The Ritz-Carlton Sanya, Yalong Bay

Character and identity

Spread across the southern tip of Hainan Island, this 451-room resort opens with a theatrical Thai-pavilion lobby flanked by Tod's and Ferragamo boutiques, then unfurls toward the white sand of Yalong Bay, 40 minutes from the airport. The scale is palatial: four swimming pools (including a beachside infinity and a creek pool), seven restaurants, a sprawling 30,000-plus-square-foot spa built around open-air corridors and lotus ponds, and a string of beachfront villas behind the main building. Every room faces the ocean from a generous terrace. The register is grand resort hospitality, polished but unhurried, with the bay's calm water and mild surf doing much of the talking.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What sets this resort apart is sheer breadth: a calm, swimmable beach, four pools, a vast open-air spa and a genuine kids' programme all on one property, backed by some of the best golf in China. Book a beachfront villa if the budget allows, or any ocean-view room for the terrace. Pair it with a Hong Kong or Shanghai stopover, an hour's flight away.