Hotel Banyan Tree a Sanya

The location is lovely - ocean on one side and mountains on the other side. Landscaping is beautiful. Our villa was very private with the vegetation. Listening to the birds and seeing butterflies made the experience even better. Mia (reception) was available whenever we had questions/concerns. She was very professional and kind. Whenever we had food delivered, the delivery personnel was always efficient. Housekeeping was friendly and efficient. The spa was enjoyed by my daughter. She had a scrub and a water treatment which she loved. That's why the Banyan Tree is well-known for their lovely spa treatments. The personnel was great. However, they took away the foot treatment which was disappointing. Consider bringing it back. When checking out, Hickey's friendliness and humor ended our experience at the Banyan Tree on a nice note. I wish I had known the villa pool wasn't heated. Though the temperature was nice in December, it was too cold to swim in an unheated pool. The resort's main pool was available though. The outside tub didn't have working lights which prevented a better experience from happening. More care in the maintenance of the villa might be an idea. For example, our pool umbrella had rips in it and the patio pillows were stained. That's an easy fix. Breakfast was nice in the selection of food. I'm not quite sure how to describe the experience at the restaurant. It was assumed that we couldn't speak Chinese (a natural thought since we are foreigners). When my daughter (fluent Chinese-speaker) spoke Chinese, she was conversing nicely with one female server when all of a sudden another one tapped her on the arm to stop when she proceeded to speak to us in English. I'm not sure if she wanted to practice her English or thought my daughter's Chinese was bad. It was an odd experience. The most bizarre thing was when one of the cooks (Louis Gao) acted as a personal butler for a foreign guest. It was disturbing to the rest of us guests in how the foreigner was getting special treatment... even having salt and pepper put into separate dishes. (Salt and pepper shakers were on his table.) The chef was excluding the rest of the resort guests. Why was this foreign man favored? What made him so special? All of us, other foreign guests and Chinese guests, looked at the ”show” with a feeling of disappointment. Please treat us all with the same courtesy.