Fri, June 26, 2009
"Lu Ho!" greet the staff as you step into the Sanya Marriott Resort & Spa, in the Hainanese version of the traditional Hawaiian greeting, "Aloha".
As you sip on iced vanilla tea and absorb the hints of lemon and pineapple from a scented towel, you literally sense the fatigue of a long flight fading away. But there is yet another surprise in store - a bracelet made of coconut and shells. Everyone receives the same warm and welcome, including children.
The spacious lobby enhances this warm feeling with its use of bright colors. Its crescent-shaped balcony offers panoramic views of the ocean and gardens.
The use of warm wood and natural stone reflects the resort's spectacular tropical surroundings. Cushions of yellow, green and red give a delightfully breezy touch to the lobby's dcor.
A simple yet cozy elegance fills the 456 well-equipped guestrooms and suites, which offer great mountain, garden or ocean views. Try to get a room with an ocean view if your budget allows it. Just sit back and relax in the balcony. If you are lucky, you can catch a post-drizzle rainbow.
Revel in a sunbathing in the 450 meters white-sand beach, or laze around in the picturesque lagoon pool. You may even find yourself in the pool alone, particularly in the morning, with just singing birds to keep you company.
Spend some time wandering around the garden and learn more about tropical plants. You can find the king palm tree or a watermelon growing on a tree instead of in the fields, which however has another name "iron watermelon" in Chinese. It's a pity there's nothing to tell you if it tastes good. But from the name it seems likely to be hard to bite into! Almost every plant is tagged with a small wood plate describing its name and where it comes from, both in English and Chinese.
The resort showcases the local culture in many ways, such as the Li and Miao sculptures in the garden. "We are trying to give a local touch to this 5-star hotel," says Ada Wang, from its marketing department, adding that even the scents of the towels in the restaurants vary from day to day and feature five fruits - banana, lemon, lychee, coconut and pineapple.
Start your day with a refreshing drink of coconut water at breakfast at the Marriott Caf. Diners can choose from sumptuous Vietnamese specialties served in an exotic French Vietnamese ambiance, or authentic Cantonese and regional cuisines at Wan Hao Chinese Restaurant - don't miss the stir-fried baby lobster and Hainan Dongshan lambs.
After a day out in the sun, rejuvenate at the Quan Spa hidden in the tropical garden where a special kind of water promises to restore your vitality. Quan offers "Qi" water, which is produced by specially designed vivifiers that revitalize and restructure water naturally. A full menu of traditional and innovative therapies is available to refresh overworked minds and bodies.
