Part 2 of our Le Meridien stay trip reports and photos:
Private Cruise the Beautiful Lagoon of Bora Bora ? Miss Vacation
Breakfast spread was okay (see the pics in my blog) but not as many Asian selections as I was hoping for. Get a table outside facing the mountain, the view made up for the food quality!
Part 3 where we had a half day at Le Meridien then transferred to the St. Regis:
Le Meridien to St. Regis Bora Bora ? Miss Vacation
In summary, after stayed at the Le Meridien and St. Regis Bora Bora this trip (March 2019) and the Intercontinental Bora Bora Thalasso (Jan 2015):
Le Meridien - the best iconic Bora Bora - Mt. Otemanu views! You will see it at almost every single corner at the Le Meridien. Having breakfast and lunch looking at the view made up for its okay food quality. Modern overwater bungalows but small if you compared to the other two. Not sure if it's the same at other overwater bungalows, ours was shaky which almost made me sick due to I am prone to motion sickness. It wasn't like that at the Intercontinental or the St. Regis. Hotel grounds were kept nicely but you can explore and get all the postcard-perfect photos within a day or two as the resort is not that big compared to the St. Regis. Food selection was the worst, very limited, only two restaurants open for dinner. They don't even offer boat shuttle at night to go to the main island for dinner.
St. Regis - very limited views of the iconic Mt. Otemanu, only certain higher class premium overwater bungalows and at the Lagoon Restaurant. The other restaurants have no view. Breakfast/lunch only available at the Aparima Bar with the beach view. On the other hand, dinner has plenty of choices; our favorite was Bam Boo. There is a boat shuttle free during the day and a charge at night to go to the main island for dinner. We stayed only 2 nights so we had dinners at Bam Boo and Lagoon Restaurant; we didn't feel the need to go out. Plus, with 4 of us, the amount we'll be paying for the boat shuttle doesn't make sense; we could use that extra money to order more food. The food at both Bam Boo and Lagoon Restaurant are top quality so at least we don't feel like we got ripped off with the $$$$ price. This was also our 2nd time in Bora Bora so we had been to restaurants at the main island like Bloody Mary's. Superb service overall, the Butler team was professional and they went beyond to fulfill whatever we asked for...such as saber a champagne! Our deluxe overwater bungalow was huge and comfortable, my least favorite is the bathroom which looked a little bit wasting space and not luxurious. Hotel grounds were kept in great shape considering the size of the resort; that is why bikes are provided for free, you'll need that. Take advantage of their free sunscreens and aloe gel at the beach/activity hut, those smelled so good and easy to absorb! Note: still working on the trip reports and photos....
Intercontinental Bora Bora Thalasso - 2nd to the best Mt. Otemanu views. The overwater bungalows are just a little bit smaller than the St. Regis but I like their bathroom better. Hotel grounds were beautiful, many different photo ops throughout the resort with the beautiful Mt. Otemanu views. Food quality was just okay so I rather pay the extra boat shuttle fee to go out to the main island for dinner. The arranged pickups at their sister property Le Moana went smoothly so no worry about not making the last boat back to the resort. Service was excellent from check-in to checkout, especially loved their goodbye ceremony.
To balance luxury and the view, I would pick Intercontinental Bora Bora Thalasso, good luck with getting a room with points though! I was glad I visited back on 2015 where I easily got 4 nights on points just a few months prior to the trip. Note: all the properties don't feel crowded at all, we rarely came across other guests except for breakfast/lunch/dinner. We were quite surprised and always wondered where were all other guests since the occupancy rate while we were there were at around 80%+!