Stayed there with family (2 kids) for 5 days/4 nights.

The place is packed with russian tourists coming here to have fun and drink, and unless you enjoy mingling with crowds of drunken people (or are one of them) I strongly suggest you stay away from the place. We understood it was not a seasonal issue but a permanent one. One morning they even had to fish one out of the pool, although it was not clear whether he was dead or just in a booze coma...

Kids club was just Okay but not much more.
Pools are nice (when not inhabited by floating drunk bodies).

Appart from that, service is substandard for a Hitlon (only the price reflects what you would expect from the brand), the personel really does not give a damn solving problems or being helpfull, and the quality of the environment is higlhly depending on in which wing of the hotel you stay in. We were close to a part under refurbishment at the time of our stay, with noise and dirt around, and the front desk would refuse to change room, arguing the hotel was "full" although we could clearly see it was not at all. Same issue about a refusal for a late check out arrangement, althout we hold a VIP HHonors card... Same excuse of the "fully booked" hotel, which clearly was not the case.

As for the Island itself, it does not present enough interest to spend more than a few days. Most of the tourist "attractions" are auite disappointing.

In other words, a substandard hotel from Hilton, with bad service and patronage leaves a lot to be desired -once again unless you enjoy the company of crowds of drunk people vomitting around...

Neither the place, nor the hotel, nor the price, can compare with "nearby" Malaysia, Thailand or Indonesia/Bali for instance.

This is a beautiful Hotel on a stunning stretch of beach with great views and a very pretty pool area. Food is good in all restaurants but is a little pricey especially the Ize restaurant which wasn't really any better than the others. The varied buffets in the main restaurant are the best value. Alcohol is very expensive 35Yuan for a local beer (2-3 Yuan in the shops) & wine is even worse. Not sure why Hilton are keeping it so high as not too many people use the bars due to the price. Staff are really friendly & can't do enough for you. The rooms are really good with large in-bedroom bath tubs & all mod cons although Ocean view rooms are more like Pool view rooms. Sanya City is 30 mins away by cab & worth a visit especially for the cheap shopping.
If you are heading here you can't fail to enjoy it.

I and my wife have just got back from honeymoon - touring round China and Hong Kong and we stayed at Sanya for 6 nights, 5 days at the beginning of November.

I loved the Hilton. From the friendly greeting, towel and refreshing drink on arrival to the service and the attention to detail; it was my wife's birthday while we were out there and they had already prepared a cake, (without anyone asking) and when I enquired about arranging some flowers for her, they surpassed themselves by using rose petals to spell out "Happy Birthday" on the bed, complete with elephants made out of bath towels!! it cost nothing and meant so much!

The weather was excellent, very sunny and about 26 - 30 degrees in the day and 22 at night but all the rooms had good air con.

The room was massive with a giant two person tub, DVD player, Plasma TV and balcony. The food was really nice, the best being the IZE restaurant. I had 200g fillet steak, (which is huge!) and lobster and my wife had a 300g fillet steak. The food was exquisit, (the best steak and lobster I've ever had!) and the meal came to about £60, which I thought pretty reasonable, considering the meal was top notch! I'd recommend that you don't order a starter though, for two reasons - 1.you'll never eat it and the main course! 2.they provide an apetizer for free. Also the water is very expensive.

The following are only slight quibbles which didn't detract from the holiday, but I should just mention to make your holiday that little bit better:

- The restaurants aren't non-smoking, (but this is probably only made more noticeable by the fact that we've now banned it in Britain) but this is common throughout China, (though it is banned in Hong Kong). They usually provide non-smoking areas, but these aren't always available.

- Try not to get a sunbed next to one of the drains. It was only noticeable if you were close enough and the wind was blowing hard and in the wrong direction - but still worth mentioning to get the best pew not pee-ewe!

- There's a shop down the road from the hotel if you want supplies a little cheaper and worth getting out to explore.

- Take your own DVDs, 'cause they only have about 30 to choose from and we'd already seen most of them! Still managed to rent Troy. The trick is to rent the DVD a few minutes before the sports shop closes, so that you get the DVD up until 12pm the next day, rather than having to take it back when your four hours is up - you still get charged the same price!

- Book the restaurants to ge the nicer placed seats!

The manager apologised for the hotel being 80% full that week and busy around the pools. We were a little bemused, as even though the sunbeds, (and there were plenty) were occupied, no one really distrupted the tranquility of the place and there were so many pools that it never once got crowded, even when I was swimming lengths, I didn't even have to change my stroke!

I recommend the location and the hotel if you want a completely relaxing, hassle-free vacation, (or rest stop) before you go off to China proper, or Hong Kong. We both loved it and felt completely revitalised!

My wife and I stayed at the Sanya Hilton for a long weekend in mid-October. I was wary of the weather as two typhoons had passed through Hainan Island in the past four weeks, and it rained one-third of the time we were there (3 days total), but there isn't much one can do about the weather.
The resort hotel is 35 minutes away from the airport and 25 minutes from Sanya Town. It's situated in Yalong Bay, which is home to several resort hotels, some of them major resort chain hotels. There is construction next door, apparently a new hotel owned by the same folks who own the Hilton.
Although we stayed a weekend, there weren't that many guests. Chinese, Hong Kong Chinese, Russians, Germans and other Westerners could be found.
There are several connected pools in the complex, including some for children with slides, and massaging pools too. The beach is fine and there are watersports (additional fees).
The staff were all very friendly and courteous, but some were lacking experience. Language was no problem as most could cope with English and Russian too.
The restaurants are fine with a good variety of food. In-room dining service was prompt. Note: Hainan is a producer of coconut products, but their coconuts for drinking are not sweet, like those in Thailand.
Unfortunately, the hotel is in a slightly isolated part of town so BEWARE of taxi scams. Taxis recommended by hotel staff already had their meters running when we boarded, so check those taxi meters out.
Great place for families (but get a non-smoking room), and check the weather before going.