[KnowItAll]

Kept running into GeoExpats all over Sanya, from our hotel to the airport.

So confess .. how many of you were in Sanya over the weekend?

[Mariposita]

Guilty as charged! We ran into Dona, Daphne and Jeanette too although they were staying at the Dadonghai area.

Did you play spot the russian? They were everywhere!

To others who decide on Sanya for a weekend getaway, I highly highly recommend the Marriott at Yalong Bay. The resort was in a fantastic location and had a stunning lobby area that extended out as a large semi-circular balcony with a lounge overlooking the beach and ocean. My bf and I also checked out the Hilton and Sheraton but in terms of layout, we'd have to compliment the Marriott, with the Hilton coming in a close second for its more enclosed, private ambiance.

The pools were lovely, we upgraded to a grand ocean view which was definitely worth it, and the service and food actually wasn't as bad as we expected. The staff may be a bit more rough round the edges in terms of service compared to being in say Phuket but I think they've been improving as visitor comments and recommendations have been made. There was also a really tasty Vietnamese restaurant called Indochine located at the Marriott and we had reservations going there at first since there are a million viet-thai restaurants in HK and we didn't think it was going to be good in Sanya. Surprisingly, every single dish we ordered was delicious and I would definitely eat there again the next time I'm there.

Liked the beach area too, the jazz festival (what little we caught of it) was great fun and going jet-skiing was a painless process. Ultimately had a wonderful time at Sanya so anyone looking for a resort-based, relaxing few days alway from the polluted city, its a good option.

I'm also curious as to what the experiences of others at Sanya were so tell all, tell all!

[KnowItAll]

Yeah, I agree .. lots of Russians and Koreans around.

I've got a fair number of things to say about the Sheraton. Wish I could rave about it like the Hilton.

Overall, good place to go ... but not sure if I'd rate it above any of the other resorts we've been to in the region.

Was I the only person going "I thought China was cheap"...

[donabel_beltran]

.. and I thought HK was small. ;-)

Well, our DDJ trio was the one whom KIA and fam bumped into at the Shera, Mariposita. We stayed at Dadonghai, at Rendezvous Hotel. It's not a resort, but a business hotel. However, the beach is literally 5 minutes away, either on a hotel-provided buggy or on foot, so it was still good.

Personally, I prefer the Dadonghai beach over Yalong because I felt it to be wider.

As for food and cheapness, we got cheap food at the Dadonghai area, though the visual quality isn't something worthy of being captured in pixels (I mean, you can tell right away it's not made by a chef at the Shera). My favorite story to tell would be my RMB30 lunch of rice, pork and veggies, coke and watermelon slices. On the menu, the dish (good for 2) is already RMB30. Rice is not included, but for an extra cost of RMB2. Then, coke is RMB5. The fruit is always a freebie in China (they gave me 6 slices, but I ate only one). So anyway, I was expecting my bill to be RMB37 at least. But, when they gave me the bill, they told me that I don't have to pay for the coke. Then, when I gave them RMB40, they gave me RMB10 as my change. As I was looking for a 2RMB in my wallet, the waiter gestured that I don't have to bother...

Hmmmm.... I have to tell Max about this.. (hahaha!)

[KnowItAll]

Donabel : We found the food reasonable in town ... good to know someone came away finding cheap / reasonable food.

On the topic of tipping.. we had to force one waitress who was super-helpful to us at one of the restaurants in town to take a RMB10 note.

[Krad]

Dunno if it's still true, but waiters and waitresses in China used to actually get in big trouble if the managers caught them accepting tips. I remember one time as a kid we went up for dinner and we gave the waitress a tip. One of the managers saw, came over, and immediately dressed down the waitress right then and there and made her give us back the money...

[chelseachica]

thanks for the sanya review. my friend and i decided not to go at the last minute...can you let me know your package cost?

[rani]

We ordered breakfast in our room one morning, and our son likes toast. They sent 4 slices of bread and a TOASTER! We all had a good laugh.

[carang]

at least you got nice warm toast rather than cold soggy, was once toasted, toast!