Sanya Yicheng Hotel (Jiefang Road Pedestrian Street)

The pool is a bit far away, not very clean, and the water isn’t heated. Another drawback was the constant smoking near reception in the lobby, which also always seemed dirty. The hotel floors, though, were clean. We stayed at the end of January 2020, when the weather wasn’t great. If you’re planning a trip then and want to swim, I think Sanya would be a better choice. The hotel is in central Haikou, the capital of Hainan. Its beach is across the road, but it’s deserted and has no facilities. Maybe they’ll improve it later. There’s also a park and a nice beach not far away. The hotel was decent for a four-star place. The sheets were clean and comfortable, the room was cleaned daily, and the towels and slippers were replaced every day. Sadly, they don’t provide robes. Reception is open around the clock. I especially want to thank Xiong Zai (Sally) and Kui Li Shi Hui (Stella), and hope I’ve got their names right. They were always welcoming and smiling, and helped us so much. The food was pretty good for the first half of our stay, especially the salads, though we didn’t try any other Chinese dishes. After that, we stopped eating there, even though there was plenty, because we just didn’t like it. There are two shops downstairs, and we kept buying Chinese noodles there, practically living on them. The smell of the food made us feel nauseous. You can take the bus for 3 yuan, around 160 tenge.