Review of the Intercontinental Sanya Resort

The resorts in Sanya just keep getting better and better. The Intercontinental Resort Sanya is a case-in-point. They've thought about the little details and really made the absolute best use of the outdoor space they could have. Aside from sleeping, you can spend just about every minute eating, drinking, resting and lounging out-of-doors. The rooms are beautiful and the staff very friendly. You'll not go wrong if you're looking for a complete getaway at the Intercontinental Resort, Sanya.

The mammoth property opened in July 2010 and is undergoing teething pains such as their man-made sandy beach being washed away by the summer typhoons (they've trucked in more sand). Built along a lagoon, unlike the resorts in Yalong Bay, the Intercontinental is only 20 minutes from the airport and rather secluded. Lush mountains surround the property and while the vistas are encumbered by a few construction projects (show me a vista in China that isn't…) the surroundings are lovely. The resort building itself is designed to showcase the sea; walk along the outer corridors and notice how they frame the landscape and the ocean. The rooms all have balconies with views of the ocean which I think is a rather nice design feature. There's nothing worse than checking into a sea-side hotel and getting a view of the parking lot.

Unlike other hotels in which I've stayed or visited in Sanya, the dining options here are inspired. The beach bar sits on its own by the sea - you can't miss it for the hanging pod-like lounge chairs - and is fun for kids (try a mango mocktail) and adults. Most of the restaurants incorporate the outdoors (as they should) and the overall use of outdoor space at this resort I've never seen better in China. There's a decent kids' menu in most of the restaurants, highchairs are readily available and the staff bend over backwards to help you.

The overall facilities are very good and include tennis courts, a great indoor/outdoor kids' club, a small but decent gym and all kinds of pools with plenty of lounge chairs and shade. We grumbled about the fact that you couldn't park the kids at the Kids' Club but a little negotiating got us more staff (we were with a large group with lots of kids) so we could enjoy a few hours at dinner before the onslaught of overly tired children came our way.

The rooms are beautiful - sleek and clean - with wooden floors which are great for sandy feet. The design of some of the rooms fails here as some rooms require you to go outside to get to the covered balcony (not great in the rain) and also have a window/door feature that opens out to a two-story drop (we reported this so hopefully these have been sealed off by now). Suite rooms are fantastic with a separated living room and bedroom and full balcony with large lounge - you could sleep a family of four on the balcony alone. These rooms are a great feature if you've got children as there's no need for a second room.

The pools are pretty fantastic with all kinds of depths and very family-friendly. There are even pools with sandy bottoms and when we were there, a two-story, very deep salt-water diving-pool with glass sides was available for us to practice diving and jumping - though there were rumors that this was going to become an aquarium or a scuba-only pool. The beach was a little dirty and muddy but our weather was terrible and the beach had all but washed away. This problem has probably been rectified by now.