The Venezia Hua Hin

The Venezia Hua Hin is styled after Italy’s most famous canal crossed city

Modeled on the romantic city of Venice it offers shopping, restaurants, statues, architecture and several novel attractions to entertain you and your family during your visit to Hua Hin.

The buildings have been designed based on the architecture of Venice with several takes on famous landmarks including the Bell Tower, St Mark’s Square “the Piazza” and the Grand Canal, although on a much smaller scale.

Location / Getting There?

Situated on Petchkasem Road, just north of the airport tunnel and next to the entrance for Stamford University it is easily reached by automobile.

With its brightly coloured buildings and impressive bell tower it’s not likely that you’ll miss seeing it if you’re travelling down from Bangkok for the weekend.

The car park has been built with enough space to handle 2000 automobiles so you shouldn’t have a problem finding place to park. Saying that it can become congested as visitors try to park as it is not wide enough to pass other cars.

Attractions

The Venezia is more than just a standard shopping center, it also has several attractions to draw in visitors. The canal takes center stage and although it doesn’t compare to the Grand Canal (as it is only a couple of hundred meters long) you can have your very own gondolier slowly paddle you up and down its length.

For kids there is the amusement arcade and 4D cinema as well as a petting farm and playground.

For those that prefer not to walk you have two options, either a horse drawn carriage or the mini train which winds its way around the whole of the complex.

Shopping & Restaurants

Although there are a lot of empty stores at the moment this is sure to change in the coming months. Many of those that are open at the Venezia are running sales at the moment so you may be able to pick up a bargain but don’t forget to check out the FN Factory Outlet store just a little further to the North of town as you’ll find many of the same brands on offer.

Here are just a few of the stores that you’ll find at The Venezia but there is capacity for over 350 stores when complete.

• Paul Frank
• Adidas
• Boots
• Watsons
• Playboy
• Gap
• Rip Curl
• Espirit
• Zein
• Sabina
• Villa Market

The main indoor shopping center has ride-on animals for both kids and parents. For just a few baht you can hop on and ride around the mall for a minute or so trying to avoid other shoppers.

Villa Market has opened a new store at The Venetia. It is slightly larger than the one in the center of Hua Hin and is well stocked with plenty of  international produce and items.

What We Thought

There’s enough at The Venezia to keep you and the family occupied for a few hours. You can drop the kids off at the petting zoo or playground before you set off shopping. Although the range of shops is not huge at the moment and construction is ongoing this is will improve over the coming months.

Dotted throughout the complex are a variety of sculptures based on those found in Italy and the style and architecture of the buildings is a change from what you normally come across in Thailand. There are plenty of opportunities for taking photos which is what most visitors seem to spend their time doing.

The buildings are brightly painted and well laid out with some ornate Corinthian style architecture.

One of the issues we noted is that being styled on Venice means that there are plenty of walkways and open areas rather than having one enclosed mall. While this is beautiful it does mean that it can get very hot most days, especially during the afternoons and during the rainy season you are likely to get very wet.

There is a lack of shading so you are exposed to the sun while walking so don’t forget to bring a parasol or sun protection creme. Trees have been planted around the complex but they are not yet large enough to offer any noticeable shade.

Photographs from The Venezia, Hua Hin