Mar 23, 2015, 11:08 pm
Last edit by: jigri2003
Some info:
Prepaid meal plan rates as of Feb 2015 per post 1305: (breakfast price updated as of Jan 2020)
Breakfast: 4860 xpf (tax incl) per person per day
Half board (breakfast and a 3-courses dinner): 13 053 xpf (tax incl) per person per day
Full board (breakfast, a 2-courses lunch and a 3-courses dinner): 17 632 xpf (tax incl) per person per day.
Breakfast 50% discount: available only at check in time if it is taken for the entire stay. It does not apply for half board and full board. Post 1376
Guaranteed Upgrade Costs as of January 2015 per post 1293
Emerald to Sapphire: 15,000 XPF + 14% taxes per night
Emerald to Diamond: 25,000 XPF + 14% taxes per night
Emerald to Diamond Otemanu: 35,000 XPF + 14% taxes per night
Emerald to Diamond End of Pontoon: 45,000 XPF + 14% taxes per night
Full prepayment prior to arrival required
Direct Boat Transfers to/from Airport One-way: 7334 XPF (updated Dec 2019) (about 15 minutes). Resort will email you to arrange this ahead of time if desired.
Boat transfer from the Airport is not mandatory despite what any hotel emails might imply to the contrary. It's possible to take the free Air Tahiti shuttle to Vaitape (15 minutes), followed by a taxi to the IC Le Moana for 2000XPF (15 minutes), then the IC's shuttle between Le Moana and Thalasso for 3390 XPF per person one way (updated Dec 2019) (15 minutes). If all transfers go smoothly, the journey could be as short as an hour, or longer than two hours if you're unlucky.
Boat Times (as of Oct 2016, and current as of Jan 2020)
Leaving Le Moana:
7:45am
8:45am
11:45am*
12:45pm
1:45pm
4:30pm
5:30pm*
6:30pm
8:30pm
10:00pm
Leaving Thalasso:
8:15am
9:15am*
12:15pm
1:15pm
2:15pm*
5:00pm
6:00pm
7:00pm
9:30pm
10:30pm
* Boat times with a * can connect with the bus shuttle between IC Le Moana and Vaitape town, as shown below:
Bus Shuttles between IC Le Moana and Vaitape town:
Depart IC Le Moana:
9:45am
2:45pm
Depart Vaitape:
11:15am
5:00pm
The bus shuttle costs 1150 XPF RT/person.
Note: There is no ATM at the Thalasso. The closest ATMs are in Vaitape, the main town where the airport ferry stops. However, both IC Le Moana and Thalasso will give you a "cash advance" on your credit card for a fee of 5%. The transaction will post as a purchase.
XPF is also available at the airport in Pappeete from several ATMs.
POST 1795
Resort Email: [email protected]
Prepaid meal plan rates as of Feb 2015 per post 1305: (breakfast price updated as of Jan 2020)
Breakfast: 4860 xpf (tax incl) per person per day
Half board (breakfast and a 3-courses dinner): 13 053 xpf (tax incl) per person per day
Full board (breakfast, a 2-courses lunch and a 3-courses dinner): 17 632 xpf (tax incl) per person per day.
Breakfast 50% discount: available only at check in time if it is taken for the entire stay. It does not apply for half board and full board. Post 1376
Guaranteed Upgrade Costs as of January 2015 per post 1293
Emerald to Sapphire: 15,000 XPF + 14% taxes per night
Emerald to Diamond: 25,000 XPF + 14% taxes per night
Emerald to Diamond Otemanu: 35,000 XPF + 14% taxes per night
Emerald to Diamond End of Pontoon: 45,000 XPF + 14% taxes per night
Full prepayment prior to arrival required
Direct Boat Transfers to/from Airport One-way: 7334 XPF (updated Dec 2019) (about 15 minutes). Resort will email you to arrange this ahead of time if desired.
Boat transfer from the Airport is not mandatory despite what any hotel emails might imply to the contrary. It's possible to take the free Air Tahiti shuttle to Vaitape (15 minutes), followed by a taxi to the IC Le Moana for 2000XPF (15 minutes), then the IC's shuttle between Le Moana and Thalasso for 3390 XPF per person one way (updated Dec 2019) (15 minutes). If all transfers go smoothly, the journey could be as short as an hour, or longer than two hours if you're unlucky.
Boat Times (as of Oct 2016, and current as of Jan 2020)
Leaving Le Moana:
7:45am
8:45am
11:45am*
12:45pm
1:45pm
4:30pm
5:30pm*
6:30pm
8:30pm
10:00pm
Leaving Thalasso:
8:15am
9:15am*
12:15pm
1:15pm
2:15pm*
5:00pm
6:00pm
7:00pm
9:30pm
10:30pm
* Boat times with a * can connect with the bus shuttle between IC Le Moana and Vaitape town, as shown below:
Bus Shuttles between IC Le Moana and Vaitape town:
Depart IC Le Moana:
9:45am
2:45pm
Depart Vaitape:
11:15am
5:00pm
The bus shuttle costs 1150 XPF RT/person.
Note: There is no ATM at the Thalasso. The closest ATMs are in Vaitape, the main town where the airport ferry stops. However, both IC Le Moana and Thalasso will give you a "cash advance" on your credit card for a fee of 5%. The transaction will post as a purchase.
XPF is also available at the airport in Pappeete from several ATMs.
POST 1795
Resort Email: [email protected]
IC Thalasso Bora Bora Master Thread [merged]
Aug 24, 2015, 9:28 pm
#1726
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: London
Programs: United: 1K, BA: Silver, IHG: Plat, Hyatt: Plat, Marriott: Gold, SPG: Gold, Avis: Chairman
Posts: 178
I have 4 nights too :-) Staying in 2 weeks! Very excited!!
Already reserved a table for the Friday evening show and helicopter transfer from the flight :-)
Staying the night before at IC Tahiti - also a free night - can already see on my reservation that we've been double upgraded from Garden view to Panoramic Lagoon view suite room :-) Whoop!
Availability at the Thalasso is looking full for the dates we are there though, so not hopefully for a free upgrade :-( Can't complain though... 5 nights in French Polynesia for $0
Then on the Sat evening flight to HNL and on to Maui for a suite at the Hyatt Maui (Thank you free diamond suite upgrades given to me through a Diamond challenge that I didn't even complete, but they gave me the upgrades anyway!)
Also paid for the 1-way biz class seats LAX-PPT-HNL-LAX with miles too, total of about $200 in taxes. Gonna be a sweeeet trip - great value!
Already reserved a table for the Friday evening show and helicopter transfer from the flight :-)
Staying the night before at IC Tahiti - also a free night - can already see on my reservation that we've been double upgraded from Garden view to Panoramic Lagoon view suite room :-) Whoop!
Availability at the Thalasso is looking full for the dates we are there though, so not hopefully for a free upgrade :-( Can't complain though... 5 nights in French Polynesia for $0
Then on the Sat evening flight to HNL and on to Maui for a suite at the Hyatt Maui (Thank you free diamond suite upgrades given to me through a Diamond challenge that I didn't even complete, but they gave me the upgrades anyway!
)Also paid for the 1-way biz class seats LAX-PPT-HNL-LAX with miles too, total of about $200 in taxes. Gonna be a sweeeet trip - great value!
Aug 24, 2015, 9:59 pm
#1728
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 1,727
Just got back from my honeymoon which included 6 nights at the Thalasso. I'd agree that it was the most relaxing trip of my life. Wonderful time at both the Thalasso and Hilton Moorea. All in all can't be happier with our honeymoon. I'm happy to answer any questions folks may have so ask away.
Aug 24, 2015, 11:11 pm
#1729
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8
Just got back from my honeymoon which included 6 nights at the Thalasso. I'd agree that it was the most relaxing trip of my life. Wonderful time at both the Thalasso and Hilton Moorea. All in all can't be happier with our honeymoon. I'm happy to answer any questions folks may have so ask away.
Aug 25, 2015, 12:59 am
#1730
Suspended
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 8,460
I have 4 nights too :-) Staying in 2 weeks! Very excited!!
Already reserved a table for the Friday evening show and helicopter transfer from the flight :-)
Staying the night before at IC Tahiti - also a free night - can already see on my reservation that we've been double upgraded from Garden view to Panoramic Lagoon view suite room :-) Whoop!
Availability at the Thalasso is looking full for the dates we are there though, so not hopefully for a free upgrade :-( Can't complain though... 5 nights in French Polynesia for $0
Then on the Sat evening flight to HNL and on to Maui for a suite at the Hyatt Maui (Thank you free diamond suite upgrades given to me through a Diamond challenge that I didn't even complete, but they gave me the upgrades anyway!)
Also paid for the 1-way biz class seats LAX-PPT-HNL-LAX with miles too, total of about $200 in taxes. Gonna be a sweeeet trip - great value!
Already reserved a table for the Friday evening show and helicopter transfer from the flight :-)
Staying the night before at IC Tahiti - also a free night - can already see on my reservation that we've been double upgraded from Garden view to Panoramic Lagoon view suite room :-) Whoop!
Availability at the Thalasso is looking full for the dates we are there though, so not hopefully for a free upgrade :-( Can't complain though... 5 nights in French Polynesia for $0
Then on the Sat evening flight to HNL and on to Maui for a suite at the Hyatt Maui (Thank you free diamond suite upgrades given to me through a Diamond challenge that I didn't even complete, but they gave me the upgrades anyway!
)Also paid for the 1-way biz class seats LAX-PPT-HNL-LAX with miles too, total of about $200 in taxes. Gonna be a sweeeet trip - great value!
Aug 25, 2015, 9:14 am
#1731
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 1,727
Hi hi! Welcome back!!! So glad you had a great trip! Just wanted to ask you about the shuttle during the day from Thalasso to Le Moana. Looks like there are recent reviews stating that it costs money all the time to take the boat over and not just at night. Can you confirm which is correct? Also, which restaurants did you like best at Thalasso! We'll be there in 51 days!!! Not that I'm counting or anything! 😂 sooo excited!!
We ate lunch every day at the only place to eat lunch, Sands. It was ok overall (we typically weren't very hungry and most days just shared one item). Items tried at lunch included steak sandwich (very good), burgers (very good), caesar salad with shrimp (ok), a panini (average), and pizza (good but nothing special). The prices weren't terrible considering the location. Think ~$25 for a burger and fries. So when split two ways it could be a reasonable option.
For dinner we dined as follows:
- 1 night at Reef regular restaurant menu (3.5/5) - excellent dessert just ok mahi mahi.
- 2 nights at Corail (4.5/5) - excellent food and good service. Fairly good value for quality of food. I got the full blown tasting menu one night which was ~$140 and it was excellent. There were like 7 courses including 2 free starters, a pre-dessert, dessert, and macaron post dessert. The scallops were amazing! My wife is somewhat of a picky eater so they accommodated her by making something off the vegetarian tasting menu a full entree. It was a casserole which was a bit pricey for what it was. She didn't really love the stuffed chicken the first night we were there so had that. They only had veal, chicken, lamb, pork, and fish on menu. No beef. The only issue we had was the first night there were a lot of flies like fruitflies hovering around ours and other diners tables. This was quite annoying. It seemed better the next time we dined.
- 1 night at the Polynesian buffet (Monday night) followed by show (4.5/5) - food was excellent as it should be considering it was the local cuisine.
- 1 night at the Asian buffet (Wednesday night) (3.5/5) - this was disappointing considering its location fairly close to Asia with a lot of Japanese guests. There wasn't as much that I really thought was amazing. I'd skip this especially considering all of the buffets are ~$90/person.
- 1 night at Villa Mahana in town (5/5) - best meal of the trip. Jason Bateman was there the night we were and Jennifer Aniston was supposed to be but canceled. Amazing food and very good service. The chef is amazing.
We were going to go to Mai Kai or St. James but decided to do the Asian buffet instead. We regretted doing this.
Aug 25, 2015, 9:33 am
#1732
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 1,727
Another thing is we booked on points and were given a room facing the dock despite a request for one on the other side. I'd imagine that when they are fully booked as they were the first few nights that award nights get put in these three rooms. We didn't realize until we were moved midstay that those three rooms were accessible rooms. This changed the layout of the bed not facing out the window), the closet was smaller, and the shower didn't have a door. So expect those on award stays when resort is full.
At checkin I told the person helping us that I was considering an upgrade to Ambassador status if an upgraded room was available. I was told after she checked that there wasn't until later in our stay and someone would get back to me. The next day one of the managers called me and indicated that since they were full for a few days there was nothing right away but nights 4-6 we could be upgraded to an Otemanu villa since they were fully booked in sapphire villas. I confirmed at checkin that they were full the first three nights and then later in the stay did see that they only had several diamond and emerald rooms available (about 5 each night free). My guess is they didn't want to move a sapphire guest midstay or that there weren't any people checking in that day that they could move from sapphire to diamond.
We gladly paid the $200 fee to get Ambassador status and moved halfway through our stay. Boy was this worth it! The view of the mountain from this bungalow (#221) was amazing. Not only this but the diamond otemanu villas were close to the land so it didn't require as far as a walk. I think I'd prefer them to the end of the pontoon diamonds villas.
Don't think I'd pay the premium on a six night stay, and I think the sapphire rooms are probably just fine (especially the ones inside the U). However for a few nights on a long award stay it'd probably be worth either paying to upgrade or attempting to upgrade to Ambassador for the Sapphire upgrade.
Here is our view from the first room:
Here is our view from the second room:
At checkin I told the person helping us that I was considering an upgrade to Ambassador status if an upgraded room was available. I was told after she checked that there wasn't until later in our stay and someone would get back to me. The next day one of the managers called me and indicated that since they were full for a few days there was nothing right away but nights 4-6 we could be upgraded to an Otemanu villa since they were fully booked in sapphire villas. I confirmed at checkin that they were full the first three nights and then later in the stay did see that they only had several diamond and emerald rooms available (about 5 each night free). My guess is they didn't want to move a sapphire guest midstay or that there weren't any people checking in that day that they could move from sapphire to diamond.
We gladly paid the $200 fee to get Ambassador status and moved halfway through our stay. Boy was this worth it! The view of the mountain from this bungalow (#221) was amazing. Not only this but the diamond otemanu villas were close to the land so it didn't require as far as a walk. I think I'd prefer them to the end of the pontoon diamonds villas.
Don't think I'd pay the premium on a six night stay, and I think the sapphire rooms are probably just fine (especially the ones inside the U). However for a few nights on a long award stay it'd probably be worth either paying to upgrade or attempting to upgrade to Ambassador for the Sapphire upgrade.
Here is our view from the first room:
Here is our view from the second room:
Aug 25, 2015, 4:52 pm
#1733
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 787
Who are you using for the helicopter transfer? Cost?
I have 4 nights too :-) Staying in 2 weeks! Very excited!!
Already reserved a table for the Friday evening show and helicopter transfer from the flight :-)
Staying the night before at IC Tahiti - also a free night - can already see on my reservation that we've been double upgraded from Garden view to Panoramic Lagoon view suite room :-) Whoop!
Availability at the Thalasso is looking full for the dates we are there though, so not hopefully for a free upgrade :-( Can't complain though... 5 nights in French Polynesia for $0
Then on the Sat evening flight to HNL and on to Maui for a suite at the Hyatt Maui (Thank you free diamond suite upgrades given to me through a Diamond challenge that I didn't even complete, but they gave me the upgrades anyway!)
Also paid for the 1-way biz class seats LAX-PPT-HNL-LAX with miles too, total of about $200 in taxes. Gonna be a sweeeet trip - great value!
Already reserved a table for the Friday evening show and helicopter transfer from the flight :-)
Staying the night before at IC Tahiti - also a free night - can already see on my reservation that we've been double upgraded from Garden view to Panoramic Lagoon view suite room :-) Whoop!
Availability at the Thalasso is looking full for the dates we are there though, so not hopefully for a free upgrade :-( Can't complain though... 5 nights in French Polynesia for $0
Then on the Sat evening flight to HNL and on to Maui for a suite at the Hyatt Maui (Thank you free diamond suite upgrades given to me through a Diamond challenge that I didn't even complete, but they gave me the upgrades anyway!
)Also paid for the 1-way biz class seats LAX-PPT-HNL-LAX with miles too, total of about $200 in taxes. Gonna be a sweeeet trip - great value!
Aug 25, 2015, 8:27 pm
#1734
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: London
Programs: United: 1K, BA: Silver, IHG: Plat, Hyatt: Plat, Marriott: Gold, SPG: Gold, Avis: Chairman
Posts: 178
The hotel arranged it for us (and will charge us, so I can get the points and pay on my IHG credit card for extra points!).
http://tahiti-helicopters.com/?page_id=24&lang=en
It's via Tahiti helicopters. You have to pay to take the hotel shuttle boat from the Bora Bora airport to the resort anyway. This is more expensive by far, but you get a little loop around the island as well, great sight seeing opportunity!
About $1000 for 2 people.
Thalasso has it's own Helipad. They said they will send someone to meet us at the dock, we'll then be flown to the hotel and met by a golf cart to transfer our bags to our room :-)
http://tahiti-helicopters.com/?page_id=24&lang=en
It's via Tahiti helicopters. You have to pay to take the hotel shuttle boat from the Bora Bora airport to the resort anyway. This is more expensive by far, but you get a little loop around the island as well, great sight seeing opportunity!
About $1000 for 2 people.
Thalasso has it's own Helipad. They said they will send someone to meet us at the dock, we'll then be flown to the hotel and met by a golf cart to transfer our bags to our room :-)
Last edited by travellermatt; Aug 25, 2015 at 8:55 pm
Aug 25, 2015, 8:37 pm
#1735
Join Date: Jun 2015
Posts: 8
Shuttles during the day were free and if you left the resort by 2PM (the next shuttle after isn't until 5PM) then you could return for free. Otherwise to board the 5PM and later shuttles you'd need to pay at the front desk ~$18 roundtrip per person. I don't really have an issue with this as it does cost money to maintain the boats and operate them, however I felt it was a bit odd that the roundtrip airport transfer was I think 6x the cost of that roundtrip night boat shuttle when they were both approximately the same distance.
We ate lunch every day at the only place to eat lunch, Sands. It was ok overall (we typically weren't very hungry and most days just shared one item). Items tried at lunch included steak sandwich (very good), burgers (very good), caesar salad with shrimp (ok), a panini (average), and pizza (good but nothing special). The prices weren't terrible considering the location. Think ~$25 for a burger and fries. So when split two ways it could be a reasonable option.
For dinner we dined as follows:
- 1 night at Reef regular restaurant menu (3.5/5) - excellent dessert just ok mahi mahi.
- 2 nights at Corail (4.5/5) - excellent food and good service. Fairly good value for quality of food. I got the full blown tasting menu one night which was ~$140 and it was excellent. There were like 7 courses including 2 free starters, a pre-dessert, dessert, and macaron post dessert. The scallops were amazing! My wife is somewhat of a picky eater so they accommodated her by making something off the vegetarian tasting menu a full entree. It was a casserole which was a bit pricey for what it was. She didn't really love the stuffed chicken the first night we were there so had that. They only had veal, chicken, lamb, pork, and fish on menu. No beef. The only issue we had was the first night there were a lot of flies like fruitflies hovering around ours and other diners tables. This was quite annoying. It seemed better the next time we dined.
- 1 night at the Polynesian buffet (Monday night) followed by show (4.5/5) - food was excellent as it should be considering it was the local cuisine.
- 1 night at the Asian buffet (Wednesday night) (3.5/5) - this was disappointing considering its location fairly close to Asia with a lot of Japanese guests. There wasn't as much that I really thought was amazing. I'd skip this especially considering all of the buffets are ~$90/person.
- 1 night at Villa Mahana in town (5/5) - best meal of the trip. Jason Bateman was there the night we were and Jennifer Aniston was supposed to be but canceled. Amazing food and very good service. The chef is amazing.
We were going to go to Mai Kai or St. James but decided to do the Asian buffet instead. We regretted doing this.
We ate lunch every day at the only place to eat lunch, Sands. It was ok overall (we typically weren't very hungry and most days just shared one item). Items tried at lunch included steak sandwich (very good), burgers (very good), caesar salad with shrimp (ok), a panini (average), and pizza (good but nothing special). The prices weren't terrible considering the location. Think ~$25 for a burger and fries. So when split two ways it could be a reasonable option.
For dinner we dined as follows:
- 1 night at Reef regular restaurant menu (3.5/5) - excellent dessert just ok mahi mahi.
- 2 nights at Corail (4.5/5) - excellent food and good service. Fairly good value for quality of food. I got the full blown tasting menu one night which was ~$140 and it was excellent. There were like 7 courses including 2 free starters, a pre-dessert, dessert, and macaron post dessert. The scallops were amazing! My wife is somewhat of a picky eater so they accommodated her by making something off the vegetarian tasting menu a full entree. It was a casserole which was a bit pricey for what it was. She didn't really love the stuffed chicken the first night we were there so had that. They only had veal, chicken, lamb, pork, and fish on menu. No beef. The only issue we had was the first night there were a lot of flies like fruitflies hovering around ours and other diners tables. This was quite annoying. It seemed better the next time we dined.
- 1 night at the Polynesian buffet (Monday night) followed by show (4.5/5) - food was excellent as it should be considering it was the local cuisine.
- 1 night at the Asian buffet (Wednesday night) (3.5/5) - this was disappointing considering its location fairly close to Asia with a lot of Japanese guests. There wasn't as much that I really thought was amazing. I'd skip this especially considering all of the buffets are ~$90/person.
- 1 night at Villa Mahana in town (5/5) - best meal of the trip. Jason Bateman was there the night we were and Jennifer Aniston was supposed to be but canceled. Amazing food and very good service. The chef is amazing.
We were going to go to Mai Kai or St. James but decided to do the Asian buffet instead. We regretted doing this.
Wow!!! I'm excited to try some of those now! Thank you so much for all the info! And Jason Bateman! Omg how exciting!!!!
We have villa Mahana booked, excited for that.
Thank you for all the info on the rooms for award nights as well! I will definitely ask about ambassador status when I get there then!!!
Thanks again, appreciate it!
Aug 25, 2015, 8:51 pm
#1736
Join Date: Oct 2014
Location: London
Programs: United: 1K, BA: Silver, IHG: Plat, Hyatt: Plat, Marriott: Gold, SPG: Gold, Avis: Chairman
Posts: 178
Aug 26, 2015, 10:33 pm
#1738
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 1,727
Wow!!! I'm excited to try some of those now! Thank you so much for all the info! And Jason Bateman! Omg how exciting!!!!
We have villa Mahana booked, excited for that.
Thank you for all the info on the rooms for award nights as well! I will definitely ask about ambassador status when I get there then!!!
Thanks again, appreciate it!
We have villa Mahana booked, excited for that.
Thank you for all the info on the rooms for award nights as well! I will definitely ask about ambassador status when I get there then!!!
Thanks again, appreciate it!