IC Bora Bora Le Moana Master Thread [merged]
Feb 19, 2018, 12:26 pm
#558
Join Date: Apr 2014
Programs: Hilton - Diamond, IHG - Spire Amb
Posts: 901
Feb 26, 2018, 1:06 pm
#559
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: IHG AMB/Spire, Hilton Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 204
Just to give my little recap (and give back to this great community):
We spent 4 days/3 nights at the property. I booked a beach bungalow for 60k per night and did the paid upgrade to get a Horizon View OWB. My thoughts:
Rooms:
It is nice and plenty of room for 2 people. The see through bottom coffee table is a nice touch - we fed the fish and had a lot of activity under our OWB. It is a bit dated, and when I say dated I mean worn. We went to the Thalasso for a spa treatment and it is more modern in decor for sure, but you can still have the tropical vibe of Le Moana, it just needs a bit of a refresh. Since we travel a lot to various cities and stay in "modern" hotels, we almost liked the "tiki charm" of Le Moana. But things just looked warn - maybe new paint/finish, refresh some of the hardware, etc. Just a few things to spruce it up.
Property:
It is small - 2 small restaurants (one for buffet breakfast and dinner, the other for lunch), an outdoor bar area, a beach with some kayaks/paddle board, 3 concierge desks (only 2 were every open but never a line) and a front desk registration area. That is about it. no real big "buildings" or anything. The grounds are maintained well, nothing was messy, broken, etc
Food:
It is no secret, it is expensive. 3 lunch taco platter is $27 USD, a pizza was like 21 USD or something. Dinners were mostly in the mid $30's so almost a better value since it was usually a nicer protein selection prepared nicer with more sides. That said we at lunch 2x at the resort and 1 dinner at the resort. The resort dinner was our first night and there was a free Tahitian dance show which was about an hour long and was enjoyable. We did the buffet breakfast at 50% off (that is a decent deal) to fill up and did not need lunch on the days we did the buffet. We did lunch the first day we got there (because of travel no real breakfast) then we did lunch on the last day knowing we had a boat ride + 2 flights and figured this would be our last normal meal for 24 hours. We had some Quest bars we always travel with for quick snacks so between the buffet, a quest bar and some fruit then dinner we were fine. different strokes for different folks. The food was fine, just like other things on the island, expensive.
Service:
The service was very friendly. The general manager is very hands on and she can be seen everywhere making sure everyone is happy. Any worker greets you with a hello when they see you on the property. concierge helped with dinner reservations on and off the property without any issues. They had my proper room upgrade ready for us on check in. They gave us detailed instructions for check out and boat transfers back to the airport. I am not sure how people say their service is not up to par. Again I've traveled the world and I live 20 mins outside of NYC and go to some fancy restaurants and hotels for work events, so I think I know good service. To me, they were top notch "Island" service. Yes it takes a little longer to get a refill or get your check at the end of a meal, but its vacation and its an Island, they just move a bit slower because that is their pace of life, and you are on vacation, so why rush!
Main Island Location Advantage:
The local supermarket is a 2 minute walk from the front door of the hotel. It is really more of a USA convenience store, but they have wine, beer, liquor, bottled water, various soft drinks, snacks, bread, presliced meat and cheese and a small selection of produce (we got grapes and oranges). It is handy to help with snacks for your room (hotel provides an empty mini fridge for you). We got a transfer to Vaitape for about 90 minutes to walk around - the town has a bigger supermarket, 6-7 pearl stores, 2-3 trinket/souvenir shops and 1-2 art studio/home decor type places. We also took up the hotel/local restaurants on their transfer option for meals, and we went to MaiKai one night (eh) and St James another night (totally fantastic meal). The hotel concierge has a list of ~7-8 restaurants that offer free or $2 USD per person round trip shuttle service to the restaurants. MaiKai was a free transfer, Saint James was $2 a person round trip, and worth every penny of the $4 USD for us. If you make the reservations with the hotel staff at the IC they set up the shuttle service with the restaurant for you. Usually its a 6:30 or 7:45 pick up time (depends on which restaurant and availability) but when I looked over their shoulder, didnt seem like most restaurants were heavily booked and we showed up and made 2 reservations and both were honored and the restaurants were not nearly fully. So nothing to worry about prior to your arrival at the resort if you want to explore these options.
Spa at Thalasso:
As mentioned we did take the transfer to Thalasso to the spa. The attendants at the spa were nice but the person welcoming us on the boat was a bit cold to say the least. We were with another couple, so just 4 people on the boat...They had 3 golf carts and 3 drivers waiting, so she ushered the other 2 into a golf cart (they stayed a few nights at Le moana and now were staying 1 night at Thalasso) and she then looked at us and walked away. I asked where is the spa and she said oh just walk 5-10 mins in that direction over the bridge. We looked a bit confused, and I guess she sensed that, so after a few seconds she asked a driver to give us a lift . If they had such impeccable service I would have thought they would have offered us a seat and said where can we take you...That was my only experience with Thalasso but I was not blown away. Their OWB did appear to be a bit bigger, though never thought the OWB at Le Moana was too small.
Conclusion:
If doing an OWB is a bucket list item, and you cannot get into Thalassso I would see no reason not to do the now 70k points for a Beach Bungalow then pay the upgrade fee for at least the first level OWB. To me that is still "cheaper" than using Hilton or SPG points for the Conrad, Le Meridian, St Regis, etc and the property really is fine and the service and people are very nice. We were coming to Bora Bora after 10 days in New Zealand and 2 days in Tahiti, so we just wanted to rest and relax, so we really did not partake in the free daily courses they offer (basket weaving, raw fish prep were some of the classes we saw advertised) nor did we rent funny cars or go hiking. We just sat on our balcony looking at the views and reading and just mellowing out and it was very nice.
We spent 4 days/3 nights at the property. I booked a beach bungalow for 60k per night and did the paid upgrade to get a Horizon View OWB. My thoughts:
Rooms:
It is nice and plenty of room for 2 people. The see through bottom coffee table is a nice touch - we fed the fish and had a lot of activity under our OWB. It is a bit dated, and when I say dated I mean worn. We went to the Thalasso for a spa treatment and it is more modern in decor for sure, but you can still have the tropical vibe of Le Moana, it just needs a bit of a refresh. Since we travel a lot to various cities and stay in "modern" hotels, we almost liked the "tiki charm" of Le Moana. But things just looked warn - maybe new paint/finish, refresh some of the hardware, etc. Just a few things to spruce it up.
Property:
It is small - 2 small restaurants (one for buffet breakfast and dinner, the other for lunch), an outdoor bar area, a beach with some kayaks/paddle board, 3 concierge desks (only 2 were every open but never a line) and a front desk registration area. That is about it. no real big "buildings" or anything. The grounds are maintained well, nothing was messy, broken, etc
Food:
It is no secret, it is expensive. 3 lunch taco platter is $27 USD, a pizza was like 21 USD or something. Dinners were mostly in the mid $30's so almost a better value since it was usually a nicer protein selection prepared nicer with more sides. That said we at lunch 2x at the resort and 1 dinner at the resort. The resort dinner was our first night and there was a free Tahitian dance show which was about an hour long and was enjoyable. We did the buffet breakfast at 50% off (that is a decent deal) to fill up and did not need lunch on the days we did the buffet. We did lunch the first day we got there (because of travel no real breakfast) then we did lunch on the last day knowing we had a boat ride + 2 flights and figured this would be our last normal meal for 24 hours. We had some Quest bars we always travel with for quick snacks so between the buffet, a quest bar and some fruit then dinner we were fine. different strokes for different folks. The food was fine, just like other things on the island, expensive.
Service:
The service was very friendly. The general manager is very hands on and she can be seen everywhere making sure everyone is happy. Any worker greets you with a hello when they see you on the property. concierge helped with dinner reservations on and off the property without any issues. They had my proper room upgrade ready for us on check in. They gave us detailed instructions for check out and boat transfers back to the airport. I am not sure how people say their service is not up to par. Again I've traveled the world and I live 20 mins outside of NYC and go to some fancy restaurants and hotels for work events, so I think I know good service. To me, they were top notch "Island" service. Yes it takes a little longer to get a refill or get your check at the end of a meal, but its vacation and its an Island, they just move a bit slower because that is their pace of life, and you are on vacation, so why rush!
Main Island Location Advantage:
The local supermarket is a 2 minute walk from the front door of the hotel. It is really more of a USA convenience store, but they have wine, beer, liquor, bottled water, various soft drinks, snacks, bread, presliced meat and cheese and a small selection of produce (we got grapes and oranges). It is handy to help with snacks for your room (hotel provides an empty mini fridge for you). We got a transfer to Vaitape for about 90 minutes to walk around - the town has a bigger supermarket, 6-7 pearl stores, 2-3 trinket/souvenir shops and 1-2 art studio/home decor type places. We also took up the hotel/local restaurants on their transfer option for meals, and we went to MaiKai one night (eh) and St James another night (totally fantastic meal). The hotel concierge has a list of ~7-8 restaurants that offer free or $2 USD per person round trip shuttle service to the restaurants. MaiKai was a free transfer, Saint James was $2 a person round trip, and worth every penny of the $4 USD for us. If you make the reservations with the hotel staff at the IC they set up the shuttle service with the restaurant for you. Usually its a 6:30 or 7:45 pick up time (depends on which restaurant and availability) but when I looked over their shoulder, didnt seem like most restaurants were heavily booked and we showed up and made 2 reservations and both were honored and the restaurants were not nearly fully. So nothing to worry about prior to your arrival at the resort if you want to explore these options.
Spa at Thalasso:
As mentioned we did take the transfer to Thalasso to the spa. The attendants at the spa were nice but the person welcoming us on the boat was a bit cold to say the least. We were with another couple, so just 4 people on the boat...They had 3 golf carts and 3 drivers waiting, so she ushered the other 2 into a golf cart (they stayed a few nights at Le moana and now were staying 1 night at Thalasso) and she then looked at us and walked away. I asked where is the spa and she said oh just walk 5-10 mins in that direction over the bridge. We looked a bit confused, and I guess she sensed that, so after a few seconds she asked a driver to give us a lift . If they had such impeccable service I would have thought they would have offered us a seat and said where can we take you...That was my only experience with Thalasso but I was not blown away. Their OWB did appear to be a bit bigger, though never thought the OWB at Le Moana was too small.
Conclusion:
If doing an OWB is a bucket list item, and you cannot get into Thalassso I would see no reason not to do the now 70k points for a Beach Bungalow then pay the upgrade fee for at least the first level OWB. To me that is still "cheaper" than using Hilton or SPG points for the Conrad, Le Meridian, St Regis, etc and the property really is fine and the service and people are very nice. We were coming to Bora Bora after 10 days in New Zealand and 2 days in Tahiti, so we just wanted to rest and relax, so we really did not partake in the free daily courses they offer (basket weaving, raw fish prep were some of the classes we saw advertised) nor did we rent funny cars or go hiking. We just sat on our balcony looking at the views and reading and just mellowing out and it was very nice.
Last edited by eggzlot; Feb 27, 2018 at 2:01 pm
Apr 14, 2018, 4:45 am
#563
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: ORD
Posts: 701
Apr 14, 2018, 8:40 am
#564
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,881
Apr 17, 2018, 10:54 am
#565
Join Date: Oct 2014
Programs: IHG AMB/Spire, Hilton Diamond, SPG Gold
Posts: 204
from beach bungalow to overwater lagoon bungalow cost 23 303 xpf per night,
from beach bungalow to overwater horizon bungalow cost 30 457 xpf per night.
Apr 17, 2018, 9:35 pm
#566
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Sydney
Programs: AA Exp, UA PP, IC Diamond, HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, Amex Centurion
Posts: 477
I just noticed that the two days we plan to stay at the Moana the Paul Gauguin cruise ship will be in Bora Bora. We wanted to use these two days to do all the main island stuff, but now it seems that the island might be flooded with cruise passengers.
Any experience what it is like when the big cruise ship is there? What are the things to avoid during that time? What is still ok to do? They offer tons of activities, some of them involve the Moana and the Thalasso:
https://www.pgcruises.com/port/bora-...ociety-islands
Any experience what it is like when the big cruise ship is there? What are the things to avoid during that time? What is still ok to do? They offer tons of activities, some of them involve the Moana and the Thalasso:
https://www.pgcruises.com/port/bora-...ociety-islands
Apr 18, 2018, 3:12 pm
#567
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,881
Finally unpacked from my recent stay. We were given two scarf-like, pashima-like thingys. They are thin, about the size of a large beach towels with the Le Moana name/logo on it. Anyone want them?
Btw, what are these things called?
Btw, what are these things called?
Apr 18, 2018, 4:59 pm
#568
Join Date: Apr 2017
Posts: 600
Last edited by lincoln boy; Apr 18, 2018 at 5:00 pm Reason: Typo
May 13, 2018, 11:47 am
#570
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Sydney
Programs: AA Exp, UA PP, IC Diamond, HH Diamond, Marriott Titanium, Hyatt Globalist, Amex Centurion
Posts: 477