Mandarin Group Open Resort in China

SANYA RESORT HAINAN

Situated on Hainan Island in the South China Sea, the resort is located on a 12-hectare beachfront site featuring rugged coastline and a hillside backdrop. Making the most of the spectacular location was a key priority for the design team contracted on the project, interior design firm Lim, Teo & Wilkes (LTW) Design Works and landscape architecture firm Bensley Design Studios (BDS).

This began with the architecture which was purposely designed to make the most of the natural beauty of the area. The resort’s low-rise buildings are deliberately understated so as not to detract from the natural surroundings, and are set in a lush tropical garden linked by open-air pathways.

Each room has a view, and many have private gazebos, plunge pools and gardens. The resort’s four landscaped swimming pools, meanwhile, all have direct access to the beach as do many of the rooms.

The exterior space is kept simple and natural with the landscape design team using local materials such as slate-grey roofing tiles suggestive of local Chinese houses. Tropical wood, local volcanic rock, and water features are deployed to create a serene atmosphere that enhances the sense of the resort as a retreat or oasis.

The Sanya resort is a key opening for the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group being the first hotel managed by the group to open in China. So it is hardly surprising that the group was taking no chances on its design appointing its long-term interior design partner LTW to mastermind the interior. In addition to Sanya, LTW has also worked on the recent refurbishment of Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong, as well as the interiors of Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo.