We booked for 5 days for a special birthday and it was absolutely ideal, no TV, no stress and the day the phone rang, I nearly jumped out of my skin.

We stayed in the Cumin room (Room 1) which was great - the beach villas are, of course, top prize, but we thought our room was ideal. The rooms are simply, but stylishly decorated with comfy beds and Bose sound docks (iPod supplied, but you can connect your own).

We had a slight problem with the plumbing on the first day and the reason I mention it is for the great way in which it was dealt with by Rob the manager. This was a potential negative and the way it was handled scored a big plus in the margin.

Pranburi is delightfully deserted and if you are looking for raucous nightlife, cross this area off your list. Because of the location and peaceful area, you are a little limited if you want to spread your wings and try some alternative restaurants, but with a scooter, there are a couple of great places, particularly the shack at the fishing harbor about a mile south of Aleenta (past the rocky headland and the slightly forlorn elephant). There are a couple of stores for minor purchases, but bear in mind that Pranburi is also quite spread out and you will need transport of some description. Aleenta also has a family friendly wing where you can use large pool even if you are staying in the main hotel (the main hotel pool is tiny, but stunning) and both locations are right on the beach. This is important as the resorts in northern Pranburi are generally not on the beach (just close to it, on the other side of the road in fact!), many of them fail to mention this on their websites and in the photo galleries.

In conclusion, for romantic breaks and to escape Bangkok (and even Hua Hin), this place is perfect. The rooms are great, the food excellent (breakfasts are awesome) and the staff from manager to garden staff go out of their way to make you feel welcome. Transport arranged by the hotel is expensive, but you do have a choice: you can hire scooters across the road (on the beach side...) from the Evason and opposite the tailor's shop and there is a reliable taxi service opposite Sing's beach bar (also just up from the Evason).

Go to Pranburi now before it gets ruined by development!

My husband and I had been in Bangkok for seven days or so this past Oct, and we really needed to decompress. We arrived at Aleenta stressed, tired and I had a terrible head cold. We left relaxed, happy and refreshed.
Every member of the staff was friendly and wonderful and are enthusiastic about practicing their English language skills with the guests.
When we got there I asked staff member, Rob, if they offered any spa services that might help me get over my cold. He immediately went and talked to the spa staff and came back with the suggestion of an aromatherapy massage.
The massage was fantastic and the massuese was so kind, I kept sneezing, etc. all thru the massage -- she was so sweet about me being sick and kept pausing the massage to give me hot ginger tea. I WAS COMPLETELY WELL AND OVER MY COLD IN 24 HOURS - there's no doubt in my mind that the aromatherpy massage coupled with the relaxed and comfortable atmosphere of Aleenta healed me.
One thing both my husband and I really liked about Aleenta is that there are so few rooms, we experienced really personalized and caring service.
We had a lovely view of the beach, which boasts golden sand and warm water. We swam every day and took long walks on the beach. Sometimes there were horses at the end near the cliffs.
The food at the hotel restaurant was top notch (if it's not on the menu, ask the chef to make you the "Balsemic Ice Cream" - I know it sounds weird, but it was so good. We could have eaten a quart of it).
We felt that the price of the room, the food and the spa treatments were all very reasonable. The beach and grounds of the hotel were lovely, the staff professional and friendly and we had an absolutely wonderful stay.

My wife and I traveled to Thailand to spend two weeks of vacation in April 2007 in this beautiful country. We stayed 5 days in Bangkok and then came to Hua Hin/Aleenta to stay there another 9 days /7-16 April). Overall we liked the stay very much, would definitely consider to come back and would recommend the Aleenta resort to other people of whom we know that this is the style of hotel and type of vacation they are looking after.

Climate:
We stayed in Aleenta in the hot season in April 07 where it easily went up to 38 degrees. But having the wind constantly softly blowing it was still nice even during the day. We only had one hour of rain during the whole stay. The rest of time is was either sunny blue sky or a bit cloudy.

Service:
Overall the service was very nice and helpful. Staying 9 days makes you create personal relationship. The service team knew what we liked after a few days e.g. for breakfast, so we really felt nearly at home with friends not like in a big anonymous hotel.
Special note: On our last evening they even arranged a stand-alone table at the pool with candle lights decorated around the table. We did not ask for that and found it a very nice gesture. Jason, the manager was very nice keeping in touch with us, always ready to help but without being over-active.
Area of improvements:
English knowledge of some of the staff could be improved and Jason told us that he is working on that with the team.
The car that the hotel booked us for the transfer from Bangkok was far beneath the hotel standard. We pointed that also out to Jason who assured to improve that with the sub-contractor in Bangkok who does the transfer.

Room:
We loved our room. We booked the apartment with the roof terrace directly in front of the restaurant of the main resort. The room was nicely decorated. But if you come with a big suitcase for a longer time the space to put your things is relatively limited. But as you do not need lots of things in that climate anyhow it was manageable.
Anyway we spend the day on the great roof terrace which had a day bad, 2 sun beds, a table with chairs and a shower. Our little paradise! Everything we needed (food/drinks) was brought to our terrasse by the nice service team.
Watch-Out: Room size might be a problem during rainy season if you have to stay in the room this could become a bit uncomfortable. In general the resort is not ideal if there is bad wheather as the whole resort is made for outside living.
We loved not to have a TV in the room. Great idea!!

Other Clients/social contacts: Nice people but definitely no party location
Very international mix e.g. Europeans, Asians etc. We had the feeling that most of the people are staying 2-4 days. Most of them are staying in their apartments/on their terracew during the day. So if you are looking for entertainment at the bar or on the beach then it is probably the wrong place to go for vacation. But nevertheless we got to know some nice people and had drinks at the bar before dinner. But it is definitely not a party location but a romantic couple place you go to spend time together, read books, relax etc.

Dress code:
Relaxed smart casual in the evening which we liked. So no show-off/"fashion-shows" in the evening.

Entertainment:
We also watched a movie on the roof to of the restaurant (where they also have the open air spa during the day) having our little own private cinema with a cocktail and popcorn.
Furthermore we played one round of golf in the Majestic Golf Course (35 minutes drive). There is another golf course in Hua Hin that also seemed to be very nice (green fee’s ok about 45 Euro). The transfer arranged by the hotel was perfect.
Although the hotel is offering an excursion nearly every day we did not go for anything else but only took the bikes sometimes to have a ride along the beach. The surrounding just makes you lazy and you want to enjoy the nice resort. Quality of the bikes could be improved.
My wife did Yoga lessons which were either at the beach or the pool and were very good.
We also booked several massages (aroma, food) and liked it very much. The quality was comparable to other 5 star hotels we have been to, also the tariffs. The outdoor massage on the roof was very nice listening to the sound of the waves.
We were at Aleenta on Thai New Year and the hotel organized some activities including a ceremony with monks. This was very special as there were as many Thais (including staff) as foreigners so you felt as getting a glimpse of the real culture not just something arranged as in the big hotels.

Beach:
The beach is nice but not exceptionnel. It is very long with only very few people sunbathing or walking. You can do nice joggings or have long walks in the morning or evening. Along the beach you are not surrounded by pure nature but the houses there are mostly private villas (no big hotels). On the weekend there are some Thai families coming to the beach/to their weekend houses, during the week it is nearly your own private beach (no one walking around trying to sell something etc.)

Food
We are no experts in Thai-food but we liked the food in the restaurant a lot. Prices compared to what you get on the streets for sure are higher but we found the price for the overall ambience, service and quality of food reasonable for such a resort. Variety of dishes was sufficient.
Ambiance in the evening was great as tables were put up around the pool or at the beach with candles around.

Final comparison to other hotels/rating:
We would rate Allenta 4.5-5. This is taking into account the ratio of what we paid overall to what we got. If you just compare it to other (big) 5, 5+ or 6 star hotels than it would probably go for a 4 but in the other hotels you surely pay a much higher/double or three times higher tariff (at least this what we paid in some occasions) and then you expect absolute perfection in every detail and logistics and infra-structure of a hotel. So, we think it is important to compare apples to apples.

Little final watch out: there is still some open land right next to the hotel so we would recommend to ask if any construction is taking place or planned (and thus noise) before booking.

We stayed at the Aleenta for 4 nights in June 2007, at the end of our holiday in Thailand. It was fantastic! Exactly what we were looking for- peaceful, chilled time in beautiful surroundings.

We stayed in a Palm suite, called Chusan. It was beautiful, with our own plunge pool and daybeds, roof terrace with sunbeds, and the most gorgeous outdoor shower room! Every evening, whilst at supper, your bed is turned down, with flowers left on your pillow, an aperitif on the table, i-pod turned on, essential oils burning, and a lovely handwritten note, telling you what the weather and the next day's activities are.

The breakfast is wonderful, and served until 1030. There is a huge choice, but always a fruit platter, pastries, and tea and coffee as standard, with your own choice of american breakfast, waffles, pancakes, omlettes, eggs of your choice or a healthy option.

The dinner is also great - you can chose to eat by the pool, or in the small opensided restaurant, next to the bar. Again, a huge choice, but always options of Thai curries, locally caught fish, and a specials menu. We found the food to be great value, and beautifully cooked. The staff are so friendly, and even though we were there only a short time, they knew where we liked to sit, and what drinks we liked.

There is not much round the hotel, but that's what we liked. We took advantage of the free bike hire, but at nearly 100f , it was hard thirsty work! The beach is deserted - we saw one family on it! It's not really a sunbathing type of beach, and in fact it's far too hot to be on, as the sand burns your feet, even with shoes on! The cool plunge pool was much more inviting! The hotel offers daily trips, and we took the one to the nightmarket at Hua Hin. We also attended one of the movie nights. It is held in the skyspa, and we were the only ones there, so were lucky enough to be allowed to choose a film! They also made us a cocktail each, and provided popcorn, and had made up a lovely daybed for us with cushions, so we could lay and watch the film! Very romantic!

Highly recommend waking early to capture the beautiful sunrise from your terrace.

This hotel is really a getaway from the outside world. It's the kind of place you go to escape, and read books, spend quality time with your partner, eat and drink. I loved it, and would highly recommend it. If you are after a hotel with loads going on, and everything on your doorstep, go elsewhere. If its a quiet, peaceful time, away from everything, then book the Aleenta.