Best Co-Working Places in Hua Hin | Hua Hin | Thailand

Hua Hin is getting more popular by the day! New Cafe’s and restaurants are popping up regularly and the overall facilities of this “once small beach town” are making it more and more enjoyable. There’s one thing however that this popular beach town doesn’t offer that much of, which many other cities and popular spots in Thailand do – A good dedicated Co-Working space.

A few have popped up over the last few years but never really took off – mainly because they weren’t what you would a “Co-Working Space”. Although these places had the necessities like a power point and WiFi, they were WELL below what you would get or expect from a Co-Working space in any other town/city like Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, Phuket etc. They had the same price tag, but without simple things like:

• Fridge
• Microwave
• Instant Coffee
• Biscuits
• Ease of Access

So, with this in mind, where do you go to work away on your notebook for a few hours with some of the features/facilities we look for in a Co-Working space? Well, sad to say, you won’t find much of the above these free facilities anywhere, so our next best option is a good cafe or restaurant.

This post on “Best Co-Working in Hua Hin” isn’t so much on dedicated Co-Working spaces, but the next best thing…cafe’s and/or restaurants that I’ve are the closest to a good Co-Working space. Being here for some time now, I’ve been around enough to know which cafe’s offer good coffee, food, WiFi and all with a good price tag if you’re looking for somewhere to set yourself up for a few hours work or even more. Here are the major things that I find make a good Co-Working OR Working spot.

• Fast WiFi (and unlimited – none of this “one hour per receipt” business – nothing worse than your internet dropping out after an hour when in the middle of downloading something or writing an email)
• Good Coffee
• Good food options – or – the option to eat your own food there
• Good prices (if you’re gonna be there for a good couple of hours, and doing this thing daily,  you don’t want to be paying premium price for coffee or food all the time)
• Power Points! – Nothing worse than when you open your notebook and find you have 5% battery power left!
• Opening hours – it’s always good to have a place that opens early if you wanting an early start OR late finish
• Comfy table and chairs so you can sit for an hour or more without feeling uncomfortable

So here are 6 places I consider great spots to crunch away on your notebook for a few hours or more (and perhaps bump into a few others doing the same thing).

• The Market Cafe
• Bliss Cafe
• Black Monster
• Ronin Capsule
• Velo Cafe
• Velo Cafe ‘X’ – Rock n Roast

The Market Cafe

Opening Hours: 9am – 10pm

These guys are on the list for consistency – for over 5 years I’ve been coming to this place for good food and coffee, with the ability to work PEACEABLY in large indoor air-conditioned environment. This place has probably the best ambiance out of all cafe’s on my list, it really puts me in the mood for work. I could be at home, struggling to press a key on the keyboard, and then head to this place, and magic happens!

The other great thing here is it’s a restaurant as well, so there is PLENTY of food to choose form if you’re hungry. The western dishes are probably the thing to go for here as it seems more their specialty. They also have a great breakfast menu including salmon and poached eggs, eggs benedict, scrambled eggs, american breakfast, smoothies….the list goes on!

The pros

• Good food and well priced
• Great coffee and VERY well prices (around 50 baht)
• Huge space with a lot of seating, and powerpoints to use throughout
• Site out the front of one of the largest shopping centers in Prachuap Kiri Kran, so it’s great if you need to do a shop in between your work.
• I feel welcome every time here, even if I’m only having a coffee or two. They never give you that look of “order something substantial or you’re out!”

Cons

• Wifi is on and off – I know this is, a MAJOR requirement for co-working, but it’s still a favourite of mine (and others I see there regularly), as there’s you can use fast free AIS connection (if you’re on AIS) or I just use my own mobile connection as I have a good mobile plan.
• It Opens at 9am – Although, this can be considered early for Hua Hin – not many places open before then.

Bliss Cafe

Opening Hours: 9am – 10pm

Bliss has a HUGE amount of space, and you’d think the back room was dedicated co-working space. Huge table and comfy seats, with and air-con you turn on or off when you please. They serve a wicked coffee, and have a fantastic food selection. The price would be on the high side with the list of 6 I’ve chosen for this blog, but certainly much better than you’ll find in Bangkok, and still what I’d consider cheap.

The food menu is great and has a number of popular western dishes on there including Eggs Benedict, AMAZING Club Sandwich, Pizzas and more. They also have a range of Thai dishes as well – you could comfortably work from here for a good 4 hours or more if you wanted too…maybe even the whole day!

The pros

• Great Space
• Great Food
• Great Coffee
• Near the city center

Cons

• Again, Wifi isn’t so good. I use their WiFi, but the speed goes up and down, and if you’re needing to do a chunky download, this place probably isn’t the best for it.
• Opens at 9am

Black Monster

Opening Hours: 8am – 7pm (Mon – Thur)

Opening Hours: 8am – 8pm (Fri – Sun)

Walking in through the front door, you might think just another normal cafe…but head upstairs, and you’re in a different zone. The upstairs area has a very “co-working” feel to it, and they have a good number of power points and great WiFi, the coffee here ROCKS too. For a coffee here you’re looking at around 75 baht, but it’s a quality coffee and like The Market cafe, these guys will make you feel welcome even if you’re only ordering a coffee. I find this place really comfy and been able to spend a good half a day here.

Since I did my blog on this cafe, they’ve released a new food menu which I’m still yet to try out, but from the look of the menu they have some good food options on here too – so you can hang around and have your breaky or lunch here too.

Try the piccolo latte here – comes in a margarita glass – pretty cool!

The pros

• Feels like a true co-working space (upstairs)
• Fantastic Coffee
• Great Wifi
• Opens at 8am

Cons

• Not really near the city or anything else you’d like to visit, so if you’re on foot, it might be a pain to get to.

Ronin Capsule

Opening Hours: 9am – 5pm (Closed on Wednesday)

This place has a really cool and chilled vibe to the place, so if you think you have a stressful/busy day ahead, this could be the spot for ya. The design and brightness of this place might just take the stressful/busy edge of the day!

The Wifi here rocks, possibly one of the fastest connections out of all the cafe’s on this list. There’s also a great upstairs area which really does feel like a little private office, and being upstairs, you’re away from the rest of the noise of the cafe.

A Quick update on the above statement though, I popped in here just yesterday and the upstairs area was closed off for staff work – I’m not sure if this is a permanent thing – I hope not – because this upstairs area was one of the main factors in making it a great place to work.

The guys here mainly focus on the slow, manual process of making coffee, and you find an espresso machine in here, it’s all Drip, Pour Over and Mokkas that used for making coffee here. They’re a specialty coffee house, and so they have quality beans, and a number of them for you to choose from when you take your order. The prices here are pretty good too, they range around 70 baht mark, and there are some snack type food options to choose from including croissants and some sweet thick toast.

The pros

• Power points
• Fantastic Coffee
• Great Wifi (Fibre) – possible the fastest in this list
• Great space and a quiet area for working upstairs
• Close to city center
• Opens at 9am (not the earliest time, but earlier than others, so I’d consider it “Pro” in this list)

Cons

• No espresso machine, but they still make a latte using a Mokka.

Velo Cafe

Opening Hours: 7:30am – 5:30pm (Closed on Thursday)

My original and favourite cafe in Hua Hin, although I’ll try and keep my biased opinions out of this post, they do make the best coffee in Hua Hin in my opinion, and probably why I like it so much. For me coffee is right up the top of the list when using a cafe as a Co-Working space.

Velo Cafe isn’t what I’d call a large cafe, but then not many are, and I guess right now, they don’t need to be, with quite a small population it’s not common for a cafe to be flooded with people unless it’s during High Season or on a weekend and you have a heap of people visiting. When this place does get busy, it can be hard to find a seat, as the indoor (air-conditioned) probably seats around 20 people, and at this number, it’s quite squashed.

The tables are also quite small, but there’s an outdoor area, and if you’re a morning person, it’s a great, fresh place to set yourself up. They open early, so if you’re needing an early start, this is your best stop. If you’re a late person, well afternoons are good as well, because they’re generally pretty quite in the afternoon as most of the crowds come through between 9:00am – 12:00.

The prices are GREAT here too, and they make AMAZING toasted sandwiches, so if you’re wanting a bite to eat, you can go for something light like one of their small sweets, or something more substantial like their chunky delicious toasted sandwiches (the toasted sandwiches are amazing!)

You’re also able to bring your own food in (whether it be from home or from a local street vendor) as long as you buy something there obviously.

The pros

• Fantastic Coffee
• Cheap prices (coffee at 55 baht)
• Great Wifi
• Opens at 7:30am
• Close to the city

Cons

• Can be a little cozy at times
• Can be a little noisy – when it’s busy (with the small indoor area), the coffee grinder running all the time might not be the best if you have some skype calls to get through.

Velo Cafe X Rock n’ Roast

Opening Hours: 10:30am – 8:30pm (Closed on Wednesday)

Whether this place was built with co-working in mind or not, they’ve done a good job.

This place is the original roasting location (Rock n Roast) for Velo Cafe in the city, and they’ve now recently opened a MUCH large cafe/restaurants on the same block as their roasting house. So now I have the best of both worlds, fantastic coffee, and large space for working away on the laptop.

The cafe is broken up into 3 areas. The main cafe area where you take your order, which seats around 12 people or more, and then a large indoor area out the back of the cafe which has a a couple of large long benches/tables that seat a good 10 or more people each. There’s also a heap of power points in the back room and it’s all opened up (windows and doors) to let the breeze come through and freshen up the place. In saying that, this would also be the only downside to this room, because as the day heats up, so does the room, and although it’s still well covered and kept “rather” cool”, you may prefer the main air-conditioned room.

Last but not least is the outdoor area that is mostly shaded as it’s surrounded by trees and the main large table has a roof covering it as well (which is good for when it rains). Although this wouldn’t be a preferred working spot, it’s a great little zone to rest and chill out for a few minutes if you need a break.

They have a different menu here and a much large selection, however if you’re hoping for one of their toasted sandwiches – you’re out of luck! The menu here has a lot of Thai meals on here though and they’re absolutely delicious!

The pros

• Plenty of power points
• Fantastic Coffee
• Great Wifi (haven’t had a drop out yet, and it’s pretty fast)
• Great food menu
• Great space
• Closes later than some of the others – around 8:30pm

Cons

• Opens late (10am)
• Second indoor area is not air-conditioned, but still very pleasant
• A little bit far if you’re staying in the city – would need to get a taxi out here