Can confirm now that I have checked out that the 7000 XPF daily dining credit is per room not per person. This will not cover buffet breakfast for 2. There are ala carte breakfast options you could opt to order instead of the buffet and certain if you wanted you could make that work within the daily dining credit which I imagine is how they get around it with corporate. You can also likely get a minimal breakfast delivered to your room within the credit amount.
Since we got the nice upgrade and we were in paradise I didn't worry about what proportionally was going to be insufficient costs so just ate what we wanted during our stay so got the buffet each morning. Buffet price includes unlimited drinks and ala carte options as well should you desire. We each had 2 coffee drinks each morning during breakfast.
It is also worth noting for those factoring in all cost aspects...
It seems expected to tip at the Conrad Bora Bora. Outside the US tipping can vary greatly and at our other stays in French Polynesia a buffet breakfast was included and there was no paperwork, no bill and no tips left on the tables by patrons. The Conrad definitely had more American guests in comparison which I think is the reasoning. Not knowing what was the correct amount to tip ; I usually tipped 10% on each bill but at times higher depending on the situation/service. Knowing it is not their usual culture to tip I did not think the 20% standard in the US amount made sense for everything.
We spent (including tips and whatever taxes were) roughly $375 per day on food and drink based on the final bill. This is after the daily credit was applied. That was for 3 (2 adults and 1 child) ; we didn't drink much alcohol. Had a handful of beers and some mocktails over the course of the stay. Seems a little high so plan on reviewing the bill - but have not received a copy via email. Was really not watching expenses or concerned about and suspect the numbers were accurate. At checkout with a few minutes before a boat was coming I was not in a state of mind to review countless lines of charges and imagine most would be in a similar situation. No big surprises though; so that is good. Service at the resort was excellent. Many staff remembered our last name each day which is impressive for such a large place.
Hotel did all of the boat departure planning based on our flight out of BOB and was perfectly timed so zero wasted time at the airport. We took a 5:15 PM boat and the hotel gave us free late checkout until 4 PM which was much appreciated. At 4 PM they collected our bags and cleaned our room but let us stayed "checked in" so we could go to the pool bar for a final late lunch on our bill before checking out officially at 5 PM to catch the boat. They moved our luggage collected at 4 PM to the boat and then into the airport so we were hands free the whole time.
It was great to have that long last day at the resort as your flight options are likely going to be either early morning or late day if matching up with an International flight out of PPT.
I am sure at busier times of year they may not be able to offer this so consider ourselves fortunate and think it is another possible perk for those consider the riskier weather times of year.
Hotel assigns you a butler type contact and they keep in touch via WhatsApp and I found that an excellent system was able to send them a quick text for dinner reservations, questions, etc... Was always responded to promptly and never any upsell or similar attempts.
I felt no desire to spend any more time than necessary in Tahiti itself and that non-conditioned airport is really a bad experience. Having Priority Pass I thought we would have access to the lounge on the 2nd floor of the airport with strong AC but it turns out they are no longer PP. I screwed that up because once inside the terminal I learned this but also there is a restaurant on the land side that accepts PP which we could have gone to but was past that point when I realized it.
Do yourself a favor and just skip get to and from Bora Bora or a similar island as efficiently as possible ; no need to build in any excess time on Tahiti if you don't have to (at least my maybe unfair opinion of the place). We spent about 4 hours in downtown Pappette when we arrived and that was a mistake.
Only very minor negatives overall along with random observations....
Bedding is bizarrely soft/squishy. Both the mattress and pillows. Some may like this but seemed extreme to me and though at time comfortable I found myself waking up every few hours each night as I think I was just not used to it.
Felt almost like a waterbed it was so soft.
Water was provided 2x daily (large bottles) so we always had ample water in our room but was always room temp with no way of cooling it down and no ice. The small fridge in the room is a filled paid mini-bar. Wish they would leave it half free for guests to put their own water or beverages. The items inside would go bad if taken out so I did not ever try and do that but suspect some guests do. I did see the one dock/area where the sunset and Pres OWB are did have an ice machine. That is nice if staying on that section but not easy to reach for anyone else. Would be great if they added a few more of those throughout the property so all rooms could have access to an ice machine.
As I mentioned previously ; most all of the water bungalows are over fairly deep water. Some may consider this a positive as you can jump in the water from the deck and you can easily swim. Those that prefer to be in water they can stand in from their room/deck may not like it as much.
Resort is fairly large so depending where you stay it could be an inconvenient amount of walking. The grounds are wonderfully maintained and beautifully landscaped so always an enjoyable stroll but in the heat could be an issue. It remained hot even in the early morning and evening hours. Fortunately we were in the 200 section which is about as central as one could be so our walk times were never long and we did not have to use the golf cart system at all.
If staying in the one of the villas up the hill it would be quite the trek and you really would be reliant on using the free of charge golf carts one can request.
The bike system is great for getting around as well ; though I did see many guests parking one right at their front door which the hotel should have enforced against that behavior as it meant less bikes to go around. Also bikes are not allowed on the hill so those in the upper villas cannot use that as a way or reaching their room.
Despite the large size of the resort the actual water area one can utilize the free kayaks and similar water options on is not very large. Have to stay within the buoy area which is close to the rooms. I suspect this is true of most all resorts in Bora Bora and free water sports are free so not complaining just don't plan out a full day for on resort water activities. I covered everything in what was likely an hour or so via kayak and didn't really get different views than I was able to from land.
The beach on property (well technically 2 of them) are good as entry points for snorkeling but look like nicer beaches than the actually are. If you have a OWB I doubt you will use the beach at all while here.
The property has a nice view of the mountain from the overwater bungalows (106 area) but bizarrely no way to get that view if not staying in the 4 OWB rooms that have that view. I am not sure why they did not construct some type of viewing platform in that area as other than from the top near the spa you cannot see the mountain of Bora Bora from the resort otherwise. The overlook by the spa is a nice place for sunrise. I went there 3 straight mornings. 2 duds in a row but thankfully the 3rd one was good enough that I did not need to get up at 5:30 again after that. I was the only one there all 3 mornings ; along with some crowing roosters. Most overwater bungalows offer a good sunset view. Those designated as sunset view will give you the direct sun view but all of them are technically facing over the water on the side the sun sets so will be good from most any of them just with the sun the side instead of straight on. For me just as good as I don't need to see the ball of the sunset to watch a nice sunset.
The views at the hotel offer beautiful color water and open sea views for as far as the eye can see. Our view was unobstructed and endless. My wife loved that, personally I would have preferred a mountain or other island view but to each their own.
I believe all of the OWB other than the Presidential ones are the same inside. The bathroom is wonderful. Lovely sinks area, bathtub, toilet room and shower. Wife really appreciated the Byredo brand large size toiletries.
Pool is excellent with both sunny and some more shady spots along with a swim up bar. Also have nice cabanas which are free of charge and first come basis.
Loved the wristband style keys !!! And the room AC worked flawlessly. Wifi sometimes went in and out but always worked well enough for us in room and on property.
On property gift shop is only about 10% higher than one will find on the island of Bora Bora and has a decent selection so really no reason to make a trip into town for shopping unless you want to look at multiple places for pearl jewelry. There are not great souvenir options in either location so honestly your best choice is going to be at the airport duty free shop before you leave so just wait until then.
The town of Bora Bora is very small so one can walk the main drag area in an hour or so.
Conrad provides a free shuttle to and from town during daytime hours free of charge as long as not on your check in or check out day (only runs a few times so make sure to check the schedule and book your slot the day prior)
On Sunday they have a dance performance at Sunset at the sushi bar that was good. Live band, traditional dancing as well as a fire dance performance on the dock. If you don't want to pay for the Friday buffet dinner or miss out on it ; is a nice alternative. We enjoyed both you can go just for drinks and watch.
Boat rental: Yes I used the website I learn to boat . com and did everything over the course of 3 nights ; roughly 6 hours total. You take the online course and then a final exam for your state. They email you a certificate and that is what I presented to the boat rental company.
I will post in a new reply below my thoughts on the boat vs. excursion). I am not sure the boat rental makes the most sense for most. I am a photographer so primarily wanted the freedom to go where I wanted and to try and get a beach photo or two that would be hard for others to get and that did not have any overwater bungalows in it. The bungalows are obviously iconic for the region but was hoping to create imagery of a dream tropical beach not a location specific postcard type image. For that purpose the boat was useful.
I am actually glad I did the boating course as living on the coast I learned some things that I think will be valuable to know in the future.
Last edited by mreynolds767; Feb 29, 2024 at 10:02 am