worldtravel123

I booked 2 - 5 night reservations. I initially only snagged the 1st 5 at the SR, and the 2nd 5 at the LM. But I kept checking availability and researching the 2 resorts (it became clear to me that moving from SR to LM would not be ideal) and was ultimately able to get 5 nights at the SR at the 60K/nt rate, and the 2nd 5 nights at the SR at the 60K/nt + cash upgrade rate for the Superior OWB. They upgraded my 1st booking to a Superior OWB so we were able to stay in the same room the whole time.

At some point there will be bad experiences at any place but I started to not know what to expect as I started to read too much into negative feedback and reviews (there are also many positive reviews). Ultimately with whatever you spend I think it is important that you are comfortable spending that and know perfection doesn’t exist anywhere.

Our stay was wonderful. I have seen some beautiful places but by far Bora Bora is one of the most beautiful. The water color alone is so unique! It is stunning. If you go and don’t book in an OWB (at least for part of your stay) I would question why you are doing that (money yes, but it really is worth it). The beach at the SR was nice (not the best beach I have been to by any means in terms of size, but clean, white sand), but the water color/temperature/depth of the Lagoon at the SR (and Bora Bora in general) is so unique and the OWB allows for direct access! Before they upgraded me I was excited about the base room I booked (it is a large land villa with a private pool) – but after seeing the locations on the island (not inside just outside as I biked around), I had no urge to stay in one. The OWB are large – plenty of space for 2 people. I imagine the land villas would see more bugs/lizards potentially if you are not careful when opening / closing your doors in the eve (one night we had a lizard in our OWB - let's say I am not a fan).

We arrived to Tahiti in the evening and spent the night at the Tahiti Airport Motel (VERY basic but clean) – McDonald’s at the airport was the best option for us at 9p at night. We took an early flight to BOB the next day – we arrived around 9a. Pick-up and the boat transfer to the resort were seamless (transfer is $130/person). I chose breakfast as my amenity and they gave us an extra breakfast this morning.

Staying 10 nights I wondered if the resort would feel like I was trapped but I never had an urge to leave it (except to dive one morning). The resort is quite big actually – from the farthest bungalow to the reception area is a 5-6min bike ride, then if you continue onto the next island (the resort is made up of 3 islands) – it is another 5min+ give/take by bike depending what part you go to (spa vs. fitness vs. farthest land villa).

Superior bungalows: I didn’t mind not having a Mt O view. As you can see it from many other parts of the resort, or just swim/float under the bungalows to the other side. I requested to be on the main boardwalk of bungalows. I wanted to be farther near the end but it actually didn’t matter when we were there. It was just nice to be on the boardwalk (really it probably wouldn’t matter if you weren’t). Also our side saw the sunrise and morning light – our deck would lose sun around 3p – there may have been a sliver of sun still at that time, and if you went in the water you had to go 10ft or so out from the deck to be in the sun. Mt O side would have the sunset – we would watch from various points in the resort – the dock, The Lagoon Bar, the beach, the other bungalow boardwalk, my friend even swam over and watched from the water.

Dining –
We rotated through Far Niente, Bamboo, and Lagoon. All were good. So many people said the food was bad/not great. Yes it is marked up – on avg $10-15 more than NYC/Miami prices I would say, and I am sure some things are not the best or good from a ‘foodie’ perspective, but some things were! My favorite meal was at Bamboo – the Passion Sour cocktail and Scallops were divine. Across all, we didn’t get meat – but all the fish dishes we tried were good! The appetizers I had were good. We never tried lunch as we brought stuff to have in our room (to save money but also it was nice not to have to arrange to have lunch every day – we could just eat when we feel like vs. leaving the bungalow or dealing with room service).

Breakfast was also sufficient – good fruit (not as much variety as I would have thought) with juicer option, breads, Asian selections, Bloody Mary's on weekends, the French toast was great (I loved that it tasted ‘lighter’ - less battered than other types). crepes/waffles/pancakes/eggs to order. The crepe with Nutella is good, waffles were ok, eggs were also ok – the only preparation I liked was scrambled else the rest were blah for me.

I recommend making dining reservations before you get there (at least for the 1st couple nights) to ensure you get the times you want.

Butlers –
Morning coffee/hot water in the bungalow was great! In general we would call and stuff would come in 10-15min or would take very long and we would have to call back (we termed it Island Time). Everyone was very nice to deal with but the only negative was the wait on some things – it got annoying at times (esp. when we requested housekeeping and subsequently requested at the same time daily but a couple times had to call multiple times and didn’t get it until hours later). One of the 1st mornings we called for coffee they said it would take 30min but then took only 10-15min. From then on they never qualified how long something would take so in the few instances our housekeeping was delayed or our ice bucket delayed we assumed it would be 10-15min (else would have thought they would say something).

Spa – you can use the steam/sauna/jacuzzi but since the common area for these things is outside, and it was warm, it wasn’t as enjoyable.

Fitness – good with weight machines, free weights, kettleballs

Diving – we booked our own arrangements. 2 of the best dives I have had – we were lucky enough to see a school of spotted eagle rays, and then manta rays.

Bikes – I am sure some bikes are not well off but they ones we had worked fine. The brakes screeched but this was actually good as you could use it as a bell. There are bike racks around the resort. In theory people should take a bike, leave it, take the same or another every time. But we found out that wasn’t the case – people take a bike and keep it outside their villa. If you have nothing in your basket but park it away from the bike rack – it is still eligible to be taken. Even with stuff in the basket, my friend had hers taken twice (they took her stuff out and put it in mine), and I had my stuff taken out of the basket and placed on the ground. When our bikes were taken it was at night and it is harder to find another bike at this time. It was rude in my opinion. I would never have taken stuff out of a bike personally. Even if the basket was empty but 2 bikes were parked away from the rack, common sense would say they are being used. So my advice is to procure a bike, keep stuff in the basket, and keep eyes on the bike when possible. Walking during the day is hot, walking at night is nice, but then you won’t have a bike the next morning. They will drive you around in a golf cart if you prefer not to bike.

Last Day –
We had a 2p flight back to Tahiti and ate lunch at the Intercontinental (our flight to US was at 915p). The food was good, but compared to the St.Regis it was just ok – in amenities and layout. Thankfully the airport had a Air Tahiti Nui Lounge (priority pass) – it was one of the only places with A/C and they have a shower!

We were 2 young, platonic adults staying at the resort and loved it! The largest demographics were couples - honeymoons, babymoon, then there were a good number of families with children.

As a note, my friend went over to the LM for the Turtle Sanctuary. She loved it! She swam with them. But the LM is smaller – much smaller than the SR. The bungalow are also smaller and she didn’t see that they had any kind of covering for shade on their decks. The infinity pools she felt were not ideal either as they were very shallow. Nothing she said made her wish we split our stay.