Mollycoddling for the muddled(1)

2007-10-15 15:56:55 [ Big Normal Small ]    　Comment

China's tropical island paradise Hainan Province is developing into a luxury, international resort destination, especially along the white sands of Yalong Bay where Douglas Williams enjoys the five-star treatment at Hilton.

If the people who own and build five-star hotels and airports are gamblers, they must be some of the best. Assuming they probably are, it's odds on that Hainan Province, the Sanya area in particular, is destined for big things.

China's tropical paradise island only started appearing on the tourist radar two or three years ago. Already most of the big five-star guns are lined up along the long white beach of Yalong Bay. Work is continuing apace as the airport rapidly expands to become a transport hub and two more luxury hotel complexes will open soon. Visitor numbers increase each year and new flight connections are being established all the time. One now even links Manchester, England, with Sanya directly. Good for Manchester, perhaps less so for Sanya.


It's China but not that you'd notice, the international resort has comfort in abundance but a dearth of character.

Hainan is now rapidly becoming an exotic escape, a direct competitor to Thailand's Phuket and Indonesia's Bali.

Yalong Bay is an oasis of rarefied and manicured tranquility a safe 50-yuan (US$6.66) taxi away from the more ramshackle delights of Sanya itself. The area is also a bit weird, a sort of exotic "Truman Show" that could be practically anywhere in the world between the Tropics and by the sea. Elongated golf buggies shuttle back and forth carrying people wearing shorts with belt and pleats while little people in cute headgear tidy and tend.

For those seeking a cushioning from the real world for a while, and lets face it who doesn't every now and then, the Hilton Sanya Resort and Spa comfortably fits the bill. This is an oasis albeit with 500 rooms, three restaurants, a couple of bars, a number of pools and a long beach. Playing poolside most nights is the music of Oasis, that once great band from Manchester, just in case anybody hadn't quite got the idea. It's sort of spooky.

While there may be little to remind guests that they are in China, few will care as they will be continually reminded they are somewhere special and they themselves are indeed special. While standards of service in China are regularly knocked, at the Hilton Sanya the service is beyond reproach. The hotel's training and the online Hilton University is clearly doing a sterling job. Should a member of staff spot you, even from the other end of a corridor, you can be sure to be greeted with a sincere if slightly disarming: "Hello, how are you?" The Hilton Sanya employs two English teachers full time. One must assume it's a serious win situation for the teachers but it's also a win for the hotel where levels of English are mostly very good. That said, watching a couple from Manchester trying to explain an Irish coffee to an eager young breakfast waiter was priceless. Oh the exasperation, the frustration, the genuine confusion!

With the hotel group's expansive plans for its operations in China, a position with the group can prove a healthy and useful ticket for a young Chinese would-be hospitality professional. The hotel, besides sponsoring 20 girls at a local middle school, also pays the yearly fees for 50 catering students at the University of Hainan, in the capital city of Haikou. Those students are then offered positions at the hotel, the first intake assumed their roles earlier this year. There's a lot more to five-star hotels than turndown services.

The Hilton rooms have a thick book listing the many amenities on offer. For those for whom trawling through such a tome seems too much like hard work, that Mancunian couple spring to mind, there's a simple alternative. On every room phone there's a special button, "the magic button" - a telephonic cure-all. It is worth looking through the book, however. As an example guests somehow finding fault with the sumptuous pillow selection proffered can find a pillow menu. Press the button, make your selection, and abracadabra: a whole new and different set of pillows will arrive! No I didn't.

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