The hotel industry in China is absolutely exploding right now. Starwood and IHG are both poised to nearly double their number of hotels in the next 18 months. That's a lot of hotels! But are any of them any good? Do they stack up to the best of the rest of the world? That's what we want to find out. So City Weekend has selected our 25 favorite hotels in China and we're reporting one per issue. The list isn't reader-voted like Conde Nast Travelers, it's not based on reviews like TripAdvisor's. It's based on a lot of conversations we have had, formal and informal, with luxury travel agents, savvy travelers and industry insiders. Up first for our new feature is the Ritz-Carlton Sanya--the best hotel in Hainan.

A decade ago, Sanya's Yalong Bay was all farmers and fishermen. Nowadays, it's bursting at the seams with luxury hotels. No one even dares hazard a guess how many hotels there are in Yalong Bay, but industry insiders estimate some 5,000 luxury rooms are up for grabs any night of the week. Pretty much every major global hotel brand has a presence there, with the St. Regis and MGM slated for openings in 2012. But there is one hotel experts agree stands head and shoulders above the Yalong Bay crowd: the Ritz-Carlton Sanya.

The Ritz-Carlton opened in April 2008 and has been taking names every since. Numbers-wise, they run well above the market in occupancy even while charging up to double their shoulder to shoulder competitors. They're currently ranked number two on TripAdvisor for Sanya Hotels (they regularly swap the top spot back and forth with the Mandarin Oriental). They've been reviewed a whopping 1,300 times.

We attribute that to the power of the Ritz-Carlton brand, but hotel General Manager Michel Goget drills deeper: "location, product, service, brand, and sales strategy," he reels off confidently. In plain-speak that means: they have a great hotel staffed by professionals and they know how to sell it.

The Ritz-Carlton is located at one end of Yalong Bay, hemmed in by a green mangrove forest and boasting 600 meters of private beach. That adds up to as much seclusion as you can get on a in place that is starting to resemble Miami Beach more and more every day. Many guests cite the quality of the Ritz-Carlton's sand as a major advantage over the Mandarin Oriental.

Iconic images of the hotel (like the one above) play off the beach which is where you'll find the hotel's fabulous fine dining restaurant, Sand. Sand specializes in Provencal cuisine and a private, candlelit dinner there is often a Sanya trip highlight, especially for couples. Goget says the ensemble is meant to conjure the Cote d'Azure experience.

A great restaurant, beach-side cabanas, infinity pools which meander forever, villas where you can hole up for a week, the best breakfast buffet this side of California--all mean little without excellent service and, in our opinion, this is where the Ritz-carlton truly defends its claim to being the best in Sanya. First of all, the service level across all Sanya hotels is not world-class. TripAdvisor is full of grumbling, especially from non-Chinese speakers. The Ritz-Carlton rises above the rest courtesy of their 1,000+ staff (their 2-1 staff to room ratio is among the hightest in Sanya).

One thing we didn't know is how kid-friendly the Ritz-Carlton is. Marriott Sanya is probably the most well-known among expat families, but the Ritz has clever additions like a "secret garden" where kids can interact with animals. It's a feature unique not just to Sanya, but to the world, Goget tells me.

Splash some cash and get an Ocean View Room forRMB3,207 (plus surcharge) in February.

Got a suggestion for our Top 25 list? Let us know at lee.mack@ringierasia.com (or in the comments below). If we use your suggestion we'll hook you up for a night in a luxury hotel somewhere in China!