[Misty]

Want to travel from Bangkok for a week at the start of February any suggestions of top hotels (5 star minimum) on the beach. Willing to take an internal flight if not too far. Also happy to hire a car at the airport and drive to an onward destination. Prefer the quiet life, great hotel, and walks along the beach nice places to dine. Snorkeling would be great but not necessary.

[sunniefaith]

You can catch a flight from Bangkok to Phuket. I caught a flight from Phuket to Bangkok before. With Phuket, you'll be able to be at the beach and do some snorkelling as well.

[Spondon]

Hi, you could also fly to Samui island, (Bangkok Air about 3800 baht) it's alot quiter then Phuket, still has plenty of nice hotels and beachs, from there via a ferry is Koh Phangan which is even less populated but nice and quite. You could snorkel just about any part of Thailand, Tai po island is very good for scuba. Hope you enjoy your stay in Thai

[JonnyC]

Go to pattaya, 2 hours drive from bangkok airport

[greenietea]

Originally Posted by JonnyC

Go to pattaya, 2 hours drive from bangkok airport

go to pattaya only if you want to get a prostitute. sigh. or walk on ugly beaches. :X

[JonnyC]

Originally Posted by greenietea

go to pattaya only if you want to get a prostitute.

What else would you want to do on holiday?

[VegemiteKid]

For beautiful beaches, the most gorgeous resort you could imagine, away from it all, but still close enough to civilisation to check out some local culture, temples, elephants etc go to Hua Hin and stay at Evason Resort.
Check out their website for detials. It is even better than it looks on the site. I have a very specific holiday / resort wish list and this met and exceeded all of them.
My wish list - beach, gorgeous pool area with views of beach, waiters and a bar, gorgeous rooms with space, verandah or courtyard and views or garden, nice products you actually want to use, day spa, good food and a choice of restaurants, cafes, bars etc. And friendly, helpful, unsnooty staff. This place has it all plus beautiful landscaped gardens, ponds with fish, I could go on and on... even the other people staying there were nice!
How to get there: fly to Bangkok then get a car transfer (about 3.5 hours) or you can fly in a little propellor plane which is another 30 mins flying time and then 30 mins drive at the other end.
I got a great deal on CX Holidays a few months ago. Would be worth checking if they are still offering packages there.
Bon voyage!

[Misty]

Thanks everyone for yopur replies it's looking like Hua Hin as we fancy renting a car and driving around a bit while there

[JonnyC]

Being serious, don't go to pattaya because it is a dump and pretty much the only thing there is bars as greenietea said.

I've been to hua hin a couple of times and it's very nice, perfect for families and be sure to go up the mountain at the south end of the town and visit the shrine and feed the monkeys. You're a braver person than me daring to drive in Thailand though

I'd also recommend Ko Samui, you can fly direct from HK and miss out Bangkok altogether which must be a bonus, and it's got some very nice beaches. If you want quiet it's probably better to stay away from Lamai or in particular Chaweng, although Chaweng noi beach is quieter. Imagine most of the 5 star hotels are in the chaweng area though because it's most popular. Avoid Ko Phanghan unless you like dirty backpackers bragging about how little they are paying for their bungalows and sampling Thai culture whilst never actually talking to anyone who isn't from a western country