Conrad Bora Bora {PYF} (formerly Hilton)
May 22, 2022, 11:48 am
#931
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 101
Time, dedication, persistence above all else. There seem to be periods of time where availability opens wide for everything. Other times you’re just catching times that other people are releasing back to inventory. I booked this trip three separate times on points in 2019, 2020, and 2021. It is definitely possible but you have to commit to checking it every single day and refreshing a few times throughout the day.
Staying on this forum helps too as people will alert if wide availability opens up also.
Staying on this forum helps too as people will alert if wide availability opens up also.
May 22, 2022, 11:57 am
#932
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 303
Alcohol Purchase Warning
Learned something new I’d never seen mentioned in the forums or anywhere else.
Firstly, French Polynesia is a very religious country. Pretty much everything is closed on Sundays so don’t plan trips into town for restaurants/souvenir shopping/etc without confirming they are open.
Secondly, Chin Lee’s IS open on Sunday. BUT if you want to buy alcohol you have to do it before 12:00pm. This corresponds perfectly with the 11:00am Conrad boat into town and the 12:00 boat back (which probably means Conrad will change it to leave at noon in the future so they don’t lose more alcohol sales
). Btw this is the best and only boat if you just want to jump into town quick to pick something up, otherwise you’re stuck waiting for 2-3 hours for the return boat. Be sure to make a reservation with the concierge.
Firstly, French Polynesia is a very religious country. Pretty much everything is closed on Sundays so don’t plan trips into town for restaurants/souvenir shopping/etc without confirming they are open.
Secondly, Chin Lee’s IS open on Sunday. BUT if you want to buy alcohol you have to do it before 12:00pm. This corresponds perfectly with the 11:00am Conrad boat into town and the 12:00 boat back (which probably means Conrad will change it to leave at noon in the future so they don’t lose more alcohol sales
). Btw this is the best and only boat if you just want to jump into town quick to pick something up, otherwise you’re stuck waiting for 2-3 hours for the return boat. Be sure to make a reservation with the concierge.
Last edited by Cynapse; May 22, 2022 at 12:07 pm
May 22, 2022, 12:33 pm
#933
Join Date: Aug 2019
Posts: 174
Learned something new I’d never seen mentioned in the forums or anywhere else.
Firstly, French Polynesia is a very religious country. Pretty much everything is closed on Sundays so don’t plan trips into town for restaurants/souvenir shopping/etc without confirming they are open.
Secondly, Chin Lee’s IS open on Sunday. BUT if you want to buy alcohol you have to do it before 12:00pm. This corresponds perfectly with the 11:00am Conrad boat into town and the 12:00 boat back (which probably means Conrad will change it to leave at noon in the future so they don’t lose more alcohol sales). Btw this is the best and only boat if you just want to jump into town quick to pick something up, otherwise you’re stuck waiting for 2-3 hours for the return boat. Be sure to make a reservation with the concierge.
Firstly, French Polynesia is a very religious country. Pretty much everything is closed on Sundays so don’t plan trips into town for restaurants/souvenir shopping/etc without confirming they are open.
Secondly, Chin Lee’s IS open on Sunday. BUT if you want to buy alcohol you have to do it before 12:00pm. This corresponds perfectly with the 11:00am Conrad boat into town and the 12:00 boat back (which probably means Conrad will change it to leave at noon in the future so they don’t lose more alcohol sales
). Btw this is the best and only boat if you just want to jump into town quick to pick something up, otherwise you’re stuck waiting for 2-3 hours for the return boat. Be sure to make a reservation with the concierge.
May 22, 2022, 4:43 pm
#934
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 303
May 23, 2022, 7:13 am
#935
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 959
The workaround is to befriend locals on Matira beach, for they have the beer hookup via backdoor of restaurant on Sunday mornings. They would not accept money for the beers they kept handing me. Matira beach early on a Sunday morning is about the best place on Earth!
May 23, 2022, 7:25 am
#936
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: So Cal
Posts: 937
May 23, 2022, 1:05 pm
#937
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 303
Thank you for taking the time to correct though.
May 23, 2022, 1:45 pm
#938
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SEA, YVR
Programs: Alaska MVPG, Flying Blue Gold, BA Silver, Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 568
I'm going over Memorial Day weekend in a standard room (lagoon view). Only got quoted the King Pool Overwater Villa at 118,000 XPF / $1,040 USD per night. I'm only going for 3 nights, so it's sorta tempting. It shouldn't be because I've done overwater at Conrad Maldives for free (diamond upgrade during October 2020), but damn, it's just such a nice thing! Hotel is "fully" booked and there's only one of that room left. Room is going for 2.6x the upgrade price at ~314,000 XFP, so not terrible value (especially cuz I booked at 89,000 points a night). Debating...
May 23, 2022, 3:17 pm
#939
Join Date: Jan 2018
Posts: 113
I'll be heading there in a few days, also in a standard room over Memorial Day weekend. Also having the same debate over whether to shell out for the overwater bungalow since have also done it at the maldives already. I'm there for 5 nights though, so it'd be ~5K+ to upgrade for the entire stay and I def don't value the OVB that much! lol they also told me there's only one of that room left so only one of us can upgrade anyways haha.
Does anyone know if you can get upgraded again after an estandby upgrade as diamond? That might also sway things if I can somehow then get upgraded higher for free after paying estandby for a king pool OVW...
May 24, 2022, 11:26 pm
#941
Join Date: Nov 2019
Posts: 33
May 25, 2022, 3:43 am
#942
Join Date: Oct 2011
Posts: 3,838
Okay, a bit off topic but something many of us are interested in... at present the only flights into PPT are from US. Where's the best place to monitor for new flights from other countries? Pretty sure we can rule out Japan this year, but New Zealand and possibly others?
May 25, 2022, 12:05 pm
#943
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 683
May 27, 2022, 5:47 am
#944
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 69
Booked again for late October via pts/fnc. I want to stay in owb again, debating on emailing them again but this time closer to my arrival date. Maybe even pay for 1-2 nights like last time and hope to get upgraded for all 4 nights. Saw the last comment here that they weren't upgraded. How "bad" is a regular villa?
May 27, 2022, 6:50 am
#945
Join Date: Oct 2018
Posts: 303
Booked again for late October via pts/fnc. I want to stay in owb again, debating on emailing them again but this time closer to my arrival date. Maybe even pay for 1-2 nights like last time and hope to get upgraded for all 4 nights. Saw the last comment here that they weren't upgraded. How "bad" is a regular villa?
If you’re all about just being there, going down to the beach and hanging out, snorkeling from the beach, etc, then you will be fine in a garden villa.