We booked to stay at Marriott Sanya for 6 nights.

Marriott Sanya was a lovely clean hotel.

The staff were courteous and the beach was very nice.

The hotel itself did not have anything particularly Chinese about it (apart from the staff of course). It didn't reflect any culture at all.

The hotel is on Yalong bay, a resort lined with other 5 star hotels. There is a small centre about 15 minutes walk away that has shops and bars, some of them still under construction. It will be nice when finished. There is a shop by the hotel entry/exit barrier where you can stock up on any essentials.

It's impossible to go anywhere without a taxi and fares are expensive. Concierge had an unhealthy interest in where we were going, and kept trying to recommend us to go elsewhere, to get their commission! We got out of it by saying we had to meet friends. Taxi drivers always tried to persuade us to go elsewhere too (oh, watch out for the paper covering the taxi meter, already ticking away before you're picked up!) The taxi drivers constantly tried to sell us excursions, get us to pearl shops or restaurants to get their commission, which is fair enough. It started to feel like everyone was trying to rip us off...we went to one restaurant on the outskirts of town, strongly recommended by concierge and taxi driver, yes we couldn't get out of it on this occassion! The car had barely pulled up and the staff were opening the doors, telling us how great their food was! We chose our fish and agreed prices with the waiter as he weighed up the fish, as you do - when our food bill came at the end of the meal, an additional CNY100 was slapped on top! Our waiter was nowhere to be seen, and when we questioned it with the staff, they made out that they could not speak English or understand us! I bet the waiter was hiding in the kitchen. Why don't they understand that this kind of behaviour will make sure that we won't go back!? To add to the dissappointment food wasn't even that good. My tip is to stick to the hotels!!! Try some of the hotels along the strip, I wish we did.

By the way don't go to the seafood restaurant by the hotel, if you do, ask for the main menu. The guy was trying to charge us £20 for a crab! Plus, I got bitten by mosquitos here.

There wasn't any entertainment or performances at this hotel. The lobby bar had a live band on until 11.30 in the evenings, the bar itself was quiet, perhaps due to London prices in China!? Still, we chilled out here in the evenings. If you are looking for a lively hotel - then this isn't the one for you!

Hotel guests are mainly Chinese and Russian. There isn't any interaction between guests. Hardly anyone smiled back or responded to "good morning". Cheer up - you're on holiday!!!

Everything in Sanya is so man-made. Reading that the resort was two years old I assumed that it was still be charming and cultural, but we didn't find this anywhere in Sanya. All the roads are brand new, the central reservations and side walks have perfectly kept flower beds. It was just too perfect, no character.

I was expecting the hotsprings to be natural too. The park was basically full of themed manmade pools with heaters! For example, coconut milk, coffee, and green tea pools. The fish were obviously introduced to the fish pool. This was a wierd experience, I found it ticklish and a bit squeemish at the same time. Try it. Overall it was a lovely relaxing day.

We got our taxi driver to stop at a shop on our way back and bought some water, soft drinks and beers - they came to just under £5. Bargain!

We went to the shooting range one day - this was good fun. Our Mr. let me drive you all around the houses taxi driver, came running in with us to get brownie points and would not leave us alone. We got him to drop us off at McDonalds afterwards because that was all he could understand. Wow - what a nice little area we discovered... we were finally with the locals. There were good shops and local restaurants here. I got a manicure done, and guess what, without getting ripped off! We got a taxi driver to take us back and the fare was almost a third of what we had been paying for runs from our hotel, as he didn't drive us round the block ten times, we kept him on to take us back to the airport.

We cut our stay in Sanya short by 3 nights. Admittedly, the weather was overcast and may have made our experience not so pleasurable, saying that even if the weather improved would it have made me feel like I was in China?

Overall I would say that Marriott in Sanya is perfect but shallow.

A short one hour flight from Hong Kong takes you to the unspoilt hainan island of sanya. A taxi from the airport to the marriott cost approx 120 RMB, one word of warning check your change ! We got hungarian notes but as it was late at night when we arrived we did not realise until well after the event !

Please dont be put off by your journey from the airport to the marriott, the drive to your resort is not the most visually appealing but we can assure you that when you reach the marriott you will not be disappointed.

After our welcome drink we were taken to our seaview deluxe room, pictures of which are attached, fantastic and highly recommended. The resort is outstanding, check out our pictures for yourself, we were intending on staying at the hilton (which is just next door) but fortunately it was fully booked and we booked the marriott, which proved to be the correct choice. The marriott is very clean, the staff are exceptionally attentive and always happy to help and the standard overall is exceptional. We ate at all of the available restaurants and were not disappointed, especially in relation to value for money. Try the spa, after 8 days running around china and hong kong a massage was just what the doctor ordered !

Overall fantastic setting and location, breath taking scenery and would certainly recommend the cocktails at the deep blue beach bar.

Canned fruit for breakfast. Sad. An island known for Coconuts and not a Coconut in sight. Strange! But worse:
When two men make a reservation and book a double bed, it is quite sad and unprofessional to still get asked if we are sure not to take a room with two beds?? Memorable and very awkward check in!! Mountain view turned out to be more of a garage entrance view! When asking the Front Desk about Dinner offers and the buffet at the Pool Bar, which we observed being set up, they told us there is no buffet at the Pool Bar and the main restaurant only serves a la carte. Both not true. Pretty indicative of the product knowledge of the staff. But the restaurants are pretty bad anyway and serve frozen fish at the Vietnamese restaurant. The sea is about 50 yards away. Amazing! Interesting that the executive chef sat with a group of people next to us having his dinner, which certainly was not Vietnamese. He never said hello to us and when serving eggs the next day at breakfast he failed to ever look up or even smile at any of the guests. Wonderful exapmp,e to his colleagues!!! The female concierge instructed our taxi driver how to get to a restaurant that serves authentic Hainanese Chicken. The address was wrong and after an hour searching the reccommended restaurant turned out to be a complete filthy dump.
The Cocktails are very very bad. Just go round the bushes on the left hand side of the beach and you find the Sheraton Beach Bar, which actually serves drinks that can be called Cocktails.
We never saw any Managers during our 4 days there, which is probably why the standard is so bad. Next time we will book the new Kempinski or even the Hilton right next to it is much better!The only highlight were very good housekeeping and the cleanliness as well that it has well kept grounds and a nice beach, although people who are not staying at the hotel can use it and it is sometimes hard to find a sun bed. And if you find one, don't mind the hotel staff watching while you carry it to your desired spot. Enjoy!

We flew to Sanya with Mytravel (Airtours), we upgraded to Premair and it was definately worth every penny. We were first on the plane, we got a drink while everyone else boarded. OK magazine and a newspaper were provided before we took off. We had our own duvet and pillow, and were also provided with free drinks the whole time. The food was very good - and were given a menu of what was to come at each meal. For example - Lunch = Chicken, Vegetables and Potatoes, pudding, fresh warm roll, handmade chocolates, pasta salad. Then Coffee etc, then when the main movie started (we all had seperate tvs aswell with a choice of programmes/films) we were all given a Mars Icecream. It was like this pretty much the whole way. Excellent. Then on the way home - we were given a little vanity case with things such as Lip Balm, Face Mask, Face Spritzer etc enclosed. A real nice touch!!!!
Thats the flight sorted.
As for the Marriott - excellent just doesn't cover it really - the hotel was amazing. Right from the moment we got here the first day....we were given some iced Tea, then shown to our room - which was heaven. It was nice and big - spacious - and the bathroom was lovely. Loads of toiletries - e.g toothbrushes, razors etc.
Every night a bottle of water was put next to the bed with a little sweet.
If you left any clothes lying around when you came back to the room they were all folded up for you.
The staff in the hotel are all hand picked apparently - for their personalities - and also their language skills. Some were better than others speaking English - but they wanted to learn from you the whole time. Watching how you said certain words and then repeating them. Fantastic.
We tried to speak some Mandarin - their english was definately better than my Mandarin!!!!!!
The food in the hotel was excellent - With My Travel were given a seperate menu - it was all a bit confusing at first but eventually it all worked itself out.
There is an Indonesian restaurant, a chinese and also a Marriott Cafe which served a mixture of food. In the second week we were there (it was busier) they started doing a buffet on an evening in the cafe which was excellent. You could more or less get just about anything - and if they didn't have it, they would get it!!!!
The breakfast was also great. A massive choice, from Fresh pastries, cereals, fruit, bacon, sausage, eggs, noodles, dumplings, pancakes made to order, Smoothies made to order!!!!! There was something for everyone.
We also had the trips to Beijing and Hong Kong to look forward too - which were amazing!!!!!!!
I would definately recomment this hotel it was fantastic...and we will be going back again!!!!!!