Aleenta Hua Hin Resort & Spa

The upscale Aleenta Hua Hin Resort & Spa is a low-rise, beachfront resort. The hotel is hidden by a plain bamboo fence, and is actually spread out between two wings, one that welcomes kids and one that is child-free -- a shuttle buggy is used to get from one wing to the other. The lobby is in the Ocean View Wing. It's a small, open-air, concrete-floored room with a few large cushioned chairs to relax on while the staff check you in. The grounds are ordinary but eye-catching, with lots of grass, trimmed hedges, and trees. The resort is committed to environmental sustainability and almost all of the building materials are natural, recycled, or locally produced, with simple thatched roof structures blending in seamlessly with the surroundings. The resort is quite proud of its zero carbon footprint efforts, and has a large organic community garden and an orchard nearby, where guests can go and pick fruit freely in exchange for planting a seed. All of the farm’s veggies and smoked meats get transferred to the resort kitchen via bicycle and by a tuk-tuk powered by fuel made from other local resorts' disposed cooking oil. This is one of the few alternative and truly green resorts to be found in Thailand, drawing guests that include couples and families.

The Aleenta Hua Hin Resort & Spa is outside of Pranburi town and right on a very attractive beach. While the resort isn't convenient for travelers who don't have their own transport, it does provide guests with bicycles as well as a tuk-tuk powered by reused cooking oil to take them to the few nearby restaurants and shops. The shopping and restaurant scene of Hua Hin is a good 30- to 40-minute drive away, but most guests coming here are doing so for a serene escape. The beach is long and mostly empty, with just a handful of other resorts scattered along several kilometers. There is plenty of white sand, and it is far more attractive than the beach in nearby Hua Hin. The road outside the resort is narrow and somewhat rutted, and eventually dead ends past the hotel, making for few automobiles -- it's a great spot for walking and bicycling. The nearest international airport is in Bangkok, about three-and-a-half hours away, but Hua Hin has connections via train and bus to most destinations. Guests can also find some transport options in Pranburi town for reaching local destinations.

There are 22 rooms at the Aleenta Hua Hin Resort & Spa that are divided between two wings. The Frangipani Wing, which houses families, used to be the owner's private residence, while the Ocean View Wing does not allow children and is better suited for couples. Rooms here are bright and airy, with lots of windows, white walls, and glazed concrete floors, and their design is informed by the resort's zero carbon footprint policy. Decor varies across room categories, but in general, furniture is made by local carpenters from reclaimed wood, hammocks are crafted from fishing nets, and ceilings are constructed with locally sourced cane. While the rooms are a bit minimalist for an upscale hotel, it is purposeful and chic, with an elegantly simple vibe. There are no TVs or DVD players, although the resort will provide them to guests on request. Rooms do have safes, minibars, electric kettles, and also feature iPods with a full music library plus docking stations. Beds have 400 thread count Egyptian cotton sheets, there are natural cotton bathrobes and slippers, free beach baskets to use, and rooms include free Wi-Fi. Terra cotta tiled bathrooms have outdoor rainfall showers plus towels and eco-friendly toiletries, and many of the rooms feature private plunge pools on a veranda. 

The Aleenta Hua Hin Resort & Spa has two swimming pools to choose from. The family friendly Frangipani Wing has a long family pool that's surrounded by trees and suitable for swimming a few laps, while the Ocean View Wing has a rooftop pool with fabulous views over the property, beach, and out to sea. This curved semi-circle pool is placed right next to a restaurant and bar, and is the perfect spot to sit and enjoy the sunset. The resort also has a tiny fitness center with a few cardio machines, and it provides free bicycles for guests to use to get around the area. There is an on-site spa that offering an array of massage and wellness treatments. The Aleenta owns a large community garden nearby that's full of fruit trees, herbs, and an organic vegetable garden, plus a mushroom greenhouse and a natural meat smoker. Guests can come here and pick fruit for free if they plant a seed in return. Wi-Fi is free throughout and babysitting services can be arranged. The hotel can arrange local transport options as well as transfers to the airports in Bangkok. 

The resort also has several options for dining. The head of the resort's restaurants, James Noble, served as Mick Jagger's private chef and has also received a Michelin star. Menus in the aptly named Cellar restaurant, which sits in an intimate wine cellar, use only organic home-grown ingredients. The eclectic menu includes standouts such as spinach and goat cheese ravioli or mushroom and whiskey pate. Upstairs, the open-air Aleenta Restaurant looks out over the sea and beach; the hotel's free breakfast is served here. There are Thai and international dishes available, plus fresh bread and pastries. The hotel's restaurants also use carbon-free cooking techniques, like burying items in clay pot in the hot sand on the beach, or solar-baked cookies. Specialties include salted beef ceviche, in which a banana leaf-wrapped local beef fillet is rubbed in salt, and solar-baked sea bass served with ground fermented kimchi. The food at this resort is a true stand-out among properties up and down this stretch of Thailand's coast.