Get a taste of VIP style

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-25 10:03

"The lobby is the soul of the Sheraton Sanya Resort," says Julie Wang, its marketing communications manager.

It sure is. You feel the grandeur as soon as you enter the spacious and lofty space. The rectangular pool, extending from the Palm Court-Lobby Lounge, is truly stunning.

Overlooking the beach, the pool covers a hefty 816 sq m, giving the feeling of the resort standing in the sea. Its gentle breeze cools down the summer heat in the grand lobby. The ceiling, about 19 m in height, features simple wood beams. Apart from noisy visitors, it quite often has singing sparrows that nest somewhere in the ceiling.

The 511-room resort opened in January 2003 at Yalong Bay and ever since has been under the spotlight on several occasions.

Very likely, you may stay in a suite once occupied by movie star Jackie Chan. Or, you may rest in a room where a Miss World once awaited for her luck, as the resort has played host to Miss World pageants between 2003 and 2005. You may even find yourself at the table in Baiyun Restaurant where singer Lionel Ritchie first tucked into Hainan seafood.

Although ordinary visitors will not be allowed in the suite where Chinese President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao stayed when they attended the Boao Forum for Asia in 2008 and 2009 respectively, you can still take a stroll on the lawn where Hu held a state-level reception for several foreign leaders.

That's probably why Sheraton is dubbed "Beijing Hotel in Sanya".

If the lobby lounge is the soul of the Sheraton, its Mandara Spa is the place to comfort your soul. The unique interior design - Chinese antiques combined with Southeast Asian decorations of traditional stone, wood and ceramics - gives the 1,000 sq m spa, done up in tones of gray, peach and cream, a mysterious and luxurious feel. After a day's fun on the beach, indulge in a two-hour session of Indonesian, Thai or Chinese spa treatments.

The Spice Garden offers an eclectic mix of Asian cuisines. An Indian-style dessert tastes particularly good when paired with carrot and vanilla ice cream. The morning buffet at Lotus Cafe offers a good selection of Western and Chinese food. Surround by water, in which gold fish swish around, the caf is as much about eating as relaxing.

You will also do well to head to the lobby at tea time for a unique experience of sipping a cuppa, while taking in spectacular views of Yalong Bay.

When night falls, the lobby lounge is transformed into a dreamland. A Philippine band's live show has the singer standing on a platform of black marble and emerging slowly under dim lighting. The lobby exudes romance as lights twinkle in the pool outside and the coconut fronds sway in the gentle breeze.

See www.sheraton.com/sanya for more.