Marriott International has signed an agreement with Hainan Qianrui Industrial Development Co., Ltd. to bring the W Hotels brand to Sanya, the tourist hub located on China’s southerly island province of Hainan. Located in Sanya Bay, W Sanya is slated to open in the second quarter of 2028.

IHG Hotels & Resorts will expand its luxury portfolio in China’s Hainan region under a new two hotel agreement with China Duty Free Group. Regent Sanya Haitang Bay is slated to open in 2026 in what is dubbed the “Hawaii of China”.

The Fairmont Hotels and Resorts luxury brand will make its entry into the Greater China Region in December 2020 when it opens the refurbished Fairmont Sanya Haitang Bay. The resort will complement Fairmont’s other assets in mainland China located in Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Wuhan, Nanjing, Guiyan and Kunshan.

The arrival road for Mandarin Oriental, Sanya, skirts around Yalong Bay next to a naval base. At the hotel’s single-height, flat-topped welcome door a posse of greeters waited (all wore loose-fit camel trousers and white overshirts). A deep maroon buggy went up and down what seemed like over the hills and far away, to Villa 13.

Sanya, on Hainan Island, is China’s answer to Hawaii, and foreigners should take note – for a start, 59 nations do not need a typical China visa: get one on arrival. And the weather is extremely pleasant, year round. Girlahead stayed at two of the many really top resorts in the Sanya area.