Rosewood Hotels & Resorts’ first resort in China has officially opened on Hainan Bay, set within 40 acres of landscaped gardens overlooking the South China Sea.

Rosewood Sanya, which welcomed its first guests yesterday (21 August), features 246 guestrooms, 25 of which have balcony plunge pools; a Rosewood Sense spa; a health club; an indoor yoga studio and an outdoor yoga pavilion; five restaurants and lounges; and a 110m long infinity edge sky pool.

The resort was masterplanned and designed by Chicago-based practice Goettsch Partners, while Hong Kong firm AB Concept created the hotel's interiors. The latter sought to create “a serene and contemporary space” that references its surroundings by incorporating wood, tribal totems and aquatic elements.

The hotel will cater to groups visiting the adjacent Sanya Forum – the largest convention centre in the region. As such, it has 3,425sq m (36,800sq ft) of its own meeting spaces, including a vast grand ballroom; an indoor/outdoor pavilion facing the sea; and expansive gardens created by landscape designer PLD.

Hainan Bay has emerged as a popular destination for leisure developers in recent years. Ian Schrager recently opened his first hotel in China, the Sanya Edition, there while Grand Hyatt has opened a resort featuring a lagoon-side restaurant designed by Andre Fu.

Other regional projects in the pipeline include a 190-guestroom One&Only resort designed by architect Jean-Michel Gathy and a retail-led leisure destination conceived by design firm Benoy.

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts manages 21 luxury properties in 12 countries, with 15 new hotels under development, including ones in Vienna and Sao Paolo. The company has plans to double its number of hotels in operation by 2020.