Being more wise in the ways of sailing trips than our family, our hosts had strongly recommended, and searched out, a resort stay for a few days after leaving the boat.  We now had three days of long, hot showers, food at the ready, and lounging at the beach.

For this, we stayed at the Mercure Hideaway on Koh Chang.

It was the most relaxed and low-key time of our Thailand visit.  We did very, very little. We did eat well.  We could have eaten almost entirely western if we wanted to, but the Thai options are, for the most part, not at all western-palate adverse – or at least they have been nudged western-friendly.  So I advise some experimentation.  For each meal there was the option for a large buffet that would allow for experimentation with several different options, while still having the fallback of known foods if you want.

We spent quite a bit of time just laying around and relaxing.  Taking long, hot showers, which as promised were some of the best showers of our life.  This was probably mostly because of the length of time since we had last been able to do so, but the reason why was just not important.  It was heavenly.

The views were beautiful and soothing, and the hotel has plenty of lounging space by the pool, on the beach, and even from our balconies.

At first, our biggest “outing” was to the little market next door which was reminiscent of the market on Koh Kood, but a step up, being enclosed by 4 walls, and having a small selection of bath & beauty items, also.  It also had a cat who apparently was quite at home laying on the cashier’s desk.

It was hard for those of us used to cold in the winter, and from a place that often has snow at this time of year, to remember that it really was just before Christmas.  The Mercure had a number of Christmas decorations around, from a decorated tree in the lobby, to a large gingerbread house at the entrance to the restaurant.  But my favorite was the “snow”man – he was completely made of cotton!

After 3 – wonderful, but unshowered – days on a sailboat, having a few days at the Mercure to rest was wonderful.  We took full advantage of shade, lounge chairs, restaurant, and poolside menu ordering.  In retrospect, the next week in Bangkok is going to be busy – it’s good to get rest up and prepared ahead of time.

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To check out Mercure Hideaway for your own stay, please visit their website <<<HERE>>>