The room here at Pinotel Hotel is top drawer, well above what we normally experience. It's spacious, well laid out, and a pleasure to stay in. Being picky for little practical reason, I do wonder though why a plug socket is hidden behind the TV. Perhaps the fitters were having a laugh. Anyway, I'm hoping for some extra cream on the cake as we go down for breakfast.
The dining hall is fitted out for a pleasurable breakfast experience, but there's something missing. I see no toaster or coffee maker and wonder what the setup is here. When we are offered a choice of only khai gata, an egg dish, or rice soup, I'm disappointed. The staff, though, is apologetic, explaining that the hotel has just opened with not everything fully functional, and now things make sense. If we had planned to stay an extra night, we would have noticed a difference. OK, so what is the plan for today?
The first thing is that we need to change rooms. The use of Pinotel was planned only as a convenience of being near the football stadium. It remains to be seen if the change of accommodation is worth it.
It's quite late before we depart the hotel, and we'll just plan to have a look around. Much of what Prachuap has to offer we've seen before, but this is such a nice place to be in Thailand. While we're figuring out what to do, I might as well check out what's happening at Prachuap railway station.
Prachuap Khiri Khan station lies on the State Railway's southern line, a line that has been completely upgraded with new stations and dual track. I'm surprised, therefore, to see the main station building is still not open. I soon learn that the opening is just days away, but in the meantime there's an interim arrangement. Ticketing is still in the old station building, and downline trains still stop there. Upline trains for Bangkok, however, can now collect passengers from the platform opposite the new station. The reason I'm here at all is to view a train from Lang Suan. This is the Ordinary train 254 for Thonburi in Bangkok. Now let's see some of the amazing coastline here.
First we take a light lunch as we head away from the city. We soon arrive at a beach to the south, only to find it's not public with no coastal road. Khlong Wan beach supports restaurants and resorts, but all I can do here is visit the pier where fishing boats are moored after offloading their catch. It's fascinating to see workers here sorting the fish. We now head back along the coast to one of the most beautiful bays in Thailand.
Ao Manao (Lime Bay) is run by the 5th Wing of the Royal Thai Air Force, which has its own story to tell going back to WWII. Commercial activities are strictly controlled, but there are enough shops and restaurants to serve visitors. We get a rare opportunity to take out the camping chairs, and that will do it for a couple of hours. At 3:00 PM we decide to check in at our new accommodation. First though, we revisit the small zoo, a children's favorite. I'm sure the residents enjoyed the carrots.
The accommodation for tonight is hardly 10 minutes away from Ao Manao at the south end of Prachuap Bay. Located directly on the beach road, I just wonder what we will get for less than we paid last night. We check in for two nights. First impressions are good with nice views of the beach from reception, but what about the rooms? We're allocated a room on the second floor, and there is no lift. I am prepared for that. The room is OK, spacious with plenty of natural light, and incredibly, there is a reasonable view of the bay from the balcony window. The bathroom is good too, with modern tiling in natural colours. The only thing we're not sure about is what 'breakfast included' means. We will have to wait till the morning to know. We have an hour or two to rest before thinking about dinner, then we head into the city, locating the night food market. This popular dining area is open every day around 5:00 PM. There is plenty of choice here, and we soon indulge. There's nothing else exciting planned for now as we retire to Zea Zide Hotel. It's just so fitting that I can grab a beer and sit out on the balcony watching the squid boats with their bright lights out at sea.

Source: Visit