My impressions of Sunny Sanya Family Inn (translated from Red Roof Inn in Chinese) are ambivalent. While I did not experience great service in English, nor the home-like feel promised at its web site, I had a generally agreeable stay less than a city block from the waters of Da Dong Hai Bay in Sanya.

The staff was mostly agreeable. The facility is fairly new and with a couple of exceptions in good repair. For a beach-type place, it is clean and neat.

The first night we were given the smallest double room (a former storage room) on the ground floor, although reservations were made weeks earlier. It was quiet but cramped and basic. The next day we moved to the third floor two-bed room, nice view of the garden and spacious. (The hotel's own web pictures are accurate.)

The problem right off was sewer gas coming up from the shower drain. These things happen, but the hotel did not really take the complaint seriously. The hotel was full and they just ignored it. At first they said it was from the previous guest's long stay, but then after another day of it, I told them it was sewer gas from poor plumbing and they did not disagree. We kept the windows open and the bath fan running and it was not too much of a bother. This room would be uninhabitable in summer heat though.

The free breakfast could have been a great feature of this small hotel if there had been enough of it. With a full house, the hotel simply did not prepare enough food. In fact, the employees complained that the kitchen held back food and did not put it out! My Chinese interpreter also told me the help was tired of complaints that the customers were not getting enough food.

I can understand if this was an unexpected event, but we were staying right before Spring Festival and management knew the entire inn was completely booked for several weeks. The breakfast room also was small, seating 34 people and was filled with couples, parents and many children right after it opened at 8 a.m. There was no where to sit and eat, even in the outdoors garden area.

The inn's location was pretty good in relation to DaDongHai Bay, even though it is backed up against the tourist bus parking lot for the beach skin diving tour headquarters. Fumes and bus honking were not as distuptive as they could have been, as all activity ends in late afternoon. The area looked safe, but most taxi drivers had no clue where it was located, even with the address provided. Carry at all times the hotel's phone number so a taxi driver can get instructions to this somewhat out-of-the-way spot.

Considering the price, this inn in spite of its faults is a good value. At 290 yuan for a double room including breakfast, the price was right.

My check-out was a nightmare, as the clerk who could not understand any English had me sign my credit card charge and then would not return the signed depost charge slip. Thus, they had double payment! I retrieved it eventually, but the clerk was not experienced enough to understand how to check out a guest. When you are invariably rushing to the airport, fully clothed at a tropical resort, it is a bit stressful to argue over double payment with a woman who did not understand any English.

With the improvement of its physical facilities (plumbing) and intensive staff training, this place could be a real gem of a small hotel. Caddie Lu, the lady who operates it along with Sunnysanya.com travel agency web site, could make this a wonderful well regarded place to stay. The potential is there, if just the place were fine tuned.

we had an awesome time at the sunny sanya! we also booked a rainforest tour through the inn, which was great! thanks for all your help! :-)

Sunny Sanya Family INN is really a very nice hotel. It is very nice, clean and fresh. People in the hotel are very kind and helpful as well. Their room is the best room I lived in during my travels in China. If I come back to Sanya, I'll definitely come back to this hotel: Sunny Sanya Family INN.