THE BARAI THAILAND REVIEW
Following my 36-day yoga teacher training course in Koh Samui, which you can read about very soon, I wanted to have a little holiday, so I found myself at The Barai in Hua Hin and here’s my Barai Thailand review for you. I needed some time for myself to process the yoga course experience, to think about everything I’ve learned and to get some much needed rest. I knew that being apart from Rob for that long would be tough, so I made him hop on a flight to Bangkok and we made our way south towards Hua Hin for a week of rest and relaxation.
Prior to staying at The Barai I had chosen one of their new wellness programmes to take part in and had been informed that as part of our stay in one of the Barai Suites, we would get daily butler service. In all honesty I was going to email The Barai and tell them the butler service wouldn’t be necessary, as it made me feel a little uncomfortable. After thinking about it, I knew that if I wanted to experience The Barai properly I just needed to go with the flow and I’m so glad I did.
We were greeted at The Hyatt Regency hotel reception by our amazing suite butler, Amy, and taken over to The Barai spa and our suite. I had an image of an old-school style butler, which is possibly why I felt unsure about the concept, but Amy (and the lovely Kook, when Amy was off duty) were amazing. They made us feel so welcome and showed us all we needed to know about our room – which was incredible. The bed could have slept about 8 people in it, I’m sure! And on top of that the private pool and steam room were everything a girl on a mission to rest could ask for.
REST & RELAXTION
Designed by renowned Thai architect, Khun Lek Bunnag, The Barai isn’t just a luxury spa, it’s like an art exhibition with every corner you take. The Barai is named after ‘Barays’, the large man-made reservoirs created by the Khmers to channel irrigated water for their daily use, believed to be the life arteries of the empire, and as a source of life, wellbeing and healing.
Having just launched five wellness programme options for guests to enjoy, it was time for me to get stuck into the Ultimate Unwind programme, starting with a massage of course. Even though there was a schedule of treatments planned for me when I arrived, the staff were so accommodating when it came to moving things around and when I spoke to Sylvia the spa manager in my consultation on day one she said that the programmes are all tailored to the individual and are very organic in the way things can move. As well as the Ultimate Unwind programme, The Barai offers five different programmes, with the option of doing your chosen programme for 3, 5 or 7 days.
Here’s what I had the luxury of experiencing during my five days and a luxury it was!
Aromatherapy Full Body Massage
Personal consultation and body composition analysis
Relaxing Foot massage
Detoxing Abdominal Massage
Thai Herbal Compress Massage
Crystal Chakra Compress Massage
Stress Relief Bath
Balance & Soothe Thai Scrub & Vichy Shower
Other programmes on offer at The Barai are the Bespoke Yoga Journey, Vital Body Cleanse, Dynamic Fitness Kick-Starter and the Healthy Weight Kick-Starter. Find out more about The Barai wellnes programmes here. Please note that this Barai Thailand review is just covering my experience of the amazing Ultimate Unwind programme.
FOOD
Included in our all-inclusive package were three meals per day at the McFarland House restaurant, which offered both a normal menu and a ‘healthy menu’. To be honest I think both were pretty healthy, but for customers on the detox and weight loss programmes, the healthy menu is recommended… I, of course, ate anything and everything I wanted! Menu highlights were definitely the buckwheat pancakes, homemade healthy granola (we swapped almond milk for Greek yoghurt), the thai vegetable curry and the pad thai soba noodles. Oh and not forgetting the lime sorbet!
One thing that really stood out for me was how accommodating the chefs were when it can to changing dishes slightly and even making up my own salad on occasion. From speaking to Sylvia I know that the menu is a big focus for The Barai over the coming months, so it’s only going to get better.
We also branched out, away from McFarland house on a few occasions. One night we opted for room service (salad, pasta and chocolate brownie!), we tried Italian at the Hyatt Regency Figs restaurant and also ended our trip with some thai curry at the Hyatt’s thai restaurant. I hugely recommend the vegetable yellow curry with brown rice – so delicious!
REST & RELAX
As I mentioned the main aim for this holiday was to actually rest and relax, something I’m not very good at doing. Being self-employed and having a job that is very much online has many benefits, but can also have it’s downsides, for example never taking a real holiday. My laptop is always with me, as is my phone, so I wanted to use this programme as a good reason to step away from work for a week. You may have noticed a lack of blogs over the last few weeks and even though I apologise for that, I now feel so refreshed I have lots of awesome bits of content to create for you now that I’m home.
I think this is the first time in a very long time I was able to say I felt truly rested… of course the many massages focusing on my neck and shoulders definitely have a part to play in that!
PRICE TAG
A holiday like this doesn’t come cheap, but then why would it? When you have a quiet beach front location, a room the size of a house, the most helpful staff I have ever encountered on a holiday and some of the best massages I’ve ever had, it’s no wonder it costs the amount it does. It’s a luxury and treat, but one I personally feel is so worth it. Yes I was there to review the hotel, but as we loved it so much we ended up staying an extra night, so I can say that I 100% put my money where my mouth is. Price details are available on The Barai website.
Now that I’m back home, back to normal life I can feel the effects of staying at The Barai. I know the craziness will soon take over, but for now I’m still feeling quite relaxed and love reminiscing on my stay there. I hope you’ve all found my Barai Thailand review helpful – just comment below if you have any questions. 🙂
Thank you to The Barai for having us and a special thank you to Kate, Sylvia, Amy and Kook – you were all wonderful!
OUTFIT DETAILS
All of the swimwear featured in this post is from Simply Beach.
Melissa Odabash White Bikini Top
Melissa Odabash White Bikini Bottoms
Vix Swim Khaki & White Bikini Top
Vix Swim Khaki & White Bikini Bottoms
Love, Cat x