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About The Westin Lingshui

The Westin Lingshui is located in Qingshui Bay in the southeast of Hainan Island. It overlooks a 12-kilometer “singing beach” and is about an hour’s drive from Sanya Phoenix International Airport, offering both peace and convenience. The hotel is directly connected to a pristine beach, where guests can enjoy surfing, windsurfing, and other water sports. Dining-wise, the hotel has several restaurants serving global cuisine and local specialties. The surrounding area is also a foodie’s paradise: a short drive brings you to Xincun Fishing Port for freshly caught seafood, or to local delicacies like Lingshui sour rice noodles and Danjia fish congee. There are plenty of things to do as well. The hotel pool and kids’ club are great for family relaxation. If you want to explore the area, you can go diving at Fenjiezhou Island or visit Nanwan Monkey Island to interact with macaques. It’s a place where you can enjoy a high-end resort stay while still experiencing the energy of a tropical island.

Hainan Island has a loop high-speed rail line, so you can also fly to Haikou and take the train to Lingshui, which takes a little over an hour. Or you can fly to Sanya and take the high-speed rail to Lingshui, which takes only about 10 minutes. This time we chose to fly to Haikou and then transfer to the train, which was much cheaper overall. Haikou Airport and the high-speed rail station are connected, and it’s only about a 10-minute walk, so it’s very convenient. The reason we chose Lingshui is that we had already been to Sanya before, and it felt a bit too commercialized. Also, we had heard that Lingshui’s beaches have finer sand, clearer water, and more shells to collect. Compared with Sanya, Lingshui has fewer luxury hotels and more family-friendly properties.

Hotel Options

Lingshui doesn’t have as many hotel choices as Sanya. The major brands include:

1. Hyatt Regency Hainan Ocean World: the ultimate pick for theme-park fun (Hyatt)

  • Its core advantage is crystal clear: it was built for Ocean World. If your top priority is to enjoy this large theme park, then this is the obvious best choice. The hotel is seamlessly connected to the park and offers various ticket packages and perks, making it incredibly convenient to simply walk out and play. It’s especially suitable for families with kids or theme-park fans. However, its location is relatively isolated, and nearby entertainment depends mainly on the park itself, so it’s best for travelers coming specifically for that experience.

2. The Westin Resort, Qingshui Bay, Hainan: a classic all-around beachfront choice (Marriott)

  • The Westin is the “all-rounder” of classic beach resorts. It sits on the excellent sands of Qingshui Bay and has mature, well-rounded resort facilities, including pools, dining, and a kids’ club, striking a perfect balance between enjoying the hotel and exploring the area. You can spend the whole day at the hotel or easily head to Xincun Fishing Port, Fenjiezhou Island, or Nanwan Monkey Island. It’s a great fit for most travelers looking for a standard sun-and-sand getaway, especially families or couples visiting Lingshui for the first time who want flexibility and variety. It’s a safe, hard-to-go-wrong choice.

3. Raffles Hainan: the top-tier secluded luxury escape (Accor)

  • Raffles is the ceiling of resort hotels in Lingshui, positioned above the first two. Its focus is on ultimate privacy, tranquility, and luxurious service. The hotel features expansive Southeast Asian-style gardens, a signature extra-long pool, and an almost private quiet beach. Guest rooms start at 80 square meters, with exquisite details throughout. There’s no hustle and bustle here, making it ideal for guests seeking a high-quality escape, honeymoons, or anniversaries. If you believe “the hotel itself is the destination” and you have the budget, Raffles can deliver a one-of-a-kind retreat.

4. Kimpton Qingshui Bay Hainan: a stylish, social, design-forward choice (IHG)

  • Kimpton is a boutique luxury brand under IHG, bringing a fresh style to Lingshui. It emphasizes personality, social vibes, and being pet-friendly. The design is more modern, fashionable, and artistic, and the public spaces feel like a carefully designed lifestyle living room, with regular social events such as sunset rituals and cocktail hours. It appeals to young trendsetters, couples, and travelers with pets who are looking for a unique experience, social interaction, and a strong sense of design.

In short, your choice depends entirely on the core purpose of your trip.

  • Going for the theme park → choose Hyatt.
  • Going for a classic beach resort stay → choose Westin.
  • Going for top-tier luxury and tranquility → choose Raffles.
  • Going for design, social energy, and a trendy experience → choose Kimpton.

This time I chose The Westin Lingshui mainly because I had a large stash of Marriott points to redeem, and I was staying for five nights, which allowed me to take advantage of Marriott’s fifth-night-free benefit. On top of that, the Marriott Platinum status from the AMEX Marriott Brilliant made the stay even better, with free breakfast and the possibility of room upgrades. In the end, the five-night stay cost 159,000 Marriott points. Since this was right around New Year’s, both cash rates and points rates were relatively high.

If you go at another time, the points rate is only 24,000-25,000 points per night. With the fifth-night-free benefit, five nights would only cost 97,000 points total, which is a fantastic deal! Cash rates are still around RMB 1,200.

Pre-Arrival Communication

I had previously sent several emails asking about upgrades, but they were all met with template replies and didn’t seem very useful. This time I just went for it. The day before check-in, I used the message feature in the Marriott app to contact the front desk. My account is Marriott Platinum. I got straight to the point and asked whether an upgrade was possible, and the agent said a suite upgrade wasn’t available.

Still, they did upgrade both rooms by one category to a Grand Ocean View King, and the other room, which was booked under Gold status, was upgraded as well.

At check-in, I asked about breakfast, and the front desk said that if I added the butler later, the butler might have the authority to make an upgrade possible. So after I got back to the room, I added the butler and briefly mentioned it. Surprisingly, they also gave breakfast for the other room right away! That was pretty generous!

Hotel Lobby

The lobby is open-air, and it immediately gives off a resort vibe the moment you walk in. Standing in the center of the lobby, you can see all the way from the garden to the pool, and then to the beach and the sea.

There are three front desks for check-in, so the process was pretty efficient. We were basically helped after only a short wait.

The lobby at night doesn’t feel quite as resort-like, but the piano and the live jazz performance in the lobby bar still create a nice atmosphere.

The Christmas decorations were still up.

Room

This time I was upgraded to a Luxury Ocean View Room, and the biggest surprise was, of course, the direct ocean view.

Ocean view + mountain view + golf course + lake—it was quite a rich view.

It was beautiful at sunrise too.

The room was pretty average, nothing special. But it was indeed very large.

A pleasant surprise was that the vanity mirror slides open; once pushed aside, you can brush your teeth and wash your face facing the sea. That was a great experience too.

And the walk-in closet was also huge.

Breakfast

Breakfast was buffet style. It falls a bit short of a luxury hotel, but it's about like an ordinary breakfast, and pretty good. My favorite was the Lingshui sour rice noodles.

Tangy, and with Hainan's yellow chili sauce, it was delicious.

There was also a live noodle station, but the taste was pretty average and the toppings weren't very fragrant.

The fruit selection was pretty good too, with watermelon, star fruit, and cantaloupe, and sometimes papaya.

Hainan chicken rice was another specialty; it tasted a bit like zongzi.

Garden and Pool

The hotel seen from the garden.

All that greenery really lifts your mood.

The pool was also pretty nice. There weren't many people at the time, so midday was perfect for playing in the water and swimming. By 5 p.m., everyone had gotten out.

There was also a little river where you could go paddleboarding.

They even set up a cave, an Instagram-worthy photo spot.

Beach

The hotel garden leads directly to the beach, so you can be out there in just a few steps — really convenient! To the left, you can walk to Monkey Island.

To the right, you can keep walking all the way to the lighthouse.

The water in Lingshui is really very clear, and the sand is fine and soft.

When the tide goes out in the morning, shells are everywhere, and you can pick whichever ones you like.

The sunset glow in the evening was beautiful.

There’s also a surf club near the hotel, and you can book an instructor to try surfing.

Eating, Drinking, and Fun

Other than breakfast, we used Didi to get everywhere. It was very convenient — we could usually get a ride within two or three minutes. Places to eat were also within a half-hour taxi ride.

The closest was Xincun Night Market, a 10-minute ride for 10 yuan.

  • The most popular thing there is all kinds of qingbuliang from the dessert soup stall.
  • Xufuji oysters are also good.

Compared with that, I still prefer Yingzhou Night Market. There are more locals there, and it feels more lively and down-to-earth. I wanted to try every stall.

Of course, when you're in Hainan, coconut chicken is a must-try. It's really tender and slightly sweet, and the dipping sauce takes it over the top.

As for attractions, Monkey Island isn't that interesting. Wild monkeys will swarm you as soon as they see something in your hands, and they may even climb onto you. The best part is still the Monkey Island cable car, which gives you a view over the fish rafts.

Chiling nearby is good for tidepooling and collecting shells, and the seawater is truly clear.

Honestly, just strolling along the beach is very relaxing. Personally, I don't like rushing around from one attraction to another.

Summary

Although the Westin Lingshui is nowhere near the level of the Sanya St. Regis and the Sanya Tianfang InterContinental we've stayed at before, Lingshui itself suits our tastes better, so the overall experience was excellent. We don't spend much time in the room anyway, so making it more luxurious wouldn't mean that much. The hotel's beach, pool, and activities are much better than those in Sanya, and there are far fewer people and less noise.

Before we came, I saw a lot of negative reviews of the Westin on Xiaohongshu, so I was a bit nervous. Unexpectedly, the actual stay was very good, which even made me wonder whether other Lingshui hotels had paid shills trying to control the reviews.