My wife and I stayed 6 nights early January 2008 and from the perspective of the Pacific Suite this was just grand. Not knowing what the other parts of the year are like: this season was "bug free" which means doors could be left wide open with the lights on. The beaches, the ocean and the gardens where immaculate.

The hotel itself offers anything one can expect from a 5star resort.
Language still is an issue with the very friendly staff but a few expats could help out.

Indoor smoking is still allowed in many parts of the hotel. I wouldn't mind if that were changed. The evening lobby music was a bit annoying as with open doors you were forced to listen.

Stayed in Hilton Sanya Resort on Yalong Bay for 4 days around New Year. Not the best time to visit, as the hotel was packed with guests, mostly from mainland China and Russia, the sea was rather rough, and the water in the swimming pool cold at this time of the year (air temperature 16-22C), though there were blue sky and sunshine on most days.

The hotel is situated right at the end of a row of hotels built along Yalong Bay, a stretch of fine sand over a few miles. There are sunlounges belonging to the hotel on the beach, though these were always occupied. The sea was rather cold and choppy to swim and the hotel had warned that, as it was a public beach, there was no lifeguard facility on the beach.

At present there is a new hotel being built right next to Hilton, so some siderooms have only the the view of this new concrete with hammering noise during the day.

The hotel is built around a large swimming pool area, with man-made beaches for children, linking lagoons and large infinity pools. Again sunlounges here seemed to be always fully occupied, and the swimming pool attendant just shugged his shoulder when I asked him to find me one.

I booked a Grand Ocean View room. The first room I was given was situated in block 7, having only a side ocean view really, facing adjacent hotels, and it was a long walk to the reception area for my elderly mother. So we were moved to block 1 which had full seaview looking beyond the swimming pools (see photos). I much preferred this room, as we sat in our balcony on New Year Eve and watched the countdown concert and the magnificent display of fireworks organised by the hotel. We also requested a room on higher floor (total of 7 floors), and being on the 6th floor, we had a better view of the sea.

The rooms were spacious (500 sq ft plus a large balcony) with modern decor, lightings very dim here (my mother complained that she could hardly read) though it created a special mood in the evening. It was open-planned in design with open bathroom, closed by a curtain (my mother was not keen having a bathtub right in the middle of the room). In our first room, the bathtub and separate walk-in shower unit were situated at the end of the room, facing the balcony. Though it was supposed to give you a nice sea-view during bathing if you left the balcony curtain open, it might also give guests from some other rooms a nice view of you (depending on the location of your room). I preferred the configuration of the second room which had a sitting area facing the balcony, and a large freestanding circular bath (yes, can accommodate 2 people together) at the entrance side of the room (see photos).

Other criticism about the room:
-the sink is in a form of a large bowl, but the tap is designed in such a way that water gets spilled everywhere when you wash your hands!
-walls are quite thin, and I could hear the lift "dinging" and people chatting in the corridor
-the beds are not the most comfortable ones I have slept in

We tried all the restuarants here: standard of food was surprisingly good here, though the New Year Gala buffet was disappointing. Chinese food in the Harvest restaurant highly recommended, with a huge choice and it's good value for money. I liked the Ize restaurant setting, one could dine al fresco on the terrace facing the swimming lagoon. Seafood was fresh and beef very tender (my mum had lobster and steak as main course).

One criticism is the poor command of spoken English of the restaurant staff and some receptionists. I rang the Chinese restaurant to reserve a table for dinner and had difficulty communicating with the restaurant staff. This resulted in my table being booked at the wrong time, and when we turned up, the table had gone. I also overheard in amusement some Russian guests struggling to order a whisky and getting lemon and ice for coke.

The spa consists of 8 treatment rooms (some for couples), relaxation room where tea is being served, and separate spa courtyards (3 whirlpools, 1 sauna, 1 steamroom) for men and women.The spa courtyards are free-of-charge and on the 2 occasions I attended, I was the only one there.

Overall it is a family-friendly large Hilton beach resort with modern decor and helpful staff but not without faults.

Just returned after spending Christmas with my wife and three year old daughter in the Sanya Hilton . We were slightly apprehensive after reading some of the previous negative reviews but our fears soon evaporated upon arrival .

We had an excellent time !

The hotel offered good accomodation , great food and most importantly excellent service ! The staff are all very friendly , almost all speak some level of English and all greet guests very warmly .

The Hilton is located at the west end of Yalong bay , the beach is excellent , many sunbeds , fine golden/white sand and clear waters to paddle and swim in . Due to its location the beach tends to very quiet , not like the east end which is much busier due to public access at that end .

The pool area is great and has two "beach" pools for toddlers to play in which we put to great use .

Costs are dearer than most of mainland China but are still cheaper than you would pay in Shanghai , Beijing , Europe or the US for staying in similiar accomodation .

Note however there is contruction to the west of the Hilton where a new hotel is being erected just now . Might be a noise issue if overlooking the constuction site .

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.