Our family of four (parents plus girls of 19 and 22) have just returned from the Centara. We chose this hotel because of its location, we have been to Hua Hin before but stayed outside the town, for us this is a mistake, we like to be able to walk into the town, have a drink and a meal, look at a temple, go to the night market etc.

In our view there is nothing in Hua Hin to compare. We do not like large hotels and do not like high rise, the Centara is low rise, is not large by Far East standards and has great grounds. The service in the Centara is excellent, as good as the best that we have stayed in in the Far East, much better than Africa, U.S, Europe. The rooms are fine (Superior) but not fantastic. The grounds are a real treat, but more than anything we came away feeling that the staff (all of them, the sunbed men, cleaners, reception staff) are all excellent, always helpful, not obsequeous.

The town is great a good mix of restaurants, bars, night market. I am sure we will go back.

We have stayed in Hua Hin before but in a hotel further from the town so chose the Centara for its proximity to the town as we wanted to walk in to eat etc. We were not disappointed with our choice. The hotel has superb grounds with the hedges beautifully clipped into animal shapes. There are 4 pools all with ample sunbeds. The hotel does not encourage the reserving of sunbeds although this was still done, as there are always some available and each one has 2 thick towels laid on it. The pools do get busy as they are not large but overall the ambiance around the pools was tranquil, with the breeze from the sea adding to the calming effect. There are some organised activities like aqua aerobics but these were never too noisy or disruptive.
The lobby area is beautiful, with a gentle breeze blowing through it - another haven of tranquility. There is free wi-fi in the area as well as the use of 2 computers in the nearby library. The breakfasts were fabulous - smoothies made to order, freshly squeezed orange juice and the best scrambled eggs I have ever tasted. We enjoyed the 'happy hour' drinks by the pool where the prices were very competitive considering the standard of the hotel.
We ate in Hua Hin every evening - the pier restaurants are great, especially Katsuerin which we kept returning to. The food was unbelievably good value and in such a wonderful setting and a lovely lady owner who was really friendly. We also had excellent pizzas in Mamma Mia although it was expensive by Thai standards. We loved the buzz of the night market and had a wonderful time in the Retro bar overlooking the market, up on the balcony. Again, there was always service with a smile and we chose the music from the laptop!
We took trips in tuk-tuks - available just outside the hotel - always cheap and easy enough to bargain with the drivers. We went to the temple with the large Buddha and the royal palace. We were the only western tourists in both!
We didn't use the hotel spa but had wonderful and very cheap massages and a pedicure in one of the massage parlours in town - there are hundreds!
Overall it was a wonderful trip. The staff at the hotel just cannot do enough and everyone is so friendly. We really did feel like honoured guests.
If we have to find anything negative it would be that the room (Superior) was a little cramped as was the bathroom but we spent very little time in the room and the balcony was great with lovely views over the grounds. The shower needed attention as it went from cold to hot but it was dealt with promptly.
As already stated, the breakfasts were superb but it got very busy around 9.30 and the staff became a little overstretched. It was a little cramped in the room that breakfast was served in and the area around the fruit/smoothie station was often difficult to move in.
The beach is lovely and we were rarely hassled but the horses are a problem. At times we had to watch our feet the whole time whilst paddling and the sea was far from clean as a result.
However, overall, thank you to the Centara - we will be back one day.