Originally Posted by
zzrayzz
Im here 7 nts on award (currently on 6th nt) and it has been amazing. Weather has been really good. when i checked in, i wasnt proactively offered the 50% bkfst meal plan. I had to ask them about it and then they offered it to me so ymmv depending on whoever is checking you in maybe? So yeah, dont hesitate to ask them if they dont offer it!
Weather has been sunny everyday except one day for us so far. That one rainy day was actually the same day we had schedule to visit vaitape to stock up on some groceries from chin lee's supermarket! Basically to get to vaitape from thalasso, you would have to take their boat shuttle to le moana and from le moana take their bus shuttle to vaitape (1150xpf per person i believe for bus). And they only give you one hr to roam around vaitape if you plan on catching the free boat shuttle back to thalasso as they only go into vaitape twice a day (leaves vaitape back to le moana at 11am and 5pm). Since we were at le moana we decided to check out the resort.
This is just my opinion but Thalasso is hands down much nicer than Le Moana. I did not stay at le moana but my impression of it when we were there was that it is older and didnt have better views than thalasso and their rooms look smaller. Snorkeling sucks at thalasso but we booked raanui tours and their tour was amazing.... Rode a huge shark!!! Anyways, since i used points and 2 chase free nts to book my 7nts, thalasso is a no brainer. You get an owb at thalasso vs a beach bungalow at le moana and you are using the same amt of pts. Perhaps, if pts book into an owb at le moana or cost less pts, then maybe. But if i was paying cash, not sure if thalasso is worth the ~$1300/nt usd after taxes and fees and would probably stay at le moana half the time to save on costs. And if one was to pay cash, might as well become an ambassador and use the wknd cert! Also, i do think one should become an ambassador before coming here to increase your odds at a better emerald owb. Seems like they tend to sell out during peak season so getting a complimentary upg to next level is unlikely. Oh and free bottled water daily is good since everything costs so much! They give me a big bottle of water (local brand?) and two small bottles of evian.
The thing is, if you don't stay at Le Moana for very long then you don't appreciate its finer points. The beach is amazing - fine, powdery sand that feels great to walk, sit and lounge on. There's no beach at Thalasso to speak of, it's more of a rocky ramp. Thalasso has overpowering luxury, but you pretty much need to get away from it to do anything, like snorkeling or getting a reasonably priced meal. But it's a beautiful setting just to chill and relax or go for a paddle. I wouldn't miss the Thalasso if I was going to BB because the view of the mountain is unparalleled... but I would definitely spend a couple days at Le Moana enjoying the beach and the fish (because it has infinitely more than Thalasso and you can see them from your coffee table), especially if I could be guaranteed an OWB.
We actually got upgraded to a Sapphire bungalow last week for a 5 night stay because we booked separate reservations under each of our names for different nights. So they thought we were only staying 1 night when we checked in and gave us a Sapphire upgrade. Then after getting to our room they discovered we were doing 5 consecutive nights, and then told us we'd have to move for our 2nd night. We pleaded that we really didn't want to move rooms, and they said they had to check w/ their management if that was OK. Well, it was OK and for 5 consecutive nights we stayed in a Sapphire OWB, despite neither of us being Ambassador. Upgrades are easy when the hotel thinks you're only staying 1 night
As they say, possession is 9/10 of the law