedroom SO Pool Villa and family rooms
Activities: Pools, scooters, kids’ club & beach
The food: Restaurants & BBQ hotpot dinner
SO Spa: Massage treatments and luxe lounges
Final thoughts + get 10% off room rates!
The rooms
Two-bedroom SO Pool Villa
We stayed in SO/Sofitel Hua Hin’s Two-bedroom SO Pool Villa (from THB11,999 / S$440 per night), and it offered more than enough space for our little family. The first thing that greeted us upon entering the villa’s bamboo gate (framed with blooming bougainvillea, no less!) was the massive private pool. Measuring three by nine metres, the 1.2m deep pool is set between a large verandah for lounging and trees offering shade on hot afternoons.
The two-bedroom villa is split up into two sections for ultimate privacy. One side houses the living room with attached bedroom and bathroom. There’s even a dining table and pantry, with a coffee machine and mini fridge with complimentary beverages.
The other side of the villa is where the separate master bedroom is, with its own stunning bathroom with bathtub, rain shower and double sink. As my kids are still really young, we all bunked in together in the master bedroom and loved the seamless connection of the bedroom and bathroom. The kids loved having their daily baths here while us parents took advantage of the luxurious two-metre-tall shower that rained down hot water from the ceiling. Bliss!
We also enjoyed a floating breakfast for the first time ever and can I just say… Breakfast will never be the same again if it’s not floating on the water in a woven tray. We were presented with a plate of piping hot sausages and eggs, fresh cut fruit, yoghurt, a basket of freshly baked bread and pastries, various juices, cheese and babyccinos for the kids. My little rascals splashed water everywhere of course and I’m pretty sure we consumed a fair bit of pool water during this meal, but it was worth it!
Something else we really appreciated as a family with little ones? Speedy wifi and Chromecast streaming. While we loved staying unplugged and enjoying each other’s company, sometimes you just gotta have the kids’ favourite show on so mum and dad can decompress for a bit too. Being able to stream our much-loved shows straight from our phones really helped!
I can see this room configuration suiting a larger family or a family with older kids perfectly. As the pool is quite deep, we wished there was a a shallow end for kids to splash in. My kids (age 4 and 1.5 years old) can’t swim yet, so we had to constantly keep watch over them while we were poolside, and carry them if they wanted to be in the water.
Other family room types at SO/Sofitel Hua Hin
If you’re not keen on a villa but still want the ultimate family holiday experience, SO/Sofitel Hua Hin has various room types that will have the kids squealing.
SO Family (THB5,075 / S$186 per night): A cosy 60sqm room with high ceilings, a king bed and a bunk bed for children that’s great for a family without compromising on comfort.
SO Family Kids House (THB6,499 / S$238 per night): Pictured above, this room has a special extension that really lives up to the room name – an actual kids’ house! With a fun bunk bed setup and stools, the kids will love having a little nook of their own.
SO Family Suite (THB6,799 / S$249 per night): Overlooking one of the main pools in the resort, this two-bedroom suite with its own balcony gives you the perfect view of the epic floating obstacle course downstairs!
Did we mention? All the family rooms mentioned have their own rainshower and bathtub. Score!
Activities at SO/Sofitel Hua Hin: Pools, scooters, kids’ club & beach
Four main pools and the must-try water scooter
The resort has not one, not two, not three but FOUR main pools, and three of them are kid-friendly! The Solarium Pool (near SO Spa – more on that below) is the only adults-only pool on the property, while kids and families can enjoy the Signature Pool with its 60-metre obstacle course, the Wet Bubble Pool right next to it, and the SO Jacuzzi and Cabanas offering beachfront views.
Wet Bubble Pool
This shallow pool is the most kid-friendly of the bunch, making it our favourite as even my 1.5-year-old had no problems wading through it and splashing away. The highlight here is the Wet Bubble inflatable, with a tall water spout in the middle and grip handles all along the sides so kids can climb to the ‘peak’ and slide down for endless fun. We spent hours here and could only pry the kids away with the promise of a cheeky ice cream before nap time.
Wibit Adventure Float
Perfect for adults, teens and little daredevils, the Wibit Adventure Float promises lots of competitive fun with six challenging obstacles floating on the Signature Pool which goes as deep as 1.7 metres. Life jackets are available in various sizes (with lifeguards on-site during pool hours), and we particularly love the dedicated shallow pool at one end so younger kids can join in the fun too. My creaky mum-bod managed to clock in about 1min 40s at the obstacle course – can you beat that?
H2SO Water Scooter
If there’s one thing you have to try at the resort, it’s this. The H2SO underwater scooters are available for rental near the Signature Pool. They have three different speed settings to pull you along or into the water for a super fun swimming experience! Younger kids can try the electronic kickboard instead, which offers the same kind of fun at a gentler pace and can be used in shallow pools. My daughter really enjoyed practicing her swimming skills with it, gaining more confidence the more she used it!
Rental starts at THB300++ / S$11 per 30 minutes (additional 20 minutes free) for the Electronic Kickboard. Full rates here.
Scooter and cycling track
SO/Sofitel Hua Hin has its own 3.5km Multi-purpose Cycling Track where you can ride bicycles (free!) or electric scooters on. We absolutely loved this because it was downright comical seeing my two tiny humans on a scooter and sidecar, which they were obsessed with, while us parents really enjoyed whizzing past the resort’s mini golf course and lush trees to get to the beach.
Top tip: although it’s uber cute, 3.5km is a long way for tiny legs to journey through even on a scooter. My eldest started complaining about a leg cramp about 10 minutes into the ride which resulted in my husband having to bend over and steer this thing the rest of the way! So we highly recommend renting the adult scooters with kids’ seats for a more pleasant ride (maybe borrow the mini scooters for a quick photo op first if you can’t resist!).
Kids Tent kids’ club
The kids’ club at SO/Sofitel Hua Hin gets top marks for having every kind of toy a kid could ever need in one space. It’s a great respite from the heat with its cooling aircon, so we ducked in here after lunch each day so the kids could wind down and play before we headed back to our room for their naps. Called Kids Tent, the kids’ club here is simple when compared to the playground and ball pit-filled kids’ clubs across Asia, but we liked that the kids could play quietly with lovely Montessori toys, little figurines (my son is in a dino phase and loved being surrounded by them here!), read books and even try playing video games on their PS4 console.
There are activities held here daily, like painting, crafting, hair braiding and more, with a booth offering free popsicles and cotton candy at certain times each day. If your kids are old enough, the amazing staff can also babysit while you get some adult time together or at the spa – which is exactly what we were happy to do knowing the kids were in good hands! With a kid-friendly toilet onsite you also won’t have to worry if your little one needs to excuse themselves.
The beach
The resort offers direct beach access to a small portion of Cha-am Beach. We came here on our last morning to soak up the peaceful seaside views and go seashell hunting – highly recommended for young kids! This beach isn’t really for swimming though as the waves are pretty big and the current is unpredictable. However there is low tide at midday if you feel like a quick stroll along the coastline.
The food
The resort has three onsite restaurants, which we got to enjoy throughout our stay. Breakfast each morning was at White Oven, which offered a generous buffet spread of Thai breakfast menu items, Western fare, a made-to-order omelette station, a counter for breads, pastries and pancakes/waffles (with a real honeycomb dripping fresh honey!) and a huge bar of fresh salad ingredients, muesli and granola. The kids will love the little breakfast bar with cereals, marshmallows and cookies (parents, you’ll have to exercise restraint for them here!). For a scenic seaside meal, head to Beach Society which offers a menu of Western delights like pizzas, pastas and burgers. There’s also SO Sundae located outside the kids’ club and near the pools which is perfect for grabbing an ice cream, popsicle or popcorn while you’re lounging.
Our favourite meal of the entire trip was the Thai BBQ hotpot dinner we had at White Oven. We were grateful that they accommodated our request for halal meat which allowed us to go for the Australian & American Beef and Seafood Set (THB 2,199 / S$80) and boy did we enjoy it! The kids loved the wide range of fresh seafood and vegetables on offer (my kids are currently on a sotong and mushrooms kick) and I’m glad to say we finished pretty much everything on our plates until the soup ran dry more than twice. It was such a nice experience being able to have this poolside with the sea breeze!
As we do conform to a halal diet as a family, it’s worth noting that there is a lot of pork on the menu across the restaurants in this resort as that’s one of the main meats consumed in this region. That said, the staff were all happy to let us know that the chicken sausages offered during breakfast and many other beef products on the menu were halal-certified, so we had no problems finding something to eat at every mealtime.
SO Spa
Ever been to a spa with its own cave-like galaxy room? I have! We booked a wonderful treatment which started with a foot soak followed by a 60-minute Thai massage (tip: Thai massage is done with clothes on, so opt for the oil massage if that’s what you prefer). After getting all our knots and kinks out, we were led to SO Spa’s SO Cocoon, a deep relaxation area with beds to sit or lie on while enjoying a pot of comforting ginger tea.
Rates start from THB1,200 / S$43 for a 60-minute Thai massage. Full spa menu here.
Final thoughts
More than half of the guest population at SO/Sofitel Hua Hin is made up of domestic travellers, so we know it’s a top pick if the Thais love it! The service here was incredible from beginning to end, from the staff who greeted us warmly with a friendly “Sawasdee kha/khap” everywhere we went, to the quick action on housekeeping while we stepped out for breakfast or lunch, and even a nice turndown service with chocolates and biscuits for the kids every night.
We had the opportunity to step out for a visit to the night market and the nearby bat cave on two occasions, but each one was dampened by the rain which made us pivot our plans. We didn’t mind though, as we had everything we needed in the resort to keep us fed and entertained – but if you’re the type that loves exploring, you may want to plan ahead and visit on a non-rainy season.
The other thing to note about getting to Hua Hin from Bangkok is the distance. Even without traffic and no rest stops our drive took three hours, which felt a little long with young kids and was definitely taxing on us as we had arrived on the evening of the first day. I would recommend taking an early morning flight to Bangkok so you’d make it to the resort at midday and have time to enjoy some activities for the rest of the afternoon. Airport transfers to and from the resort can be arranged for THB5,000 / S$183 per way in a commuter van. You can also request for car seats for the kids.
All in all, we’d love to return to SO/Sofitel Hua Hin to enjoy the facilities and privacy. Large, popular resorts tend to get a little busy with many tourists and guests, but we thoroughly enjoyed the chilled out vibe of this amazing resort and can’t wait to come back!
SO/Sofitel Hua Hin x HoneyKids room package promo: 10% off room rates!
Want to check it out for yourself? SO/Sofitel Hua Hin has created an exclusive room package promotion just for HoneyKids readers! Purchase your room vouchers from now to 16 June 2024 and quote promo code HONEYKIDS for a further 10% off! Valid for stays from 3 June to 31 August 2024.
SO/Sofitel Hua Hin, 115 Tambol Bangkao, Bang Kao, Hua Hin, Chang Wat Phetchaburi 76120, Thailand
Rates from THB4,500 / S$166 per night for a SO Studio room. All room rates listed are dynamic pricing and may change depending on season.
We were hosted by SO/Sofitel Hua Hin for this stay. All opinions are our own.
