This was one of the best 5 days of rest we've had.

I normally hate the tropics, the heat and humidity. I will normally be found on holiday in one of the world's alpine regions, climbing to exotic places or heading towards Antartica. It was with some trepitadtion that I agreed to a week in Thailand to a resort at that ! To put it in context I loved a previous touring trip to northern Vietnam for the culture but hated the heat. This holiday involved sitting by the pool with nothing to do.

The Evason Hideway is connected to the Evason Resort and Spa in Hua Hin but is made up of private villas with lots of space, privacy and butler service. You have the advantage of also using the Resort's facilities. We cannot comment on staying the Resort next door but it has a totally different feel to it. The Hideaway is a long 3-4 hour drive from Bangkok's new airport and is 30 minutes from the nearest town (Hua Hin).

We arrived at 3am from Australia and were taken to our pool villa which can be described as a luxurious home away from home. Only no cooking or cleaning ! We fell out of bed each morning into the chest deep pool before breakfast. We then managed to occupy ourselves before our next meal another swim and whatever else we wanted to do (take a tour or a bicycle ride along the seafront to the temple) .

Activities are plentiful but a word of warning. There is no beach and if you want a real (surf) beach go elsewhere. Also when the tide/wind is wrong there is no sandbar an the bottom of the rockwall to launch a catamaran so no sailing in wrong conditions. This is the only reason we didn't rate the Hideaway as excellent.

The personal butler, general service, food and ambience was excellent. The wines are extremely expensive but other drinks (non alcoholic, beers and cocktails) are not. Food is not included in the accomodation package but is well priced for western countries.

It's worth knowing the website photos are accurate and the Soneva, Evason Hideway and Evason Resort brands are in descending order of exclusivity.

All in all a fantastic week, even without the beach/sailing. I've been conveted to a tropical winter break. I'm still not a resort person and I'm off cross country skiing soon bur we'll be back to the occasional Hideaway.

This property has raised the bar for all our future vacations.

We arrived at the Evason after dark and were warmly greeted by the staff with cool towels and a fruit drink. The buggy took us to our pool villa--which we found difficult to leave from that point on. The Hideaway is set up as a small village with intimate pathways adorned with lush foliage.

The accommodations are well designed and comfortably appointed. Indoor and outdoor shower, outdoor bath, sunken sala, private pool all within the confines of a privacy wall that seems only to keep the out from coming in--it doesn't make you feel as if you are trapped.

The Hideaway has the benefits of using all of the main hotel's amenities. Archery, tennis, multiple restaurants, a huge pool (with a staff person that comes around and cleans your sunglasses as you lounge), tour desk that has many interesting activities. This is the perfect place to stay active or to do nothing at all.

Sixes Senses Spa is beautifully designed although the services offered don't necessarily make sense for the climate. Who needs a steam room when it's 85 degrees outside?

We tried a number of the restaurants and had some meals at the villa (candle light dinner and private BBQ). The food quality is outstanding.

One thing to consider if you choose to stay here is that it is remote. Hua Hin is +/- 25 minutes away, and taxi's are expensive(relatively).

The only other fault I can identify is the mosquitos. The design of the site includes many waterways, and I think the area is prone to insects anyway. Although the Hideaway provides repellant, we found that the mosquitos also enjoyed the F&B service provided by the hotel--with us guests on the menu!

The Evason Hideaway really has set the bar high. Service is outstanding, and all presented with that Thai smile. Accommodations are in a class of their own. Every moment (including those spent doing nothing) is memorable when at the Evason Hideaway.

Stayed at the Hideaway in a pool villa suite for two weeks in September. It was our third visit to the Evason in Hua Hin, our first visit was in May 2004 when we stayed at the sister Evason hotel in a pool villa, which I also highly recommend, the second was in October 2004 when the Hideaway was newly opened, we booked a pool villa, but were upgraded to a pool villa suite which we loved so much that when we returned this year we booked the suite.

If you are looking for a great beach, wild night life and on site entertainment this hotel is not for you. It is a place to go with the love of your life to spend quality and relaxing time together where all of the staff, from the most senior management to the most junior member of staff could not do more to make you feel as if you are the only guests in the hotel, it is as if you have stepped into their very luxurious home.

The small touches stand out, we had a hand written welcome note from the resident manager, Patrick, on arrival and an email when we got home by way of an apology that he had not been able to personally see us off.

After our first day we were welcomed by name throughout the Hideaway, and the staff who had been at the hotel during previous visits deliberately sought us out to say hello.

The butler service is not over the top, your butler will do as little or as much for you as you request. Our butler, Khun Ann, was a star.

The Villas are totally private, and the do not disturb sign respected. The pool is plenty large enough to swim in, I managed tweleve breast strokes from one end to the other. On this trip I also took an inflateable so that I could lay in my pool and read, doze or listen to music, bliss! The sound system plays in the outdoor sala, so take your favourite cds, or choose from the hotel's selection.

The pool villa suite has a seperate living room, huge bed, two satalite tvs, two dvd players, coffee maker, three showers, double outdoor bath set in its own lotus pond, dressing gown, slippers, insect lotion (not that the insects were a problem) etc etc

The food is delicious, and reasonably priced, I had a really tasty sea food pasta dish in the Beach Restaurant for approx £3! The sea bass with crab mash at the Living Room restaurant was one of the highlights of my holiday. The in Villa barbeque is an experience not to be missed and never to be forgotten...ask your butler to arrange a love balloon.

The drinks are a little more pricey, approx £25 for a bottle of house wine, and £2 for a bottle of Singa beer.

We flew from the UK with Eva Air, and paid a little extra to fly in their Evergreen Class, a premium economy cabin, which we could not fault.

We are well travelled, but this is the only place we have returned to three times and we will go back again next year for some rest and relaxation and really special together time.