Where Distress Yields Tranquility

Anantara Resort And Spa Hua Hin and Hua Hin Hotel Articles

At the The Anantara Resort and Spa, in a veranda beside lotus ponds and gardens, the dining room is awash with morning sunlight.

Traditional Thai music plays in the background as birds chirp about the flowers and tropical plants. There are shades of orange and yellow, pink and blue, a dozen hues of green. The buffet is as luscious as the gardens with all one might expect from a five-star boutique resort, fresh seasonal fruit, pastries, a Thai rice soup section, a pancake and waffle station, omelets made to order, freshly squeezed juices, champagne.

The Anantara Resort and Spa serves up as fine a morning as you will find anywhere, but the birdcage motif is what sets it apart, providing the unique charm that we seek when visiting new places. Where else will you find over one hundred wooden birdcages, each painted in a deliberate distressed finish that succeeds in making them look three hundred years old-without the dust, mold and odour of bird droppings? Chatujak, Bangkok's famous Weekend Market, surely has as many cages in its live animal stands, but you wouldn't want to eat breakfast there and you wouldn't find this trendy design feature. Besides, the cacophony of all those birds cackling and crying out could easily drive you insane. Thankfully, the Anantara has seen fit to dispense with such annoyances.

Once you see the birdcages, you can't help but notice that the ceilings are also decorated in the same distressed finish. I'm reminded of ancient whaling cottages, weathered and abandoned, on Cape Cod. The effect is almost eerie, for the surfaces look as though they are cracked, peeling and older than the sun, but there is an unmistakable freshness to them. Somehow, the artisans have left their mark, their wink to the viewer that says things are not as they may seem. While it might appear that the paint is chipping and peeling, revealing the colour choices of previous generations of gentry, you can rest assured that pieces will not fall off into your maple syrup or muesli.

The Anantara, a member of the Small Luxury Hotels of the World, was extensively renovated in 2001 and is today a monument to the creativity of Mathar 'Lek' Bunnag, landscape architect Bill Bensley, Chulatat Kittibuttra and interior designer Kathleen Heinecke, among others. The boutique is laid out to feel like an elegant Thai-style village, nestled between the Gulf of Thailand and its own private lagoon and waterways. It has the feel of a vibrant museum in which one not only admires the artwork but actually inhabits the piece. As you move from the Angkor-esque sandstone statues, both of bas relief and full figure, to the neo-antique al fresco chambers, you feel like a vital component in a living installation sculpture.

The hotel is divided into two sections, each with its own mood. You enter the first by walking through the living room lobby, the sundries shop and the museum-like Sala Thai cafe and lounge of the main hotel building. It's easy to detour in any of these spaces; on our first afternoon, we eased into the comfort of Sala Thai and enjoyed a plate of zesty stir-fried beef with basil and chilies at a table fashioned from an antique compartmentalized drawer, each part filled with rice and various dried spices. An ancient rice mill and various agricultural tools long ago passed over for the efficiency of combustion engines stand like monuments to a more simple time. Traditional Thai music kept time as we enjoyed a nice view of the resort's older section, a series of multi-room villas set in Bill Bensley's signature gardens around the freeform, Angkor-inspired swimming pool and alongside the beach.

The newer section of the resort feels less like a beach destination than a visit to ancient, central Thailand, where commerce and transportation operated along the klongs, or canals, and lagoons. Water flows around the separate villas of stunning traditional Thai architecture, housing a total of 38 exclusive rooms featuring high ceilings and cozy verandas with enough space to encourage dining en suite. Deep terrazzo bathtubs are the focal points of the lavish bathrooms, which open to bedrooms tastefully ornamented with Thai artifacts. At scheduled times, Bangkok's famous floating market is recreated on the klongs and lagoons, further enhancing the sense of traditional culture and sensibilities.

The breathtaking Mandara Spa has also been sculpted from the lagoon setting. A walkway imprinted with sandstone leaves and lizards connects the spa suites, all lined alongside the lotus-dappled water's surface. Guests enter through towering wooden doorways set in an ochre-coloured wall of fortress-like stature. The six spa suites each have a courtyard with dual outdoor waterfall showers and some have deep terrazzo bathtubs for two. Sliding glass doors lead into the air-conditioned treatment room, which can, of course, be left open to the natural breezes if the weather is not too hot. Additionally, four double suites are available for couples who like to savour their treatments together.

At the far end of the lagoon area, past the spa, an intimate infinite-edged pool looks out across the last of the lakes, where the enclosing walls hang with flowers, and water issues forth through bamboo fountains. This lost world charm is present throughout the resort, beginning at the entrance. Roadside, a wall of lively elephant figures, captured in fossil-like detail, welcomes guests. The drive winds through a guarded gate into a lush tropical zone that leaves the outside world in a different galaxy and time. More elephant bas relief greets you to the lobby. The pachyderm theme is not merely an homage to the animal's storied position in Thai history, it is a large part of the Anantara's identity. The resort is a major contributor to the National Elephant Institute, on the front lines of the war to save the species in the face of habitat destruction and the malevolent trade of ivory. The new Anantara Golden Triangle has its own elephant camp where guests can learn to drive the great beasts.

Since 2001, the King's Cup Elephant Polo Tournament has been put on by the Anantara here in Hua Hin, drawing teams from Asia and beyond. This past September, the Mercedes Benz team repeated as champion and the previous winner was a team fielded by Chivas Regal. Not only does the tournament provide a terrific, unique, and somewhat eccentric venue to generate support for elephant charities, the sport highlights the synergy of beast and man while dispelling myths that the animal is slow, lumbering, and ungainly. This event is undoubtedly the most sensational time to visit the Anantara and packages are available for the occasion.

Hua Hin itself is a charming beachside get-away less than 200 kilometres south of Bangkok. The permanent residence of King Bhumiphol, the town has retained much of its traditional character. A number of seafood restaurants line the wharf and a bustling night market serves up authentic good value dishes. Don't miss the coconut custard steamed in its shell. While the beaches are not up to the standards of Phuket and Samui, they are virtually free of jet-skis and para-sailing outfits. Many people are happy to forego whiter sands for Hua Hin's peace and quiet. Additionally, Hua Hin is a golfer's delight, with five championship courses including Thailand's oldest, the Royal Hua Hin, and the Jack Nicklaus Springfield Royal Country Club, which Australian Golf Digest named one on Thailand's top five courses in 2002.

Hua Hin is without doubt one of the more refined, most traditional and most Thai of the kingdom's numerous beach destinations. Anantara exemplifies these qualities. In the words of William E. Heinecke, CEO of her parent company, Royal Garden Resorts, "Anantara has a tremendous feeling of peace with niches of surprise at every turn."

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