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Monday 4 May 2015

Thai Dreaming: A Minibreak to Hua Hin & Bangkok

It's Monday! 

And, if like the London Mice, that means that wherever you are, it's a bank holiday, then you're probably reading this snuggled under your duvet with a huge cup of tea helping to soothe the after-effects of too much fun last night. For the rest of us, there's coffee and the Daily Mail online - we can get through those deskbound Monday morning blues together... If it's a particularly awful start to the week though, then might I suggest a quick dose of the cure to all misery - holiday planning. 

Whenever I'm feeling particularly low, I hop on to Mr & Mrs Smith, Tablet Hotels or iEscape and drool over all the photos of white sandy beaches and four poster beds draped in 800 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets. Even when my credit card's maxed out a little holiday daydreaming sorts me out in no time.

And if you need a little trip-spiration on this May Monday morning, here's a canter through a recent lazy long weekend I spent in Thailand.

It started as all good Hong Kong holidays begin, with a Pizza Express pizza and a cardboard cup of wine at Chek Lap Kok airport.




Shortly after demolishing our pizzas and draining our cardboard cups, we hopped aboard an Air Asia plane to Bangkok. A short flight later and we landed in the Big Mango where a driver was waiting to whisk us a couple of hours down the coast to Hua Hin. 

This little seaside town became fashionable in the 1920s as a coastal escape from Bangkok after the Thai Royal Family built a summer palace here. These days, it's less regal, more neon signs and vodka redbull buckets. But, as it's super easy to get to and home to some pretty well-priced boutique hotels, it's a good option if you're looking for a quick flit to a Thai beach (although for anyone living farther afield than HK or Singapore, I'd suggest sticking to one of the islands for your Thai beach fix if you're going to fly all this way).

We stayed at the Putahracsa which was set nicely out of town with two pools, chic modern decor and reputedly the best food in Hua Hin. It was the perfect little bolthole for a couple of days of lounging in the sun with a Kindle full of great books and an icy bottle of Singha beer in hand.  












After a couple of days of snoozing and stuffing our faces with Pad Thai, we decided it was time to head back to the city to do more of the same but this time surrounded by skyscrapers... So, we barrelled back up the coast and were checking in to the Mandarin Oriental by lunchtime. Great timing for a little Thai feast at the restaurant by the river followed by a sun-soaked afternoon around the pool.



The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, might just be my new favourite hotel. The rooms are the epitome of old-school, colonial elegance, the service is impeccable and the Bamboo Bar shakes up the most delicious cocktail I've ever tasted which is served with a scone, clotted cream and a puddle of rose petal jam - heaven!












Three nights zoomed by far too fast and as I boarded my Air Asia flight home I vowed I'd get booking to come back to Bangkok as soon as the HK drudge set in again. So, seeing as its Monday, and in the spirit of keeping my vows, it's probably about time I had a quick look on Skyscanner to see whether there are any good deals on flights to Thailand....

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