Company's annual meeting was held at Sun Island. Like the balcony where we get to enjoy the panoramic golf course view. The coffee break selection is very different from what we had at other hotels, asked my leader and she explained that it was a wellness themed coffee break. The place is rather quiet and dark at night. We spent 2D1N there. Did horse riding for the first time, it was fun.

It was about a year ago since I visit Sun Island. I came back for a relaxing weekend because of the historical and the cultural atmosphere the island has.

I have always been interested in the Chinese history and culture and fell in love with the ancient Mao Pagoda at first sight. It is said that the Mao Pagoda’s existence was dated back to the Tang Dynasty and it is one of the five ancient lighthouses left in China. The Mao Pagoda Square manifests a strong historical atmosphere and gives me a sense of peace and tranquility. I heard from the staff that ancient poets came to the island in search of inner peace and inspiration and now it is used for Taichi and meditation on the island.

Not all facilities are made to host corporate training. Sun Island is one of the few that I would rate as not suitable for team corporate training. It does have impressive space and good and helpful staff that gave their best. It is the customer-centric organization of facilities that provide the main issue. We spent plenty of time wasted on internal transport. Here is the routine that I will have to go through:

1. My accommodation is in location B. I will have to take an internal bus to location A for my meals and the bus again to location C which house the seminar room. Imagine moving 25 participants through this process for every meals!!!

2. Accommodation is clean. My biggest complaint is that the bed is too hard for comfort. It is like sleeping on a wooden plank surface.

I must give credit to the maintenance of the place. The team has worked hard on this. Equipment that are given to us are working well. Places are kept neat and clean.

Could be a great place for personal reflection but definitely not a place for corporate program

I have recently stayed for almost a week at the Sun Island Wellness and Golf Resort. I absolutely loved this place and it could not have been a better experience.

The resort is located on an actual island at the meeting point of two rivers. Therefore, the place has a very peaceful and serene atmosphere. It is very quiet and in the mornings you wake up with bird songs. The villa I stayed in was spacious, spotlessly clean and very well equipped (the fast Internet connection was particularly useful to me). My sleep was absolutely comfortable on the large bed with its firm mattress and the array of different pillows. It was very pleasurable to walk around the resort, to look at the 1,200 year old Pagoda on the property and to gaze at the ships floating past.

I did not participate in the golfing but did enjoy several visits to their fantastic spa. There I had one of the best massages in my life (a Chinese meridian massage administered by a male therapist). If you feel a bit more adventuresome, try traditional TCM therapies like cupping and spooning. My wellness experience was made even more special with little touches like a lavender eye pillow, and the wellness tip booklet in my room as well as the participation in a laughing yoga class.

The service was absolutely fantastic. Every staff member seemed to be genuinely friendly and went out of the way to help me. The language difficulties were bridged easily by an assigned helper who greeted me right after the commendable pick-up service at the airport. Elaine was lovely, very switched on and had an excellent overview of my timetable and appointments. The excursions we had with Elaine were very well and efficiently organised and there was still room for spontaneous changes according to weather or the interest of travellers. Shanghai and neighbouring cities are stunning and the entire experience truly exceeded our expectations.

Finally the food we had at the resort but also during our excursions was absolutely stunning. It was super-healthy, fantastically presented and even though we ate a lot I managed to lose some weight. I particularly enjoyed the romantic Zen Den Herbal Restaurant. The family who owns the resort has recently built an organic, biodynamic farm which will soon deliver the entire food supply to the resort. It cannot get healthier and better! I absolutely recommend an excursion to this farm, it is very impressive and the lunch we had there was brilliant.

I am not able to relate to some of the more negative comments posted here at all, so do yourself a favour and check out this resort when you come into this region!