IC Bora Bora Le Moana Master Thread [merged]
Dec 21, 2017, 1:51 pm
#541
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,443
Casual clothing is suitable everywhere. Most restaurants are closed for a few weeeks (holidays). Bloody Mary’s reopens Jan 8th, I believe. Matira Beach closed a full month. One Lucky House 2 min walk outside hotel, and Matira Snack 5 min outside hotel. No reservations needed there.
Didn’t check Yacht Club.
Dec 21, 2017, 3:33 pm
#542
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: YYC
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Fairmont Plat, IHG Spire, SPG Gold, WS Gold, Hertz PC, National E Elite,
Posts: 2,768
Casual clothing is suitable everywhere. Most restaurants are closed for a few weeeks (holidays). Bloody Mary’s reopens Jan 8th, I believe. Matira Beach closed a full month. One Lucky House 2 min walk outside hotel, and Matira Snack 5 min outside hotel. No reservations needed there.
Didn’t check Yacht Club.
Ouch. Disappointed to hear this. Was looking forward to off property restaurants.
Dec 21, 2017, 6:11 pm
#543
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 1,443
Matira Snack is a nice low key local place for cheap lunch, open 10h-17h. But they close for the holidays as from this Saturday. 10 min stroll along Matira Beach, direction Vaitape.
Lucky house is 2 min outside the hotel, on the right (away from Vaitape). Again, a casual place, nice for lunch and diner.
Continue in the same direction for less than a minute, and you will find a shop on your left which has everything you might desire. They have tench bread, etc.
Lucky house is 2 min outside the hotel, on the right (away from Vaitape). Again, a casual place, nice for lunch and diner.
Continue in the same direction for less than a minute, and you will find a shop on your left which has everything you might desire. They have tench bread, etc.
Dec 24, 2017, 8:28 pm
#544
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2013
Programs: DL PM, MR Titanium/LTP, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 10,130
For those with familiarity, how easy would it be to go from this (or Thalasso) over to the Conrad?
I have 4 nights on points at the Conrad (Monday - Thursday nights) for our honeymoon but I'm thinking of buying Ambassador status and using the weekend cert to snag Saturday night and Sunday night at either Le Moana or Thalasso (and then take the late Friday night Air Tahiti Nui flight that gets in early Saturday morning to PPT).
Second, I assume that at Le Moana the Double Beach would upgrade to at least an Overwater as a Platinum Ambassador on a paid stay?
I have 4 nights on points at the Conrad (Monday - Thursday nights) for our honeymoon but I'm thinking of buying Ambassador status and using the weekend cert to snag Saturday night and Sunday night at either Le Moana or Thalasso (and then take the late Friday night Air Tahiti Nui flight that gets in early Saturday morning to PPT).
Second, I assume that at Le Moana the Double Beach would upgrade to at least an Overwater as a Platinum Ambassador on a paid stay?
Dec 25, 2017, 7:42 pm
#545
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: ORD
Posts: 701
For those with familiarity, how easy would it be to go from this (or Thalasso) over to the Conrad?
I have 4 nights on points at the Conrad (Monday - Thursday nights) for our honeymoon but I'm thinking of buying Ambassador status and using the weekend cert to snag Saturday night and Sunday night at either Le Moana or Thalasso (and then take the late Friday night Air Tahiti Nui flight that gets in early Saturday morning to PPT).
Second, I assume that at Le Moana the Double Beach would upgrade to at least an Overwater as a Platinum Ambassador on a paid stay?
I have 4 nights on points at the Conrad (Monday - Thursday nights) for our honeymoon but I'm thinking of buying Ambassador status and using the weekend cert to snag Saturday night and Sunday night at either Le Moana or Thalasso (and then take the late Friday night Air Tahiti Nui flight that gets in early Saturday morning to PPT).
Second, I assume that at Le Moana the Double Beach would upgrade to at least an Overwater as a Platinum Ambassador on a paid stay?
From the Moana, you can take a taxi from the Moana to the pier in Vaitape. Cost should be about $25. Then take the scheduled boat from Vaitape to the Conrad. Coast for the boat is about $15p. You can get the schedule from the Conrad on departure times. If you are coming from the Thalasso, you will need to coordinate a boat from there to the Moana. Cost should be about $25pp.
Dec 26, 2017, 4:25 am
#546
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Sydney, Australia
Programs: HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium/LTG, IHG Platinum
Posts: 1,921
Dec 26, 2017, 7:58 pm
#547
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: YYC
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Fairmont Plat, IHG Spire, SPG Gold, WS Gold, Hertz PC, National E Elite,
Posts: 2,768
Just checked in today for 3 nights on points. As a data point, there were owb’s available but I was NOT upgraded as a spire ambassador.
Not complaining, as I know I am not entitled to it, just providing data for others.
Not complaining, as I know I am not entitled to it, just providing data for others.
Dec 26, 2017, 9:55 pm
#548
Join Date: Mar 2015
Posts: 128
Can you speak of any benefits you did receive as spire ambassador?
Dec 27, 2017, 5:55 am
#549
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: bay area, ca
Programs: AS 100K, AA Gold, IC Diamond AMB, HH Diamond
Posts: 1,840
Edited to add: we arrive later this week.
Dec 27, 2017, 10:07 pm
#551
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: YYC
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Fairmont Plat, IHG Spire, SPG Gold, WS Gold, Hertz PC, National E Elite,
Posts: 2,768
We are LOVING the beach bungalow. Much more than the OWB. I’ll do a full review when I get home. It helps that our final 3 days are in an OWB at Thalasso.
Jan 8, 2018, 12:01 pm
#553
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: YYC
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Fairmont Plat, IHG Spire, SPG Gold, WS Gold, Hertz PC, National E Elite,
Posts: 2,768
December 2017 Review:
By way of reference, I am Spire Ambassador. We booked three nights on points. We did not receive an upgrade (which I understand we were not entitled to), although resort was clearly not full. We DID receive early check in as 12 noon. We did receive a fruit plate, and daily water, although tap water is drinkable and good. We also received a 3PM late checkout, which I requested the day before check-out, but we did not need it as we headed over to Thalasso for our stay there around noon.
We originally booked 6 nights at Le Moana back in March, 2017 before IHG limited rewards availability at Moana, but ended up getting three last minute nights at Thalasso.
Arrival:
We landed in BOB around 10AM. I was feeling lazy and decided just to take the IC boat, at a cost of about $130 USD for 2 people. Bad idea, as we were the last hotel boat to leave (the free Viatepe shuttle left 8 minutes before us). We then stopped at Thalasso to drop guests off, and finally to Moana. Now that I see how simple the free boat shuttle is, I would do that next time. When we arrived at the hotel, we were seated in the bar and provided a complimentary non alcoholic drink, and filled out our paperwork. We were provided our keys to our beach bungalow right away, which was really nice to get in at noon, as we enjoyed a full beach day.
Room
The beach bungalow was great. We had bungalow 54, which was one of the best. You want to ensure you are in a beach bungalow that looks "between" the two sets of OWB's. You have a nice view of the open ocean in these rooms (Likely 52-55 are best). If you are too close to the pool you have to listen to screaming kids all day, and if you are too far away from the pool, you stare at the OWB's with no view. The rooms are all the same, you can see pictures on Oyster or TA. They were nice, rustic, beach huts. We really liked them. The sand in front is great, but wading in the water in bare feet is a little painful for the first 5 feet, then it isn't so bad. We really enjoyed having beach access. We had a nice deck, and a nice beach. It was nice to have the combination, and I would almost prefer the beach bungalows over the OWB's,
Food
The food was OK. Reasonably priced, and decent. It was nice to be able to walk out the resort and head to Lucky House (1 minute walk), where we found the food better, and the service WAY better. If you ask for tap water, they will bring it to you (although usually you have to ask three times). We only ate at the restaurant once, because the service was SO SO BAD. We did have breakfast every day at 50% off ($22 USD per person), which was a really nice spread.
Drinks:
We thought the cocktails were terrible, Low on booze, and they very much felt like they were from a 3* all-inclusive in Mexico. Not worth $22 a drink. We tried about 4 of them and then ended up just drinking beer in our room. There is a great local store a 2 minute walk from the hotel that sells everything you would need. A six pack of beer was $12.60 US, and a litre of Tahiti Drink was around $13 US.
Departure:
Everything went fine. Our bill was accurate, and they arranged for us to be transported to Thalasso at $25 USD per person cost.
Service:
This was BAD. Like really really bad. We went for lunch on our first day and sat outside for about 20 minutes before I finally got up and went to the bar to ask for a server. Still no one showed up, and finally i flagged someone down after 30 minutes and they took our order. We had two beers which came quickly, and asked for two glasses of tap water, which never came, even though we asked three times. The food came out quick, and was OK, but man was the service bad. We also tried cocktail hour one night. Same thing, sat for 15 minutes, and had to flag someone down to get their attention. Asked for cocktails and water. Cocktails came fast, no water came. We asked again, and it finally came when we were almost done our cocktails. We just gave up and ended up eating at Lucky House, just outside the hotel entrance, for the remainder of our stay.
Other Tips:
If you do like sugary, so-so cocktails, it is really nice to get a cocktail and walk across the street to Matira Beach. We ended up walking about 45 minutes down the beach, bringing some treats for all of the lovely dogs along the beach, and then walking back. It was quite nice and our favorite part of Le Moana. Sunsets were stunning .
It was apparently "Rainy Season." The first few days we had spouts of a 15 minute downpour here and there.
We spent three nights at Thalasso after this, and they were incomparable. Thalasso is simply a better hotel in every regard .
By way of reference, I am Spire Ambassador. We booked three nights on points. We did not receive an upgrade (which I understand we were not entitled to), although resort was clearly not full. We DID receive early check in as 12 noon. We did receive a fruit plate, and daily water, although tap water is drinkable and good. We also received a 3PM late checkout, which I requested the day before check-out, but we did not need it as we headed over to Thalasso for our stay there around noon.
We originally booked 6 nights at Le Moana back in March, 2017 before IHG limited rewards availability at Moana, but ended up getting three last minute nights at Thalasso.
Arrival:
We landed in BOB around 10AM. I was feeling lazy and decided just to take the IC boat, at a cost of about $130 USD for 2 people. Bad idea, as we were the last hotel boat to leave (the free Viatepe shuttle left 8 minutes before us). We then stopped at Thalasso to drop guests off, and finally to Moana. Now that I see how simple the free boat shuttle is, I would do that next time. When we arrived at the hotel, we were seated in the bar and provided a complimentary non alcoholic drink, and filled out our paperwork. We were provided our keys to our beach bungalow right away, which was really nice to get in at noon, as we enjoyed a full beach day.
Room
The beach bungalow was great. We had bungalow 54, which was one of the best. You want to ensure you are in a beach bungalow that looks "between" the two sets of OWB's. You have a nice view of the open ocean in these rooms (Likely 52-55 are best). If you are too close to the pool you have to listen to screaming kids all day, and if you are too far away from the pool, you stare at the OWB's with no view. The rooms are all the same, you can see pictures on Oyster or TA. They were nice, rustic, beach huts. We really liked them. The sand in front is great, but wading in the water in bare feet is a little painful for the first 5 feet, then it isn't so bad. We really enjoyed having beach access. We had a nice deck, and a nice beach. It was nice to have the combination, and I would almost prefer the beach bungalows over the OWB's,
Food
The food was OK. Reasonably priced, and decent. It was nice to be able to walk out the resort and head to Lucky House (1 minute walk), where we found the food better, and the service WAY better. If you ask for tap water, they will bring it to you (although usually you have to ask three times). We only ate at the restaurant once, because the service was SO SO BAD. We did have breakfast every day at 50% off ($22 USD per person), which was a really nice spread.
Drinks:
We thought the cocktails were terrible, Low on booze, and they very much felt like they were from a 3* all-inclusive in Mexico. Not worth $22 a drink. We tried about 4 of them and then ended up just drinking beer in our room. There is a great local store a 2 minute walk from the hotel that sells everything you would need. A six pack of beer was $12.60 US, and a litre of Tahiti Drink was around $13 US.
Departure:
Everything went fine. Our bill was accurate, and they arranged for us to be transported to Thalasso at $25 USD per person cost.
Service:
This was BAD. Like really really bad. We went for lunch on our first day and sat outside for about 20 minutes before I finally got up and went to the bar to ask for a server. Still no one showed up, and finally i flagged someone down after 30 minutes and they took our order. We had two beers which came quickly, and asked for two glasses of tap water, which never came, even though we asked three times. The food came out quick, and was OK, but man was the service bad. We also tried cocktail hour one night. Same thing, sat for 15 minutes, and had to flag someone down to get their attention. Asked for cocktails and water. Cocktails came fast, no water came. We asked again, and it finally came when we were almost done our cocktails. We just gave up and ended up eating at Lucky House, just outside the hotel entrance, for the remainder of our stay.
Other Tips:
If you do like sugary, so-so cocktails, it is really nice to get a cocktail and walk across the street to Matira Beach. We ended up walking about 45 minutes down the beach, bringing some treats for all of the lovely dogs along the beach, and then walking back. It was quite nice and our favorite part of Le Moana. Sunsets were stunning .
It was apparently "Rainy Season." The first few days we had spouts of a 15 minute downpour here and there.
We spent three nights at Thalasso after this, and they were incomparable. Thalasso is simply a better hotel in every regard .
Jan 8, 2018, 12:22 pm
#554
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,881
Good to hear. I have two nights at Le Moana (award stay) followed by 5 nights at Thalasoo (award stay). If upgraded as an Plat Amb to an OWB at Le Moana, I will decline and stay in the beach hut since we'll be in a OWB at Thalasso. I think the kiddos will enjoy the sand.
Jan 8, 2018, 12:24 pm
#555
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,881
interesting. I am a regular Amb, we booked our Amb weekend night in an overwater followed by three nights on points and our entire stay shows upgraded to OWB at present. We are staying two nights before the Amb weeekend on points from my husband’s account (also Amb) and his reservation is not upgraded, although they do have them linked in their system.
Edited to add: we arrive later this week.