FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Le Meridien Tahiti became Sofitel, 15 Oct. 2018 [Master Thread]
Old Aug 3, 2008, 11:35 am
  #8  
rcs85551
 
Join Date: Oct 2000
Location: Munich, Germany
Programs: LH HON, DL FO/MM, Marriott Lifetime Platinum, Accor Lifetime Platinum, Sixt Diamond
Posts: 6,174
Originally Posted by SanDiego1K
Tahiti Sheraton

We took a taxi from the airport for a fixed price of 2500 cpf (25 euros). It is only a 5 to 10 minute ride, so it seemed shockingly high - but we checked with the bellman, and that indeed is the set rate. The following morning, we took the ferry to Moorea. It was 1500 cpf (15 euros) to the harbor.

We were given a spacious room with a view of the water. Our inroom amenity was a plate of 5 macaroons.

Le Meridien Tahiti
The hotel struck me as being a decent Holiday Inn, roughly a 3 star property. It is somewhat in the shape of a W, with the inner part open to the beach, containing gardens and a pool with an adjacent sand volleyball court.

We were given a junior suite. The room itself was small, but it had a huge balcony that was the equivalent of a sitting room. The balcony had a desk, a sofa and comfy chair, two loungers, a table, and an easel with a set of paints. It had two ceiling fans. The view of the water was thru vegetation.

Our room was underwhelming. There was only an easy chair. There was no luggage rack, and no place to open suitcases. The TV was a very small CRT one. The floor had terrible screeches. We reported it to the front desk to indifference. I really felt badly for anyone below us, as it screeched and sqrawked when we walked.

We received no plat amenity. We asked on checkout at 1am (oh, the joys of a 3:45am flight), and they said we should have gotten something.

We had rented a car for our last day on Tahiti, picking it up at the ferry dock and dropping it off at the airport. We overshot the airport coming from the south due to lack of signage. Once we turned around, we found excellent signage coming out of Papeete. It would only have been a 15 minute drive at that time of night if we had driven directly.

Each hotel suited us given the circumstances of our transport (taxi vs rental car). If I had not had the rental car, I feel the Sheraton would have been better for the convenient access to the airport.
My experiences have been the exact opposite.

Sheraton Tahiti:
- crappy service
- not even a considerable upgrade
- very expensive internet
- incorrect billig, lack of Platinum recognition (during several stays)
- noise from the airport (you can see the end of the runway from the hotel)
- late checkout problematic
- no overwater bungalows

Le Meridien Tahiti:
- not perfect service, but better than the Sheraton
- upgrade to a suite (as described by SanDiego1K)
- complimentary internet (they comp the internet for Platinums, which is excellent value in Tahiti if you ask me)
- choice of Platinum amenity (took the points)
- no problems with late checjout
- property has overwater bungalows (just a few, but if available they also upgrade Plats into the bungalows)
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