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| Flags flutter on Yalong Bay beach |
MENTION George Bush anywhere and you’ll get an animated reaction. Anyone remotely connected with an oil well will pass out. Parents will cover their children’s ears. Dogs will howl. Mention Sanya and you’ll likely get a blank stare. Well, it’s the “Hawaii of the East”, or used to be, until this sleepy backwater awoke one day, no longer content to bask in reflected glory, and reinvented itself as “Forever Tropical Paradise – Sanya”. This island – or, more accurately, one corner of an island – is determined to go head-to-head with the “Pearl of the Orient” and the “City of Life” but not as yet with the “City where Brazen Hussies do Unspeakable Things to Men Over Fifty”. Yet, if you thought this was the “Vladivostok of the East”, you’d be forgiven, for parts of the island are overrun by cheerful Russians, with all restaurant and shop signs in Cyrillic. Also in evidence are Koreans and Japanese. But where the heck is Sanya? First off, check out a Sanya Map.
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Sanya is part of Hainan – that includes the capital Haikou in the north and Boao in the northeast – one of the southernmost islands in China, its pleasures well chronicled by a procession of mandarins banished from Beijing and hurled into exile quite literally at the “end of the earth”. So the Qing dynasty inscriptions proclaim, carved into two large boulders on the beach. This is one of the attractions of the island. So it’s a rock. Okay, two rocks. So what? Australia has Ayers and Sanya has Tianya Haijiao, smaller, smoother, more accessible, and with nary a whiff of koala poo. Oz had its convicts and Sanya its “treacherous” exiled officials whose descendents no doubt have evolved into the scoundrels we know today as taxi drivers. Had these early unfortunates had the sense to open a spa they could have minted millions. But, back then, a “spa treatment” simply involved pouring scalding oil on armed foreigners without the courtesy of a professional consult. It was not something they could advertise in a travel glossy.
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| Gold deities at Nanshan Temple |
Cabbies apart, people are extraordinarily friendly. This is a huge asset, and one that makes it easier for visitors to deal with the limited English and other idiosyncrasies. One gent at a tourist site whom I asked for directions to the toilet, walked me the entire way there, ushered me in and stood by beaming, gesturing at me to get on with it.
Arriving in Sanya, Hainan
Arriving at night on the Dragonair flight from Hong Kong, the Sanya Phoenix International Airport makes a bold statement. Illuminated gloriously atop the building are two large, glowing pineapples. Have you ever actually walked into a pineapple? Michael Jackson probably does it all the time. Well, here’s your chance. As you will have guessed there are not just rocks on Sanya. There are pineapples too. Step off your plane and stroll into the terminal, a delightfully breezy alpine-lodge-meets-Hawaii-resort affair with vaulted wooden ceilings and friendly immigration. Sanya Phoenix Airport and the Haikou Melian International Airport (in the north) have flights in various combinations from Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Wuhan, Qingdao, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Seoul and Russia. Several European and Japanese charters come in as well. A cheaper though more time consuming alternative is to arrive by train/ferry.
Why Sanya means the World to us
Sanya sprang onto the world stage with the Miss World pageant. A bevy of bikini-clad beauties descended on the island to strut their stuff on white-sand beaches, languorously draped around the pools of the Sheraton Sanya, determined to save pandas, hug trees, cheer whales, and bring up orphans – if there were any left over after Brangelina adopted half of Africa. Ask Bishop Desmond Tutu who his mother is and he’ll probably say, “Angelina Jolie.” I’m liable to offer the same response. Other aspiring Miss Worlds said the greatest living woman was Mother Theresa (then dead for several years).
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| Evening glow over Sanya River |
A more recent spin-off is the New Silk Road Model Contest in which young ladies drape themselves over sailboats – and rich persons – demonstrating that Communist China is not just some Rigid Monolithic Single Party State, but actually a Rigid Monolithic Single Party State Where Ladies Have Nice Legs. Nowhere is this more evident than in the purpose-built Yalong Bay playground in the south of Hainan Island, with its megaresorts and arcing sandy bays, surprisingly reminiscent of Bali’s Nusa Dua. Here you’ll find the likes of Marriott, Hilton, Ritz-Carlton and Sheraton, all stunning confections. But don’t expect cut-rate prices. Remember, Sanya has pineapples and rocks. And Hainan chicken, though this may be better sampled in Hong Kong or Malaysia.
The thing about Yalong Bay though is that the beach is actually quite splendid. And resoundingly empty. The weather is bone-roasting tropical most of the time with a mild nip during winter. The planned development appears to genuinely have the area’s well-being at heart. The hotels are grand, the roads tree-lined with plenty of greenery, the waters shockingly blue, the air breathe-it-all-in clean, and the service friendly and elaborate. Very elaborate. At one restaurant I asked for salt. The waitress scratched her head, smiled and brought me in rapid succession, soya sauce, sugar, chopsticks, a glass of water, and the menu. That’s what I call service. I later picked up a salt shaker from the adjoining table. I thought about getting my meat “well done” but my flight was leaving the next day.
English is picking up, but slowly. Don’t be in a rush. If you’re stuck, settle down and find a wife – preferably one that speaks Chinese, owns a taxi, and knows the way to the airport. See our Sanya Map.
Sanya guide to sightseeing, hot springs, temples, golf clubs
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| Sanya Pearl River Nantian/ photo: hotel |
On then with our Sanya guide. If the New Silk Road Model Contest is not for you – or your wife is planning the trip – the International Wedding Festival runs every year in November. Couples renew their vows, get married, and celebrate their anniversaries before the aforementioned ROCKS. Divers will head to Wuzhizhou Island for underwater adventures, and to sample the fabled hot springs and spas of Nantian stop by the Sanya Pearl River Nantian Spa Resort that boasts over 60 steaming pools – all at different temperatures – along with modern rooms and villas. The springs in this area are attributed with medicinal and curative powers. At any rate you’ll feel refreshed and it won’t break the bank. The hot springs are open 8am till 11pm. The place is about a 30-minute drive north from Yalong Bay on the East Expressway.
Alternatively drive up into the hills to gawp at vanishing tribal communities like the Miao, Li and Hui. Later, stroll through Longevity Valley near the historic Nanshan Temple where the folk just live on and on and on, watched over by the more recent and towering addition of the 108m Guanyin Statue (also Kuan Yin). There is even a Longevity Festival in September. The temple with its beautiful golden deities and swirling incense high above a series of stepped pavilions and gates was once a place of serene mystic contemplation. Somewhere along the way it turned into Disneyland. The temple is at the heart of the vast Nanshan Cultural Tourism Zone, a bustling cultural theme park within tropical forest and parkland, where tourists on trolleybuses trundle around sights like the “Dharma Door of Nonduality”, “Auspicious Garden”, and the “Brahma Bells Collection Garden”.
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| Sanya Marriott opens onto gardens |
If all this leaves you flummoxed, try the “Tree Houses” or the vegetarian restaurant. It costs Rmb150 to enter the complex and you’ll need another ticket to board the trolley car. The authorities are pushing for conventions to fill hotel rooms and villas. Still, it is a pleasant enough excursion. When you see the t-shirt and trinket stalls you immediately know you are somewhere special and spiritual. After all, isn’t that how they do it over in Thailand and Bali? Nanshan Temple is a 50-minute to one-hour drive from Yalong Bay along the Western Expressway on the southwest of Hainan Island. From Yalong it’ll cost about Rmb150 one way. Book a roundtrip. Just up the coast is scenic Sanya Nanshan Dongtian Park (www.sanyapark.com/en).
Golfing in Sanya is a favoured pursuit of many. The 18-hole international Yalong Bay Golf Club (www.yalongbaygolfclub.com) is a popular choice right next door to the Sheraton, Marriott, Hilton and Ritz-Carlton. The Sun Valley Golf Club offers 18 holes priced at RMB1,000 per person with caddy, cart and transfer to any Yalong Bay resort. The Sanya International Golf Club is close to the airport and the Luhuitou Golf Club is in Dadonghai.
Getting around Sanya
Get addresses written down in Chinese. Thus armed you are invincible, until you encounter a taxi driver. This can be a hair-pulling experience as the meters, proudly displayed, are seldom used. A taxi ride from the airport to Yalong Bay could cost anywhere from RMB120-RMB200 depending on your negotiating skills. Yalong Bay is well removed from the nightlife and beach strip of Dadonghai (20 minutes), Sanya City and Bay (30 minutes), and the airport (30-40 minutes), so any excursion will involve animated haggling though a good hotel doorman will probably handle this for you. Within Yalong Bay the norm is a RMB10 flat fee, even if the hotel is next door. Here it is simplest to just walk down the beach.
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| Saloon-style Allen Story, Dadonghai |
Sanya guide to nightlife, discos and bars
Any Sanya guide will rave about after hours but, in truth, nightlife and eating out is a bit overrated. Most people tend to eat at their hotels, preferring to haggle later with taxi drivers once fortified by a few beers. The most interesting food perhaps is in the small street cafes of Sanya City. Have a trawl and dive into something if you have someone along who can translate. At night, the Dadonghai area is alive with discos, KTV and open-air cafes where the signs are all in Russian. I didn’t speak Chinese or Russian and had to make do with sign language. The touts were good at this with nimble fingers suggesting that women in this area are keen on demonstrating their hospitality in the privacy of your hotel room, or theirs.
It is remarkably friendly seedy though with none of the harsh thug-in-the-face overtones of larger cities unless you wander down the wrong alley. Start out at the kosher expat-friendly Allen Story (said Allen seems to have an arm lock on the night scene here), where neo-classical Versailles meets tin mine and Wild West. The lights dim at 8pm and the disco crystal ball starts twirling sending pinpricks of light moving about the walls in a throwback to the ’70s. Ornate chandeliers glow above the bar tables, music throbs, and the video screens blaze with pop – or sport. A Coca-Cola will set you back just Rmb20. I listened to how Clapton plans to Change the World while watching a video of America’s Funniest Pets, an odd but strangely relaxing combination.
The Dadonghai nightlife strip is a sudden racket of neon about 20 minutes from Yalong Bay and just before the Sanya River Bridge. This is karaoke country. Walk past or into Allen Lounge and Bar, Allen New KTV, BB Club, MJ Club, or the two-level disco bar Tommorow’s Dream (tel: 8860-9898) that doubles as a hubble-bubble “sheesha” joint. Staff is courteous and friendly. Here too, when I dropped by, the music was ’70s remixes. Later things get louder and boisterous. Someone asked me if I was Russian and I knew it was time to leave.
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| Sheraton Sanya has pools galore |
Back in Yalong Bay my taxi driver drove me straight to a nightclub. “No, hotel,” I said. “This velly good, you try.” I walked back. It was a pleasant cool night.
Yalong Bay spa resorts, family resorts, conference hotels
Yalong Bay is as good a place to start our Sanya resorts review as this is where most of the the prime properties have been thus far located. Many of the hostelries in the area are good, all are clean, even the smaller establishments, and pretty much all are positioned either as Sanya spa resorts, conference resorts, or both. It goes without saying that with very few exceptions, this is a top family resort area and kids are generally welcome.
The Sheraton Sanya Resort, where the sashaying Miss World lovelies first made their mark, opened in 2003. It features a breezy teakwood lobby, again very Balinese, with more swimming pools than you can wiggle your toes in and some attractive water features. Indeed, delightful water features are the leitmotif of this brisk, yet relaxing, beach resort. Beyond the lobby, a water pool leads the eye to the horizon and the eye-popping blue. The place works well as a family resort as well as a Sanya spa resort for the more romantically inclined – just pop over to the Mandara Spa that also does special treatments for men, thank heavens, including the “Gentlemen’s Own, for all skin types”. This 511-room resort includes 49 suites with the prized Grande Deluxe Laguna rooms opening onto a lagoon pool. Most rooms here offer balconies. Expect a flat-screen TV with DVD player, iron and ironing board, a laptop-size flat safe, and a rainforest shower in the bath with a separate soaking tub. Broadband Internet comes at RMB80 per day though the black stretch Lincoln parked outside may cost a tad more.
Business features include WiFi in public areas and a 1,250sq m ballroom catering for up to 1,400. Toss in a white grand piano, jet skis, kayaks, a terrific beach and a raft of water sports and it’s clear to see why the Sheraton is a Sanya conference hotel with a difference. Put it down to creeping midlife crises, but the red Ferrari on show in the lobby set my pulse racing. I guess if you have a Ferrari, why not park it in the lobby and make a statement.
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| Statue catches sunrise at Sanya Marriott |
Immediate neighbour, the Sanya Marriott Resort & Spa boasts 456 rooms (including 24 suites) with balconies offering sweeping views of Yalong Bay and the sea. The hotel has been designed to respect and showcase local traditions. This is does admirably. Dotted among the extensive gardens you’ll spot striking stone statues of fishermen and villagers. Do not ask them for a beer; not even after your tenth drink. But, if you’re lonely, you might strike up a conversation with one of these mysterious figures. Rooms are bright and friendly. You’ll find a TV, work desk (Broadband is at RMB80 per 24-hour cycle), a small safe, iron and ironing board, a hair-drier, and a bathroom with separate shower and tub. The balcony is of decent size and basic decorum is expected. A sign on the sliding glass door discourages the hanging of laundry outside. Of course you are welcome to lie back and dry out while catching some serious rays. The two hardback wooden chairs are sufficiently stern to keep you alert and focused on some dazzling sunrises.
Hotel staff is on the ball, exceedingly attentive, and responsive. You will be garlanded, thanked, and bowed to constantly. Smiles are ubiquitous. The Sanya Marriott has extensive gardens to get some grass underfoot when you are not leaving footprints in the sand. The beach is delightful (the same unblemished stretch extends from the Sheraton past the Marriott and Hilton to the Ritz-Carlton). Hop onto a water scooter, paddle out in a kayak, windsurf, play volleyball, or cool down in one of the large freeform swimming pools. There is a kids' club for juniors as well as three golf courses within a 30-minute radius for the swinging set. This is among the popular Sanya conference hotels with 1,250sq m of function space.
The Quan Spa, in its own private garden setting, has spacious treatment rooms and an arsenal of cure-all remedies. It is a relaxing enclave easily accessed from the hotel yet set apart. Herbs and unguents are sourced in Australia and China and offer an “east meets west” menu. Pick from massages, scrubs and wraps or long all-in-one sessions. After hours, dine Vietnamese or Chinese and then chill out at the upper-level lobby bar with open views of the coast and live music. The Marriott is friendly and accessible yet with exclusive nooks and crannies. Pets, apart from blonde secretaries, are not permitted. (Sanya Marriott Resort & Spa features in our exclusive Top Asian Hotels Collection, featuring the best Asian hotels, resorts and spas in a printable A4 page with stunning visuals.) The Marriott rates well among the top Sanya spa resorts.
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| New look Hilton room/ photo: hotel |
Next along the bay is the Hilton Sanya Resort & Spa boasting a further 400m of white sand beach. The rooms encircle and embrace the central freeform pools including a mock lagoon with an artificially sanded “beach, manicured gardens and walkways. The views extend to the hills on one side and the sea on the other. The Spa Retreat serves up treatments galore and fitness equipment, sauna, gym and aerobics studio are close at hand. Those wishing to work up further sweat can do so at the two floodlit tennis courts or avail of the watersports options along the beach. In-room expect traditional decor with contemporary touches, a 42-inch flatscreen TV, Broadband access at RMB80 per day (and paid WiFi in public areas), a DVD/CD player, iron, ironing board, and a curtain divider separating the bedroom from bathing area.
Some rooms will end up with glass partitions instead, catering for the MICE meetings market. These folk do not like getting their suits splashed. And some rooms offer the novelty of bathtubs positioned by the balcony offering outside views. The Hilton’s signature .IZE restaurant follows a water theme with other outlets focusing on “natural” design along earth, wood, and fire expressions. Families will be happy with the Kidz Paradise facility and babysitting service. As with other Sanya conference hotels, the Hilton is no slouch at serving up meetings and weighs in with 3,000sq m of space to play with plus 800sq m of lawn. The ballroom can hold 1,000 people cocktail style.
The brand new Ritz-Carlton Sanya opened late April 2008. It is a stately affair with clean, structured lines and dark wood redolent of the Beijing Summer Palace. The eye is led unerringly in a straight line past black-tile ponds and young trees to the inviting oceanfront pool and the shimmering expanse of white beach, aided in small measure by a generous sanding. At the very end of the Yalong Bay strip, the Ritz-Carlton affords a sense of exclusive luxury with 450 rooms, the smallest of these an echoing 60sq m. Expect views of the sea, rolling hills or mangroves from a large balcony, a huge walk-in closet, iron and ironing board, flat laptop safe, flat-screen TV (with a monitor in the bathroom), Broadband, DVD player and a Bose iPOD dock. You’re all set to work or party. Be sensible and choose the latter. Electric push buttons operate curtains and lights and the comfy plumped up bed commands attention. A partition glides away revealing the bathtub. Roll out of bed and literally plunge in.
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| Ritz-Carlton beds overlook the bath |
The smallest one-bedroom villas start at 130sq m (three-bedroom villas go up to 350sq m) with decent sized living rooms, cool bedrooms, all featuring timber flooring and spacious baths. Step out into the patio to find your own private plunge pool. Internet is complimentary. The expansive 2,788sq m ESPA at the Ritz-Carlton Sanya will serve up exotic treatments no less and those in a hurry can waltz out to the wedding chapel on the beach for a romantic Sanya resort wedding. Later, exhausted by four swimming pools, two tennis courts, volleyball, beach soccer and eight fine restaurants, retire to your room and check out the pillow menu. You’ll need it. The Ritz-Carlton offers 1,700sq m of conference space and plans to position itself as one of the top Sanya luxury resorts aided in some measure by a ritzy high-end shopping arcade featuring the likes of Louis Vuitton, TOD’s, Salvatore Ferragamo, Paul & Shark and Ermenegildo Zegna. Sanya luxury shopping? Look no further. Ritz says this is a first for Sanya.
The Crowne Plaza Sanya hosted Miss World 2007 and even Mr World, though not at the same time or we might have had a Mrs World and Baby World on the way. This is not a beachfront hotel though it offers a shuttle to a stretch of sand. The 466-room Crowne Plaza’s main strength is as a Sanya conference hotel, a meetings and MICE specialist, with a regular train of buses disgorging excited conference-goers. The Dragon Ballroom handles 1,200 theatre style and a host of minor ballrooms and function spaces stretch accommodation substantially. The hotel complex houses a shopping “village”, townhouses, hotel rooms and a few villas radiating out from a striking Chinese-style pagoda that functions as the design centrepiece and lobby. A large freeform pool offers relaxing diversion as does the Tea Tree Spa. Premier Rooms are pleasant with timber floors and large work table and TV. Internet is complimentary in-room. While not in the same league as the beachfront properties, the Crowne Plaza Sanya is among the better Sanya MICE hotels and is a decent choice for a Hainan conference.
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| Crowne Plaza Sanya Chinese entrance |
The 787-room Horizon Resort & Spa (formerly Resort Horizon, indeed the two entrances feature two different names, confounding guests) has spacious landscaped gardens, large free-form pools with sculpted rock formations, waterfalls, slides and jets, and extensive on-the-beach offerings from romantic dining to adrenaline-pumping water sports. The de rigueur massages are served up at the Lanikai Spa. Rooms are smart and airy, most with balconies overlooking the ocean, and wooden plank floors leading to the open bathing area and tub. In-room Internet is complimentary. This is one of the older residents of the beach, beaten only by neighbouring Gloria Resort, officially Yalong Bay’s first five-star resort. Still, Gloria’s rooms are clean and spacious, with great views and its private white sand beach is still among China's best. Expect business facilities as well as relaxation treats including spa treatment and massage.
A relative newcomer is the large, spread out, Thai-style Yalong Bay Mangrove Tree Resort where the Mangrove Tree Spa kneads tired flesh with liberal applications of oil and aromatic unguents. Try a wrap, facial or scrub in one of the nine treatment rooms. This is not just a bland addition to the mushrooming ranks of Sanya spa resorts: the hotel offers 1,200sq m of meeting space, several restaurants including signature Thai, tennis courts, gym, the Kids Playhouse, a large swimming pool with water slides, 260m of beach and sea views from most of its 502 rooms. While the building itself is unimpressive from outside save for its scale – like any large hotel – it has style and colour inside. This is a decent option if you’re hunting for Sanya family resorts and child-friendly establishments.
The 358-room Holiday Inn Resort is a well-kept place with meetings and banquet facilities and makes the most of its quiet location at one end of Yalong Bay. Rooms are carpeted and modern with TV, the business centre has Internet access, the Little Stars kids’ club takes care of the three to 12-year-olds, and there is the Tea Tree Spa with hot stones, aromatherapy and shiatsu. Set away from the beach, and favoured by tour groups, the Cactus Resort (from Gloria Hotels & resorts) is among Yalong Bay’s cheapest. While not exactly a Sanya budget hotel, this establishment follows an Aztec theme that keeps things surreal including cactus motifs. As elsewhere in Hainan, staff struggle with English, but do try hard.
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| Classical straight lines of the Ritz-Carlton |
The Mediterranean Aegean Conifer Suites Resort Sanya has largish 64sq m suites each with a kitchenette, Jacuzzi perched on the balcony, LCD TV, washing machine, stove and cutlery. Larger suites come with iron and ironing board. Toilets are modern and chic. Outside look for further Greek flourishes – startling white stucco walls, bright blue-and-white striped chairs, and an ocean-view pool. You could be on Mykonos, at less than half the price. Resort Golden Palm is a pleasant four-star set-up, sprawling across 43 acres along a lake with a view of the sea across the bay front road and park. The resort is long rather than tall with red-tile roof. Think swimming, mountain biking, kids’ club, karaoke, and acupuncture. The hotel website candidly declares it not only receives “salary visitors but also famous people”. Good to know.
For villa resorts in the Yalong Bay area, check out Yalong Bay Villas & Spa Resort self-described as a “Shangli-la lying beside the sea”. The villas are large, attractive, like self-contained houses with all kitchen and living facilities, arrayed around a central free-form pool with the beach to one side across the road. The inspiration is Balinese with facilities including refrigerator, safe, Internet and the ominous “Alarming Service”. Ah well, you can’t have everything. The Pullman Sanya Yalong Bay offers 77 rooms and 115 well appointed villas along with spa, fitness centre and conference and meeting facilities. It is a stylish option with rich Asian decor if a Sanya villa resort is what you’re after. The place is managed by French chain Accor. Facilities include a kids’ pool, outdoor swimming pool, babysitting services, Internet access, satellite TV, billiards, and in-room safes. There’s no beach but the hotel has access to a private bit of sand.
Dadonghai hotels and Luhuitou Bay luxury hotels
Around 20 minutes from Yalong Bay, Dadonghai is a nightlife district with cafés, bars and, around a headland, watched over by Luhuitou Park (Deer Turning Back Park), further stretches of sand, though not as pristine as at Yalong Bay. Two Sanya luxury resorts that will eventually put their stamp on this area are the Mandarin Oriental Sanya and the Banyan Tree Sanya Resort & Spa (with 61 pool villas, spa pool villas and spacious three-bedroom digs). It will pinch the pocket though. Banyan Tree’s opening offers commenced end April 2008 starting at Rmb5,355 per night for a minimum three-night stay. \
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| Banyan Tree Spa Pool Villa/ photo: hotel |
At this 30-acre tropical lagoon getaway expect a whizz mix of hydrotherapy and spa treatments at the Banyan Tree Spa, conference facilities, and villas offering private swimming pools, alfresco bathtubs, sun loungers, WiFi, flat screen plasma TV, DVD player, and pillow menu. The two-level Spa Pool Villa has a 55sq m pool, a private garden, open terrace and massage area. Yes, you’ll get an outdoor shower – or you can wait for the rains. At the high end are the two Presidential Villas with private compounds safe enough for even Clinton and his wayward cigars.
The Mandarin Oriental Sanya opens in the second half of 2008. It is another unabashedly high-end retreat. Unlike other more compact offerings, the 297-room Mandarin Oriental is stretched out slim, if elegant, over 12 hectares of beachfront covering around 1.2km end to end. It will offer the biggest Presidential Suite in Sanya at a staggering 3,328sq m, almost enough room to form a country with its own parliament and flag. Standard rooms will start at 55sq m with open sea views with lingering sunsets. Beachfront villas come with a private garden, terrace, and a pool. With a picture postcard on this scale, any toing and froing will need a buggy. The hotel will need to re-sand swimming areas on the beach to smooth out the coral coast, typical of the Dadonghai and Luhuitou area though the main public Dadonghai strip has a reasonable sandy stretch. Perhaps that’s why the deer turned back, to get a better look at some amazing transformations in this neck of the woods.
Look forward to a 3,200sq m Spa Village with 18 treatment suites and ample recreation options including fitness centre, golf simulators (the Luhuitou Golf Club is also close by for real swings), swimming pools with water slides and, of course, long rejuvenating walks as you traverse the resort wondering where you left your mobile phone. Also find a MoMo Kids’ Club, several restaurants and bars (all staffed by women, mind you), luxury shopping outlets from Shanghai Tang and Vilebrequin among others, and an extensive collection of cigars. Sanya luxury resorts? Look no farther than here. A Sanya resort wedding? Meetings? Sure.
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| Kempinski: soak in the balcony |
Another Dadonghai favourite, this time for milling tour groups and sun-seeker Russians, is the large Resort Intime.
Sanya spa resorts, Sanya bay hotels, family hotels
Sanya Bay is not a high-end holiday. This is a spot for budget hotels, family resorts, and value long-term deals. The bay front is tree lined and pleasant of an evening with glorious sunsets and iridescent skies. Condominiums and hotels line the boulevard where couples stroll arm in arm and hawkers sell everything from gewgaws to savouries.
The pick of the bunch on Sanya Bay is easily the Kempinski Resort & Spa Sanya. Opened in January 2007, the Kempinski Resort & Spa Sanya sprawls across 166 acres of prime beachfront at one secluded end of Sanya Bay West with a smorgasbord of accommodation choices from standard to spacious suites and Spa Villa Rooms. This is a chic and well thought out property with numerous engaging flourishes. For one it is a tad more compact than most megaresorts where it is a sweaty hike from room to café. The beach is far closer to the main building and is easily accessed without enforced dogleg meanders through gardens and walkways like the IKEA one-way see-all trek. Touchy-feely people will enjoy the stone textures that provide the setting for this Sanya Bay family resort. Yellow is clearly the recurring theme as attested to by a yellow stretch limo, yellow cushions and yellow striped beach umbrellas. The resort walls are also ochre-mustard. The Kempinski is not a copycat resort though it maintains the classic layout style with pool in the middle fronting a wide expanse of sand, the rooms coming around in two “arms”.
The free Internet in the rooms will be handy for executives. The beds are on raised bamboo platforms, the bathroom separated by an adjustable blind, all looking out at a sunny balcony with a belvedere bathtub where you can strut your stuff as long as you don’t slip on the soap and crack your skull. Very uncool. It’s not entirely private so some skimpy day-glo Calvin Klein will be in order. Inside find twin wash basins, rain shower, flat-screen TV, and a handy pullout sofa bed.
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| Dadonghai: trawling for seafood |
The range of toiletries is good from emery boards to cotton buds and all manner of potions. Later unwind at the Angsana Spa at Kempinski. Just 15 minutes from the main town (Sanya City) and airport the Kempinski Resort & Spa Sanya is in a quiet gentrified neighbourhood. It is a useful choice for MICE planners with over 1,000sq m of meeting space and a generous 800sq m Grand Ballroom. View this as a decent Sanya conference hotel or, most definitely, as a solid child-friendly Sanya family resort. It is quiet though and about 40 minutes from Yalong Bay.
Sanya Bay and Sanya City is full of cheap hotels, many packed with Russian holidaymakers. Some popular inns for group traffic along the boulevard include Palm Beach Resort and Spa, a clean and competitively priced option, Pearl River Garden Hotel, the Tianfuyuan Resort, and the Sanya Shanhaitian Hotel.
Haikou business hotels and resorts
Haikou, the capital of Hainan, is a small and bustling business city in the north of the island about a two to three-hour drive from Sanya on the new expressway. Haikou literally means “Mouth of the Sea” and its boulevards and parks are lined with coconut trees. Haikou business hotels abound and Haikou conference hotels and leisure options are endless. However, this is not a place to tarry in unless you are there on work in which case you’ll find the facilities ample and comfortable. Of course you might try local delicacies like “Wengchang chicken” and “Hele crab” or venture out to Holiday Beach or Wugong Temple before racing south to Sanya.
Or you might do the 40-minute drive from Meilan International Airport and stay at the swish Sheraton Haikou Resort that occupies a prime stretch of beachfront not far west of Haikou City. The 341-room hotel offers the customary Sheraton Sweet Sleeper Bed, balconies, in-room safe, oversize bathtubs, WiFi in public areas and high speed Internet in the rooms. Also find rainforest showers, iron and ironing board and a wide range of satellite channels. This is a good Haikou conference hotel with 1,300sq m of meeting space including a sans-pillar ballroom.
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| Sheraton Haikou/ photo: hotel |
A Haikou five-star hotel with brisk service is the Meritus Mandarin Haikou in the heart of the financial district. The hotel, which opened in 1998, has 318 rooms and conference facilities with seating capacity for up to 800. Facilities are modern, from the audiovisual equipment to the simultaneous translation service. Rooms are large in light pastels. Among the better Hainan conference hotels, the Meritus also offers extensive fitness facilities ranging from tennis to yoga.
The amazing Crown Spa Resort Hainan is a 20-minute drive from downtown Haikou, on the beach, with friendly staff. That’s useful because the place is a hallucinogenic Las-Vegas-Meets-Paris affair. Modelled along the design of a classical French chateau, the hotel consists of three buildings, one housing the extensive and well equipped Crown Lotus Spa that claims to have the largest hydrotherapy indoor hot spring. The 333 rooms are grand with all mod-cons. No stinting on the goodies here. Guests like the place, kids have a great time, and if you need a Hainan conference hotel with a difference, this could be it.
Baohua Harbour View Hotel is a huge high-rise complex directly across from the green expanse of Wanlu Park with good views of the Strait. The smallish rooms, 418 of them, are clean and comfortable. There is a shopping arcade below and a selection of restaurants. Generous rate discounts tend to be the norm here. The 196-room Haikou Hotel in the centre of town describes itself as the “White House of Green Ireland”. Whatever that might mean, it provides an excellent and cheap, if somewhat ageing, base for exploring Haikou on foot, with easy strolls to nearby East Lake and People’s Park.
Boao Scenic Zone and conference hotels
Boao Scenic Zone, on the east coast of Hainan, just below Haikou, is at the confluence of two rivers (on the estuary of the Wanqing River) and the resulting sandbanks lend the place its special charm. It is about 160km from Sanya and a two-hour drive. Haikou is just 30 minutes away.
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| Crowne Spa Resort/ photo: hotel |
This is where the Boao Forum for Asia took its name. Despite that, the forum is moving south to Yalong Bay’s beckoning beaches. The Sofitel Boao is one of the more pleasant options in this area, located on Dongyu Island and fronting the beach. You’ll find 437 rooms, ample restaurants, a spa, hot springs, tennis, a Graham Marsh designed golf course and the BFA Convention Center that can host up to 2,000 persons.
And that’s the A-to-Z of Sanya resorts, spas, hot spring getaways, luxury resorts, Haikou conference hotels and the best Sanya beaches and beach resorts. Now where’s that “City where Brazen Hussies do Unspeakable Things to Men Over Fifty”? If you find out, you know where to reach me.
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