It’s time someone noticed Hua Hin’s cute little sister. By Duangtawan Nilayon and Grégoire Glachant

In the “seaside weekend getaways you can drive to” family, you have the naughty one (Pattaya), the elegant beauty queen (Hua Hin) and the boring, ugly ducklings (Bang Saen, Cha-Am). Well, a resort in ugly duckling Cha-Am, Alila Cha-Am, has just made it into the Conde Nast Traveller’s prestigious Hot List 2008 and a host of other hotels nearby are exploring the current global trends in travel: uncluttered architecture, more privacy, low-rise accommodation and pool villas. Mostly, Cha-Am is benefiting from Hua-Hin’s inflated prices, fully booked hotels and traffic jams that compare to Bangkok’s. Fed up travelers are finding that if they can get over old prejudices, they can get better, closer and Cha-Am is reacting with flair and style—even if guesthouses for Eurotrash continue to abound.

Old Cha-am

The stretch of beach where Cha-Am’s hotels first settled (from the Long Beach Hotel to the Golden Beach) is not very inspiring, granted. Resorts like the massive Cha-Am Methavalai or the towering Long Beach offer comfort without style. Good for Northern European families who aren’t clued into how much better they could have it on an island, there’s really no reason to stay here unless you’re really strapped for cash. Still, Cha-Am’s beachfront has its cute sides. First, you can’t leave without going for a ride on one of the pink tandem bicycles (B40 for a day). Pretty impossible to ride on the sand, all the fun comes from trying not to fall off. If you’re actually drawn to the endless rows of lounge chairs and bustling activity in the area, and really must stay here, Baan Pantai is the only sane option, with its low-rise cottages and fairly tasteful family resort style: teak decks, palm trees and small lanes meandering throughout the property. It puts the rest of this area to shame.

Southern Comfort

While most of the area’s new resorts claim to offer something unique, the common themes are low rise, low impact and personal space guaranteed. This new Cha-Am is more obvious when you radiate North or South of the main beach. To the South, the Grand Pacific Sovereign, which opened last month, has a rather blocky shophouse layout that is heavily decorated with Thai elements (traditional ga-lae roof, salas, elephant and lotus floor sculptures). The part they call “villas” actually share a pool and have no detached structures—more like suites than true villas—but they’re definitely low-rise. What we like is the beach right behind the row of trees. As for the other rooms, there’s over 200 of them. It’s new, it’s comfortable but it isn’t boutique.

Still South, Veranda Resort and Spa has 16 truly detached pool villas—the three ones on the beach really allow you to hop from your pool into the sea. The architecture here is a cut above Grand Pacific, thanks to elegant structures with sharp angles and the use of original materials like wood shingles. The 102 rooms are pleasant, too, but geared more toward families. They are housed in buildings not exceeding three stories and the rooms manage to be both warm and very contemporary. “Lately, new resorts are including pool villas along with typical suite rooms so they can appeal to both families and honeymoon couples,” says Panit Boonyaratvej of Veranda.

If you get really hooked on Cha-Am you can even get a home in this area. Charn Issara’s Baan Chaan Talay is a low-rise 1.4 billion baht project that will deliver 175 units in four 4-story and two 7-story buildings. It’s right by the beach, and although not exactly intimate, it isn’t one those giant skyscrapers that have defaced Hua-Hin and Pattaya either.

Northern Lights

Casuarina is at the very Northern edge of Cha-Am. It reflects a strong natural vibe through the use of local water hyacinth, bamboo and a wide park where all the bungalows are dispersed. It’s cute and clean and definitely low density. With a rack rate of B5,200 for a beachfront one-bedroom “villa,” it’s also an affordable option.

Closer to Cha-Am’s center but stll to the North, Alila Cha-Am enjoys its own stretch of sand and sea without a beach chair in sight. But it’s the resort itself that is the most dramatic. Architect Duangrit Bunnag (see Last Word page 38) has created a bold, even “aggressive” design, that even Alila’s GM admits had Alila’s management and guests befuddled. To hell with conventions, the result is pure genius. For once, we even like the rooms (all 79 of them) better than the seven villas. With the current promotion they’re only B4,900 through Aug 31, if you reserve through www.designhotels.com. The hotel is so new that some of the finishings still need work (one restaurant was closed on our last visit and nails were sticking out from the boards by the pool).

After Dark

Rooms at Alila have the very cool AppleTV systems in them, but you might want to do a little more than watching a movie in bed on a Saturday night. In fact, the hotel hopes Cha-Am could become an upscale party destination thanks to its proximity to Bangok. And we’re not talking Pattaya. Alila’s Red Bar—which already boasts a barman poached from Bed Supperclub—plans to lure in Bangkok’s finest. Still, with Thai-Swede model Patrick Ribbsaeter being the one charted to bring in the DJs and the crowds, don’t hold your breaths.

Meanwhile, you can get some eye candy at Baan Pleng Pub and Restaurant (238/2 Narathip Rd., 032-470-712. Open 6pm-1am), a tiny two-story bar with an outdoor deck. It attracts Cha-Am teens with a super cute cover band playing cheesy Thai tunes every night. We miss them—and Cha-Am­—already.