EuropeanPete

You’ve got one too many islands there for your days to add up as far as I can tell. But overall, it’s easy enough to fly between the islands, remembering that most flights will go back via Tahiti.

jpicyk

If I am booked on points from what I'm reading here they recently changed policy and now will only offer paid upgrades 2 weeks prior to arrival? Am I understanding this correctly? If so this is very disappointing, especially being a Diamond

yakel

Yes, that's the current situation. Been 3 times before and they always offered them right after booking. There's no way I'm chancing it whether an upgrade is available until 2 weeks prior. And by then, you cannot cancel the reservation without penalty either. I, too, am Diamond, and no matter what I tried, this management team would not budge. Therefore I canceled and (as noted above), staying elsewhere.

Alfonso904

Is the standard room bad or something?

TBH, I don't really care for the overwater villas but the horizon view villas do interest me!

yakel

It's all relative, and everybody has their own opinion/preference. There's a lot of discussion upthread on the different types of rooms. We just prefer the OWBs ourselves.

escape4

The standard room is not "bad"; it would be considered a suite at many resorts in the world. However considering almost all rooms at Conrad BB are stand-alone villas, having a suite in a building where you have neighbors is clearly inferior to anything else available on the resort.

ywc123

Comparing the StR and Conrad - would you take 5 nights StR or 3 nights StR+2 nights Conrad? All points booking and only gold in HH vs plat in MB. Buying points is almost the same price (as I will get the 5th free in StR). Not sure if its worth trying the Conrad or just stick to StR for the whole stay

EuropeanPete

That’s definitely a travel preference question that only you know your answer to.

I’d always want to see both resorts every time - especially with the fun of chartering your own boat for a direct transfer.

Freddorick

I honestly didn't like the Conrad, rooms are dated, service was poor, F&B even worse. Definetly go for 5 nights in the St Regis.

escape4

I could see the argument of someone saying Conrad has worse service and F&B than StR, but dated rooms? If we asked the question to all people who have been to both Conrad and StR, I bet at least 90% would say StR has the more dated rooms. Hardware is a strong point at Conrad, and I frequently see it as a criticism for StR.

Freddorick

I know only the FS, can't speak to the StR. The FS had somewhat dated rooms, but they were at least well kept and maintained. Everytime I turned around in the Conrad bed it made a loud squeeking noise, the door to the room didn't close well, the sink was leaking, etc. I was in one of the Horizon Villas with pool (more like a tub). I don't see how the hardware in the Conrad can be a strong point? Is the StR even worse?

According to the front desk they are refurbishing some rooms currently (I think the OW villas starting with 100 if memory serves right) but it will be a few months until this is completed.

brodielayne

Conrad had a full reno 5 years ago, so dated is an odd choice of words. In disrepair would make more sense with the issues you had.

samuelo

The St Regis has more dated rooms and is literally falling apart. The property is owned by HNA Group which due to their well-publicised problems has not been able to spend the necessary capex to upgrade the property. They are doing the bare minimum at the moment to keep the place from falling apart due to the termite issue. All of the properties in Bora Bora have or had termites - that's one of the reasons why they rebuilt the Conrad.

escape4

Comparing Conrad to FS is unfair due to the large difference in price. Regarding StR, last I stayed, yes the hardware was worse than Conrad. When we stayed at Conrad last month the bridge on the right side of villas 100 was closed as they were renovating, so your comment above is correct. The Deluxe OVW we had this year had been retouched some time between 2020 and 2023 which is on top of the more widespread renovation done a few years prior. I believe different rooms are on different schedules, you might have unfortunately caught one of the more disappointing rooms.

What we had at StR was not as bad as "falling apart", but it was far from being an impressive StR brand hotel in terms of hardware. If it had been a Westin instead, I would have been less bothered.

Alfonso904

Any idea what further renovations will be done or if the standard rooms lagoon view suites are going to be renovated before Summer?