We had breakfast at the Noble Yacht Club Hotel and went for a walk on the beach right by our hotel. By about 11am, we were all packed, checked out of the hotel, and headed on our way to the South Haikou (Nan Zhan) bus station to get a ride to Sanya.
There’s probably a bus heading to Sanya every 20 to 30 minutes from Haikou, so you can head to the south Haikou bus station whenever. We got there in time for the 12:00pm bus. The bus ticket costs $78yuan per person.
We're at the Haikou South Bus station - the only bus station at Haikou where buses go out to Sanya.
Haikou to Sanya is almost 300kms, and it’s about a 3.5 hour drive. We arrived at Sanya around 3:30pm, and wow, what a beautiful city. It’s clean, unpolluted, green everywhere, and the air is fresh. We checked into our hotel 华源温泉海景酒店 (Huayuan Springs Hotel and Resort) around 4:00pm.
Sanya Hotel - Sanya Sheraton Resort, Marriott, Hilton, Gloria Hotels
After we checked in, I got down to work, to figure out our tour plan and to find a hotel at Yalongwang (Yalong Bay), which is located east Sanya, and is world famous for its ocean water and beaches.
The Yalongwan (Yalong Bay) area of Sanya is where all the best 5 star hotels are located. I pretty much combed through every available 5 star hotel in the Yalong Bay area including hotels such as the Sanya Sheraton Resort, Sanya Marriott, Hilton Hotel and Resort, Gloria Hotels, and Holiday Inn. All these are 5 star hotels, and the average rate for an ocean view room costs about $800 to $1200yuan.
Photo of the garden, pool, and ocean from our 4th floor room balcony at Huayuan Hotel Sanya (west).
I booked us in a 5 star hotel right on the beaches of Yanlong Bay. It’s probably one of the more expensive hotels in that area, of all the 4 and 5 star hotels I checked out online. Originally, I was going to book for something at the Holiday Inn at Yalong Bay, but after reading many user reviews, I changed my mind. The Holiday Inn hotel would cost about $800 to $1000 yuan for ocean view rooms. Seems like the overall consensus of the Holiday Inn guests is that the hotel is at best a 3 star hotel and not a 5 star hotel; the services weren’t great; employees not too friendly or helpful; the hotel’s private beach is filled with non-guests of the hotel. So basically, all the reviews trashed Holiday Inn. This changed my mind pretty quick.
I really wanted to find a NICE hotel right on the Yalong Bay beach, so I did some hard digging online. Eventually I found a hotel named 天域度假酒店 (Horizon Resort and Spa), which apparently is one of the top 5 star hotels in the Yalongwan Bay area. It got many, many raving reviews from previous customers, so although it was quite pricey, I decided that I would book us in at the Horizon Resort and Spa hotel. I booked for a Deluxe Ocean View Suite in phase one of the hotel for the 28th, and 29th which costs $1769yuan (about $220USD/night). On the 30th we’re switching our room to a phase two Deluxe Ocean View Suite that costs $1919. This is mainly because our 1st room is already booked for the 30th, and ocean view rooms in phase two are all booked with an opening on the 30th. So this works out nicely for us. Also I was told phase two building is newer.
Deluxe ocean view "Suites" cost several hundred more than the Superior ocean view "Rooms". The main difference is that the "suites" come with a living room and a bedroom where as the "rooms" is just one room. I would have booked the rooms if there were any available.
After I had this figured out, we had diner at the hotel.
"Hainan Chicken" - actually known as "WenCang" Chicken at Hainan
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