Atlantis Sanya is the epitomal luxury hotel for kids

Atlantis Resort Sanya Haitang Bay is the closest luxury hotel the gal can imagine to a kids’ hangout that is also designed for adults. Yes, mummy and daddy, and grandparents if around, may revel in the Ahava spa, which specializes in salts from the Dead Sea. And they too will enjoy such signature Atlantis delights as the Lost Chambers aquarium, with over 86,000 marine animals, and the waterpark, which has special prices for kids under a certain height as well as for those over 70. And the shopping within the hotel is up to Macau, Singapore or Vegas standards.

This mammoth complex, stretching over 61 hectares, is owned by Fosun, master-planned by HOK. Interiors of the 1,314 rooms in the main 55-floor twisting accommodation block feature soft beiges, with muted teal.  Once I got used to wearing my room key around my neck, in a yellow holster which meant something though I never worked out what.  I was # 31120, one of 154 suites: I had a balcony a metre wide running the length of my bathroom, bedroom and living room (see a video, below, and also the photo above).

Yes, the room is designed for kids. I had a child’s toiletries set, and there were three robes and three sizes of blue slippers in the closet: colour coordination is well done, throughout.  I dined in Gordon Ramsay’s Bread Street Kitchen, just as good here as in Dubai or Singapore. Apart from one table of five Chinese men I am the only table without a child. High chairs and something to eat are brought as soon as a party arrives and there is not a single tear, the whole two hours I am there

I dine Australian. First, beverages. The drinks list’s most extravagant is a shot of Remy Martin Louis XIII at 1,588 RMB but I go for a glass of Renmano Chairman’s Selection Shiraz 2018, South Australia, at a mere 72RMB. The bottle is brought to the table and a tasting is poured into my tall-stemmed Zwiesel glass.  The wood table is set with Luzerne ceramic-look china, La Travola cutlery and chopsticks. I have a pulled-thread napkin.  The manager cautions, in English, that the spicy tuna tartare, with blobs of avocado purée, is indeed ‘hot’, but it is bearable, and delicious.  For grills, there are dry-aged  specials of today, but I choose, from the main menu an Australian grass-fed Angus rib eye, which comes with a Laguiole knife, and, as requested, a paper-lined copper cup of flat fries, and a big china bowl of greens, broccoli and bok choi. After that, and a good night’s sleep, I make use of the 24/7 Technogym (BBC and CNN work, unusually for China), check out breakfast in the 48th floor Club, which has an adjacent playroom for kids, and then revel in the massive nine-station buffet at Saffron, truly an experience that no age should miss. Oh yes, and this luxury-kids’-hangout also has a Miniversity for them, right here onsite. HERE ARE VIDEOS OF MY SUITE, OF BREAD STREET KITCHEN, AND OF BREAKFAST IN SAFFRON