Introduction We tried the Beach Pool Villa for 4 nights during our stay. This room type is interesting because I think opinions probably vary regarding what is more valuable: being overwater with no pool, or being on the beach with a pool? Case in point, at St.Regis the overwater villa without pool costs more than the beach villa with pool, but it is the other way around at Conrad: the BV is a higher room category than the OWV and also higher than the Deluxe OWV. If you want to both be overwater and have a pool, you can stay in the OWV with pool but it is the 3rd highest room category, right behind the Presidential villa and the Royal villa so it will cost you. Conrad only has 2 beach villas on the resort, whereas there are several OWVs. I suspect part of of why the BV ends up costing more than the OWVs is simply because of offer and demand: there might be more people who prefer to be overwater than people who want a pool, but if it’s not by a ratio of more than 10 to 1 then relatively speaking the BVs are harder to get and Conrad can successfully sell that room at a higher price – this is just my hypothesis. Room There are a few minor design differences between the BV and the OWVs such as there are more windows in the bathroom of the BV and the windows are larger as well, however there is no window in the shower and in the toilet of the BV (only blinds). However apart from these minor points, the BV is almost identical in design to the OWVs. Also we did not have a ceiling fan in the bedroom of the BV but it might just be because it was being replaced and it was temporarily missing; in fact next to the bed there is a “ceiling fan button” just like in the OWV. Amenities were slightly more generous for the BV room type, for example we had razors and toothbrushes, but not in other room types, although I am sure we could have gotten them by calling if we wanted. The size of the BV is the same as the OWV. Outdoors is where differences are, for example the patio is larger for the BV and it has ceramic tiles rather than wood for the OWVs. The BVs are facing south so you get sun pretty much all day and that also means that the pool temperature is very comfortable. The pool is a small L-shape with the first part being shallow like a lagoon and the end being deeper. It’s not suitable for laps; it’s more like a plunge pool but I enjoyed relaxing in the pool with the views. As you can imagine Conrad being a new hotel, the pool was very clean and in excellent condition. Privacy is a mixed bag. On one side of the villa is the pathway going to the OWVs 300+ and a wall blocks the view so it is private. On the other side there is a wall, in addition to plants and flowers between both BVs so we did not feel exposed to the neighboring BV. The drawback is that in front of the villa it is not uninterrupted views of the beach and ocean – you have a few OWVs which partially block the view. Of course the guests in OWVs are most likely looking the other way rather than looking towards the BVs but nonetheless it did not feel as private as the OWVs that we had. In addition, people can take a walk on the beach and get very close to the BV patio. This is to be expected in any resort if you have a beach villa, but the problem is that design would have been better if the path to the beach ended at our villa because it would be a disincentive for people to walk there because they would have to turn around when reaching the end. The issue here is that you can continue walking after the beach to go on the bridge to OWVs 300+. The “regular” way is to use the footpath behind the BVs but some people occasionally took the beach route. Not to say that there was heavy traffic by any means, in fact it was only a handful of people per day, but it should be noted nonetheless. Beach Speaking of the beach, Conrad has a nice one which I did not mention in my previous reviews. In the area closer to the main pool there are several lounge chairs on the beach which were normally not busy. The beach is very well kept, no trash on the beach itself or in the water. There is lots of marine life in the shallow water off the beach in front of the BVs and we enjoyed feeding fish over there. Dining A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the weekly buffet & Polynesia show dinner. We have returned and this time I took a few pictures. As last time we enjoyed having a quality buffet and we continue to recommend it if you are in Conrad BB on a Tuesday evening. Overall In conclusion, a key question is the choice between BV and OWV. If you have the budget then by all means go with the best of both worlds and pay for the OWV with pool. If not, then the choice is to pay for the more expensive BV with pool, or the cheaper OWVs without pools (deluxe or standard). I do not think there is a single answer to this question. Some would think a pool is not necessary if you have direct access to the ocean. Others would say from the BV you also have the ocean right in front, and as a bonus you also have a pool. Perhaps folks who prefer a BV with pool might get a better deal at St.Regis since it’s only one category higher than the entry level room, whereas it’s the 6th category up at Conrad. Personally upon return to Conrad BB I would be happy to split our stay between several room types once again if our stay is long enough, since the experience in each room type is different.