alanslegal

Due to a last minute award opening we decided to add two nights here (before transferring to the Thalasso) and checking in in around 16hrs time.

The app suggests we have been upgraded to King Garden Villa ... of course subject to availability etc. Now assuming space is available for most villas .... is it worth pushing nicely for a King Deluxe Overwater Villa?

Our stay after the Conrad at the Thalasso says we have been upgraded to a Diamond Otenamu View Villa .. if that sticks, that would be might impressive.

The quickest way is a private boat transfer from resort to resort, iirc the rate was like usd~$200

Otherwise its the Conrad boat to Vaitape, taxi to Le Moana and boat to Thalasso - which we will be doing exactly that in around 60hours from now.

beagleflyer1977

How does the Conrad cancellation policy work - if you cancel after the reservation cancel date, do you forfeit the points or have to pay for a full nights rate? I have a night I'm holding and want to know if it doesn't work out - will I be screwed if I cancel after the cancellation deadline?

beagleflyer1977

To add - I'm really confused here. My points stay stay is end of April, but it says I have until midnight tonight to cancel without a fee - which is almost a month. So if I book any other nights in April, I literally have no cancellation timeline?

drewdawg199

yes, that appears to be correct. If you start a standard points booking and click the rate details, it looks like this hotel has a 29/30 day cancellation policy.

escape4

My award reservations booked in late 2017 have a 14-day cancellation policy. The one I booked in early 2018 has a one-month cancellation policy. So obviously they changed it - I had not even noticed. Thanks for bringing this up beagleflyer1977. Also, beware of a cancellation after the deadline: it looks like it's not the points that you are losing, but you will be charged the best available rate for one night which will be several hundred euros or dollars.

"No-shows or cancellations of Reward Stay Reservations outside of the time frame set by the hotel's individual cancellation policy will be charged one night's room and tax at the hotel's Best Available Rate for that date. "

beagleflyer1977

So the question is - how sternly do they enforce this cancellation policy? I once booked a Waldorf Astoria inside the cancellation timeline, and had to call in and get it cancelled. Same policy that I would be charged one night stay - I got my points back and was never charged...

DUflyer

I think this new one month cancellation deadline is a very good thing. Remember how we all complain about the Thalasso availability where people are hoarding reward nights and only release them at the one week deadline when they are pretty much unusable by others and go to waste?
A one month deadline gives other people the chance to use them. Also, if you go to Bora Bora and you have award nights at the Conrad you should definitely use them, it is so worth it.

Strangely there have been very few reward nights at the Thalasso recently that were released around the cancellation deadline. In March only 2 nights (18 and 24). March 19 was released after the cancellation deadline.

alanslegal

No we must totally encourage the opposite

I am here now, moving over to the Thalasso in 2.5hrs and actually dont want to go there. This resort is absolutely gorgeous.

After spending an hour in our pre-upgraded King Garden Villa ... we were then transferred to a Deluxe Overwater Villa ... both villas were excellent.

And its a glorious morning here

beagleflyer1977

Did you pay for OWB or upgrade at Conrad?

alanslegal

Both villas were complimentary upgrades as a Diamond.

Baze

Then you don't get the benefits of their status. They would have to be traveling with you. If they are on the reservation and don't show up there is a slim chance you might get them but you are not entitled to them.

Churnman

Having been to both, I'll say that the beds (mattresses) were superior at the Thalasso as far as firmness/support and the view of the mountain is postcard perfect. But, you are correct that the Conrad/Hilton is a beautiful property. Each have their positives and negatives. It's nice to experience both properties. IF the Conrad and basically any Hilton property in FP would upgrade their mattresses to a better quality and more supportive for backs I would consistently be able to recommend them to my travel clients, but I have to be careful due to my own concerns about people with any type of back problem. Young honeymooners or those who prefer very soft mattresses seem to be fine with Hilton Moorea and the Conrad, but I've heard more and more complaints. It's the one area these two properties could really improve. They've spent a lot of money on visuals, but I'm not sure why they still reportedly have what some call more mushy mattresses. Hotel brands need to really be careful in this going forward. There are plenty of non-20 somethings traveling to FP now compared to years ago. And, "honeymooners" are older than decades ago. Besides, the current computer generation is experiencing more back issues than past generations. I will be at the Conrad in July and still hoping the mattresses have improved compared to my previous visit. I have to report back to prospective travelers.

Carl Christensen

Churnman

Forgive me, i didn't mean to come across that people were recommending "really firm mattresses", because the ultra firms are also painful, especially for joints. I understand when you break ribs you need soft mattresses. But, the very good resorts have alternative mattresses available for those with physical issues. Overall, I've heard more complaints about mushy beds at Hilton Moorea and the Hilton Bora Bora (now Conrad) than other resorts in the region and that has deterred clients. Last time I was there, even my wife who prefers a soft bed was hurting each morning. The hotel switched mattresses, but we found no difference. I was assured by the manager at that time, when shown the blueprints of the rebuilding of the bungalows, that they would get better mattresses. Maybe they aren't as worthless (super mushy) as what we experienced prior to the remodeling. They were extremely 'cheap' mattresses (we saw them and underneath). A medium mattress would be much better than what we and others were experiencing when it was a Hilton. We cut our stay short at the Moorea property due to the mattresses. The Thalasso has more medium support mattresses, but compared to the Hilton one might say they are firm, but plush top, therefore not ultra firm. Low back pain is made much worse from a non-supportive bed.

You're warning about jumping off into the water will help others avoid what you went through. Thanks for sharing!!

alanslegal

Your right that the beds at the Conrad were more 'mushy' than that of the Thalasso but we were OK with both of them.

The Thalasso beds may be replaced sometime this year even though they were replaced less than two years ago (will clarify that with the GM if I bump into him in the next day or two, we had an hour long chat yesterday) - top bloke).

Back to the Conrad though - villas, grounds, pool are all excellent - beats the Thalasso hands down. The latter has the postcard perfect lagoon and mountain backdrop - Conrad cant beat that.

Conrad's breakfast is excellent, so is their dinner service at the same restaurant. The chinese restaurant however is sad, tired, and given what we paid, disappointing. The taste and presentation is definitely on par with Panda Express .... and ~US$7 for an extra but very small bowl of plain rice.

Anyway will try and get a proper review posted soon.