My partner and I spent two weeks here in a Delux Villa. We had a lovely time. Because we stayed for such a long time, I wanted to leave a comprehensive review of the hotel.
The villas are exceptionally well-designed. We have stayed at many villas over the years, including others in Sanya and places like Bali and the Maldives. My partner and I agreed that this villa is the most well-designed one we've ever stayed in. The villa is a large compound with complete privacy and security. 20-foot walls protect three sides of the villa, and the other side is the lagoon with plants and trees to ensure privacy. When you enter the villa compound, directly in front is the pool, which is beautiful and tiled in blue. To the right of the pool is a spa pool. I had originally assumed this was a hot tub, but I was surprised to find that the water was colder than the pool. At first, this seemed like a poor choice. However, it is extremely hot and sunny in Sanya, and we were glad to cool off in the spa and let the jets relax us.
To the left of the pool is the main room of the villa. You enter a foyer with the bar, turn right for the bedroom, and left for the bathroom. The bedroom has a very large and comfortable bed. We have a king-sized bed at home, but this one seemed bigger than our home bed. The room has very high ceilings, making it feel very open, as well as windows looking out over the pool. Past the bed is a door out to a deck overlooking the lagoon. We used this area for coffee in the morning and dinner some nights. To the left of the foyer is the bathroom. There are two sinks in the middle of the room, a great rainfall shower, a window looking out into the villa's courtyard, and a toilet.
Additionally, there is an outdoor bath in a lily pond, which is something we hadn't seen before but also didn't expect to use as we thought it was too hot for a bath. However, occasionally, during our trip, there were some rain showers where it would pour. During these times, we enjoyed taking a bath in the rain. It was novel and romantic.
The living room is to the right of the pool. It has some sofas, a table and chairs, and a TV. It could be used for in-villa dining, though we prefer to eat outside, which we did. We ordered both from the resort and from delivery. The resort's food was much better. We had the Barbecue, which was good, and the Thai Set Menu, which was excellent. The Thai set cost around 600rmb and was delivered and set up in our villa overlooking the pool; it was a good deal. We also enjoyed breakfast every morning and the afternoon tea / happy hour in the evenings. It almost felt like an all-inclusive resort, with the breakfast going from 7 am-2 pm and happy hour going from 5:30-6:30. It might be worthwhile to consider charging people an extra 1000rmb a night to offer a package with dinner and drinks.
Overall, we were very happy with the Banyan Tree Sanya. However, some small things could be improved. This is an excellent coupes resort. It is very romantic and private. Unfortunately, there were mostly families here, and some kids were loud and a bit wild, which we found slightly disturbing.
Another minor issue was with bar service. Over the two weeks, we developed a habit of going to brunch around 10:30-12:00. We would then go to the gym and finally to the beach to relax before it got too hot. This made for a lovely time. However, we would have liked an afternoon cocktail or bottle of wine at the beach. Unfortunately, ordering drinks proved difficult. The first time we ordered was our first day. We ordered at 4:45, and the drinks came around 5:45. The second time, we ordered at 12:30, and at 2, a waiter came by without any drinks to ask if we still wanted the drinks. By then, we had packed up and were ready to return to our villa, so we told the waiter to forget it. We ended up going to Dadonghai Beach for cocktails and snacks frequently; we would have liked to stay at the hotel, but it proved more convenient to take a didi to the public beach.
The final issue that we encountered was the state of the public areas. Particularly the pool and, to a lesser extent, the beach. They are not well taken care of. The main hotel pool looks awesome. There are jets and places where water should shoot out; there are seats to enjoy a hydro massage, etc. Looks like a great pool. However, none of it works. It was very unfortunate.
Despite these minor issues, we were delighted with our experience at the Banyan Tree. Overall, the experience was exceptional. We had a great time, and our pictures turned out beautifully. We would absolutely return. 5/5