Crowne Plaza Sanya City Center — Hotel in Sanya City

I booked our stay in Sanya in this hotel based on two factors: it was part of the higher end of the IHG group and it said “City Center”. However, it turned out that we were disappointed in both counts.||||The hotel lobby, though clean, was sparsely furnished. The ceiling was tall and the floor was shinny marble stone, immediately gave us the impression of the Soviet style hotel in Europe’s eastern bloc countries. The main corridor leading to our room in building “B” were slopping down in different stages, making it unsafe for a person (myself) who just recently had knee surgery walking with a cane. The corridor in front of our room was dimly lit. ||||The room was spacious, and had only tiled floor, making wearing slippers a must in the room. The bed, though just OK, was not with the same comfort standard that I would have expected from a Holiday Inn chain. The bath robes provided were for small persons only. I am a 5”9” male of 180 pounds and the robe would not cover my body (photo attached). Upon calling guest services for a larger size, I was told that was the only size they available!||||Bathroom was large with separate shower and tub areas. The hot water was just comfortably warm, never reached the temperature level for an enjoyable shower or bath. The thermostat for A/C was only for decoration: no matter what temperature I set it, the room temperature stayed on 25 degree Celsius for the entire three days (see photo). The ceiling fan had no power connected to it.||||The included breakfast was served in buffet style. Every food item in this “hot breakfast” setting was lukewarm or room temperature with the exception of the noodle bar. Coffee and tea were served reluctantly upon request. I learned that on the second morning that the wait staff preferred the customer to get their own drinks, and the automatic coffee machines only had Chinese characters on them. There were no sweetener in the restaurant even upon request. However, the housekeeping had “Equal” packages available in room. Also, the restaurant was on a level six steps down from the entrance with no handicapped ramp.||||When I checked in and checked out, there was only one person behind the counter could marginally communicate in English. But, they were all polite enough, and was willing to slow down their Mandarin as requested since I was not a native Mandarin speaker. I had interaction with two persons at the concierge desk and were unimpressed. The first one kept on trying to sell me a car hire package, and the second one was not interested in helping me in finding local shopping districts until I pointedly reminded him that it was his job as a concierge to help customers!||||As its name “City Center” implied, I was expecting the hotel to be located in the middle of a business district, near restaurants and local businesses. Yet, in reality, the hotel was located in the middle of a residential area. The closest convenient store was 15 minutes away on foot along dimly lit streets. We had to take cabs to go to restaurants and local shopping malls. ||||On the evening before we leave, I needed to make a call to our Hong Kong hotel from my mobile phone with a Chinese sim card (and number). I called the customer assistant number for dialing instructions. I was put on hold by the operator for her to ask someone else, and was told to call the phone company instead. Finally, they sent a housekeeping person to my room to figure it out after I chuckled on the phone. ||||The most positive aspect during our stay was observing the diligence of the bell hops outside the front door who greet every customer pleasantly and did their best to get transportation for us. Those young ladies in front of all restaurants and bar were very friendly and helpful too. We also met up with a very nice front desk person named Joss who was very friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, we only saw her once during our...

We booked a Club room for 4 nights in December. The weather in Sanya was nice, but not beach weather, so we planned for a few nights lounging by the pool, drinks and afternoon tea at the Executive club lounge and chilling in a nice room. ||After we checked in and paid they told us that the Club lounge was closed (because of Covid) and that we could get afternoon tea and happy hour drinks at the lobby lounge. We later found out that the the Japanese restaurant and wine bar were also shut. Snacks at afternoon tea were nice, and the happy hour is standard bottom-shelf beer and wine.||The 'Club room' that we booked was very nice. It's high enough that the noise from the surrounding construction isn't intrusive and it's very spacious with a comfortable bed and nice balcony with a view. The only downside was a bit of water leaking into the bathroom through some loose sealant.||The pool (definitely unheated) is great in the morning, but the entire pool area falls into shadow after midday in Winter. The fitness center is small, but well equipped with machines for cardio.||The highlight was the Christmas BBQ dinner which was held in the Mariana restaurant. They did an amazing job with the food. Breakfast and lunch at the Marina restaurant are great and excellent value. Breakfast is very busy, but a small section is designated for IHG members.||Staff were all fantastic and friendly. They aren't very confident with English but are very willing to work with translation apps and patient with English-speakers.||Overall, it's a nice hotel to stay for a few nights to relax. Skip the club lounge or at least call ahead to confirm it's open before booking as the lobby lounge snacks aren't worth the premium. Staff are fantastic...

The hardware of the hotel is definitely up to the standard, but not the service, and not even close. The hotel was only recently converted to Crowne Plaza two months ago, and probably the reason for the poor service. When I checked in, I was given a room key that looked as if it has gone through an entire century. Greasy, dirty, layers of plastic coming out, you name it. The front desk told me I was upgraded and was given breakfast, only to take it back an hour later with a phone call to my room saying it was a mistake. Taking back a perk that is given to a platinum member, could you believe that? There is no instruction to connect to the wireless anywhere in the room, neither in the room key holder where it would usually be printed. I had to call front desk to ask for the secretive user name and password. I went down to the concierge asking for recommendations for dinner places, and the person in the concierge gave me the most non-caring attitude I’ve ever received at any IHG hotel and pointed mindlessly to the fast food chain restaurant across the street. I needed to go to the airport early in the morning, and when I tried to call to make an arrangement, the person over the phone told me he would need to charge me $15 just to get the cab and told me the best way is to go down there earlier and get a cab myself.

This is definitely the worst hotel stay of my entire life (trust me I’m not exaggerating), and I would not recommend it to anyone under any circumstance. I am a big fan of IHG hotels and have had only good experiences before (which is why I almost stay at IHG properties exclusively), and I sure hope IHG would properly train its employees in this hotel so that it would not drag the rest...