© Modulo Architects / Photography: Haibo Wang

Move over St. Barth, Mallorca, Bali – or any other sunny holiday island for that matter! The new ultimate island hideaway – replete with the prerequisite sun-kissed beaches, lush vegetation, and cool oceanside lodgings – can be found off the Chinese mainland. Called Hainan, it’s just a one-hour-and-fourty-minute flight away from Hong Kong and a mere three hours from Bangkok. At nearly two-million square kilometres (772,204 square miles) it’s a big island, offering a huge potential that’s already being used to turn it into a major seaside holiday destination. The southern coastline, especially around the city of Sanya, has seen a dramatic transformation in recent years, with quite a number of hotels and resorts popping up that cater to an increasing number of visitors from home and especially abroad. Anticipating a demographic of savvy young travellers is the recently opened SIXX Hotel in the coastal town of Haihou.

The property is part of an eponymous boutique hotel chain, and for the interior design the owners tapped Shanghai-based practice Modulo Architects to do the job. The hotel is situated smack on the beach, and used to be the dwelling of a local fisherman’s family. The original three-storey core has been retained, but now features a contemporary grid façade made of 550 bricks and a modified configuration that has resulted in fifteen guestrooms. Simple yet comfy, each room is air-conditioned and comes with a private bathroom and wardrobe. Obviously, there’s free Wifi as well. The chosen palette of concrete, white, timber and brass accentuates the youthful vibe at SIXX Hotel. On the ground floor a restaurant is situated that overlooks the infinity pool – mind you, it used to be the fisherman’s family’s shrimp pond – in the back yard and Haitang Bay.

SIXX Hotel
76-4 Tenghai West Village (Haihou)
572014 Sanya

© Modulo Architects / Photography: Haibo Wang