Link: http://www.blog.artthailand.net/?p=58

If the title is reminiscent of "Four Weddings and a Funeral", so it should be for we just returned from a visit to one of Thailand's more surreal vacation spots. The great surrealist, Dali, would be proud of this one. Imagine a room key hanging on the end of a bra. Imagine a room with the exotic name of "No Bra". Imagine also a remote, deserted landscape of intense beauty and peace. The Cozy Hotel at Brassiere Beach is a must for lovers of the eccentric, high quality and beautiful.

For once I decided to spend New Year away from the alcohol crazed nightspots of Bangkok and seek a few days quiet at the beach.

Finding somewhere to stay at this time of year is rarely easy. Hotels are full, premiums are charged and deposits demanded. I wanted to avoid the usual hotspots of Phuket, Samui, Samet and so on and settled for Hua Hin.

It's a drivable distance from Bangkok (3-4 hours depending on traffic), it is less frenetic than most places and has a charm all of its own. It also happens to be the favorite resting spot of His Majesty the King, which is no mean recommendation.

We chose to stay at the Cozy Hotel on Brassiere Beach, about 20 minutes southeast of Pranburi and 45 minutes south of Hua Hin. A unique collection of Mediterranean inspired cottages, each designed in distinctive style provides luxurious comfort coupled with genuine privacy. There are just nine cottages so you will rarely find more than 20 people on site.

The web address of the hotel is Cozy Hotel.

The setting is truly gorgeous. You find a deserted surrounded to the back by luscious greenery and mountains. The sand is hard packed, convenient because the main access to the hotel is by the beach, except at high tide when you might find your car in some distress!

There are no other hotels close by, no shops, no restaurants, just nothing. If excitement and entertainment is what you are seeking then Brassiere Beach is not for you. The hotel restaurant closes at 7pm and the bar at 8pm, so this is a place where you make your own entertainment.

If solitude, beauty, peace and rest are your thing then go to this place. You will find yourself in an idyllic paradise.

The scenery is breathtaking. The whole area is part of a national park, accessible only by boat. Unfortunately the sea was not calm enough for us to land so we were not able to visit the park but we are assured it is worth the trip.

The hotel itself has been open less than two years. It's not cheap. We paid about 8,000 baht a night for 3 nights, which included a modest New Year premium. For this we got a very quaint, nicely decorated room, and two sun terraces, one with the most spectacular views.

We also had what can only be described as an eccentric bathroom! A number of the rooms also have their own private pool.

The service is good, verging on very good. The staff are polite and friendly. They do their very best to make you feel welcome and included. The whole experience is casual. You eat by the beach and the food is good, especially the seafood barbecue. The sea air is wonderful and sleep inducing, together with the gentle crash of the waves. I slept more in 3 days than I would normally manage in three weeks!

So why the rather unusual name of Brassiere Beach?

There are two islands just off the beach called Nom Sao. Literally this means "young breasts" and, when u look at the picture you do get a sense of female breasts!

The owner of the hotel has a sense of humor. When she saw Nom Sao she decided to build the hotel around the theme of breasts and bras! Lest you think this means we have a hotel for sex fantasists, well no, that is not what it is all about.

As I said the owner has a sense of humor so, for example, she has named her rooms after lingerie. One room is Victoria's. Another is Secret, hence Victoria's Secret. Another room has the rather wonderful name of No Bra!

As you can see here, she has also made her room keys into bras and it is rather funny watching people walking around the hotel dangling their bras! In fact you will find bras aplenty here, whether it be in the rest rooms, in paintings, cocktail descriptions and so on.

Ok it is a little bit kitsch but good fun nevertheless!

The highlight of our stay was the lantern festival on New Year's Eve. All of us gathered together after dinner and lit lanterns which we let go into the darkness.

It was a lot of fun but also a seemingly fitting way to say goodbye to the old year and hello to the new.

For all the photographs from Brassiere Beach please go Two Boobs. They are well worth a look.