Originally Posted by ElliottMB

Just wrapped up a 5 night stay here on our first trip to Bora Bora - was overall an absolutely fantastic place to stay. Thought I'd share a mini review here, and happy to answer any questions!

Booking

We made the booking in September for an Overwater Bungalow with 318,000 points, which was a pretty stellar deal. I applied FNAs and we were upgraded about 4 days before arrival into the Premium Overwater Otemanu Villa, which I believe is the highest category room available for FNAs and second highest category on the property (highest being the 2 bedroom villas).

Arrival
Our Air Moana flight arrived into BOB from PPT at around 9am, and the Westin Boat was ready and expecting our arrival. Short boat ride over the resort provided some awesome views of Mt. Otemanu and the other resorts on the Island's outer reef (St. Regis, Four Seasons, etc.). 9am seemed to be a very popular time to arrive, as our boat had 4-5 couples on it, and another 4 or 5 were waiting to check in when we arrived at the resort.

This is about the only major knock I have with the resort. While the GM was available and on hand to welcome guests and apologize for the wait, it took somewhere around 1 hour for us to be able to check in. This in itself isn't an issue (we arrived 6 hours before check in time after all), but the bigger issue was the lack of process or order. The two check in desks that were manned randomly would invite the guests sitting closest to check in next, regardless of when the guest arrived, status, etc. which left a bad first impression.

My recommendation would be for them to use the manifest from the boat + Bonvoy status to order the guest check-ins and advise on arrival that this would be the process. It would help avoid a lot of folks trying to position themselves next which just led to some frustration.

That being said, it's not a bad place to wait to check in, and when we go next I would just head to the pool and check in closer to 3pm. Rooms appear to be assigned ahead of time (based on pre-printed paperwork) so there's really no benefit to trying to be 'first'.

Room/Facilities

Everything is absolutely stunning. Our overwater bungalow was well furnished, had fantastic views and an awesome plunge pool with views of Otemanu. The main pool was fantastic - the swim up bar being a highlight. We enjoyed the spa as well. Its really an incredible property and from conversations with other guests sounds like its way more modern that other properties such as St. Regis (which makes sense given it only re-opened a few months back after an extensive overhaul / brand change from Le Meridien).

Amenities

A bottle of champagne and a birthday cake for my wife was waiting in the room, which was a nice touch. They also give you reusable water bottles when you arrive off the plane which can be refilled at various water stations around the island. All the expected amenities like free sunscreen, beach towels, etc. were readily available.

Activities

We loved kayaking and paddle boarding from the resort's beach (included in the resort fee) - was fun to explore the property.

The bikes placed around the property are a nice way to get around, although a lot of them are in serious need of service/repair so hopefully that is resolved soon.

We also took the resort shuttle boat to the main island, where we took a pre-arranged taxi into the main town (Vaitape - $35 each way). There's not a ton to do in town besides a few gift shops, but the Restaurant Saint James was a nice spot to grab lunch (and apparently you can arrange a boat to/from there directly for $75 round trip).

Our excursions were awesome - we did a half day 'Lagoon Tour' snorkel trip which we'd HIGHLY recommend. You snorkel through a coral garden (so much life and amazing colors), with reef sharks, and with stingrays. Our guide was awesome and it was a great time. We also did a 2 hour jet ski tour which was a great way to see the whole island. We were planning to do the ATV adventure but it was pouring rain so cancelled and realized we had already seen most of the island so didn't feel the need to rebook.

We did a couple of the 'free' resort activities as well which were fun - my wife did the palm weaving and I did the rum tasting.

Food

Having read reviews here and elsewhere, we were a little nervous about food. Suffice to say I think it was actually pretty good. Life changing? No. But more than serviceable for a resort in the middle of nowhere. The set menu dinner in the 'fancy' restaurant (Maere) was good, although quite expensive (~$350 for two with one alcoholic drink). Varavara and Tipenier were both good options, with Varavara being the more laid back and casual of the two. We loved the Polynesian buffet at Tipanier with the dance show - highly recommend! If you like seafood you'll have a great time (we do!), if not you may struggle find a lot of variety. Breakfast buffet was very good, and was great to have it included as part of my Bonvoy status.

I think the resort could do well to have some more 'snack' options available, besides burgers and pizzas by the pool. The Tiki bar on the beach was closed during our stay, but maybe that would be a good option for lighter fare.

Service

Overall, service was excellent, if slightly unpolished. On one hand, the pool guys were awesome (one guy in particular would greet us by name, ask how our stay was going, etc.). At meals, service was good in the sense orders were put in correctly, but a little bit laid back/slow. I chocked this up to 'island time', and would say it was much better than what we experienced at the Park Hyatt St Kitts some years back (which is about our only other resort/island experience, so small sample size!). Only major knock was how slow coffee orders were at breakfast, but besides that can't complain.

Check out / Departure

It makes sense given the room we had being highly sought after, but was a little frustrated to not be able to secure a late checkout despite several requests. However, the resort were gracious to offer one of the currently unused beach villas for us as a 'transit room' to take a shower before our departure at ~5pm. This meant we could enjoy almost an entire full day of the resort before leaving and after check out.

I will say check out was very slow much like check-in, with no apparent order to how guests were prioritized. The resort could make this easier by sending folios the night before to rooms for guests to review, or to offer a check-out 'slot'. It would also be nice if you could pre-book your 'transit room' the night before to avoid having to wait to do that at the reception.

Another potential 'pro tip' would be to book massages/spa services for departure day. This would let you use the spa facilities (including showers) until 6pm.

Value

Given our room was paid with points, we felt like it was good value for money. The daily ~$100 resort fee is a bit steep, although if you factor in the welcome champagne, boat transfers, and resort activities I guess it's not so crazy. Food and drink prices are very high ($30 cocktails, $35-$75 entrees, etc.) but I suppose part of this is due to sourcing in the middle of the South Pacific.

Overall, our bill at checkout for five nights was somewhere around $3,300, which broke down as follows (for food, note my wife doesn't drink):

Spa: $600
Excursions: $500
Resort Fee/Taxes: $600
Food & Drink: $1600

A fantastic stay, and we can't wait to go back!