gregorygrady

Hmmm, interesting. Thanks for this info...................^

Camino1

Can someone tell me what you did and paid for meals at the Thalasso BB?

davidjdewey

I booked my trip to Bora Bora for Thanksgiving. I decided to stay 2 nights at Le Moana and 5 nights at Thalasso. I have just a couple more questions for those of you that have been there:

1. Each of these properties charges a boat transfer fee. Do I have to pay it for each hotel, or is once sufficient?

2. Does anybody have a definitive answer on whether they honor RA benefits on award stays? I am asking primarily about the free minibar and Pay TV. I know at most IC's you just have to ask them to take the charges off at checkout. I would rather not wait until I run up a $200 bill to find out that they do not honor those benefits. I know the T&C's say that they don't have to honor the RA benefits, but I am looking for people that have actual experience with this property.

Thanks for your input and help!

schofs

Just got back from Bora Bora (will update www.schofs.com when I get a chance).

1) You'll just have to pay once, as you'll only be collected from and taken to the airport once. Transfers between the Moana and Thalasso are free, and there are about 8 or so a day.

2) From my stay at Thalasso last week: I asked in advance if they would honour the free minibar, and they said that as it was points they would not. As a result we were very careful about what we took from it (and actually bought a load of beer from town and kept that in the minibar). On check out I enquired again whether the minibar would be free, and they immediately removed the charges we had made (only about 20 quid's worth for the week).

Bare in mind that the mini bar is very expensive - I'd ask on check-in, and if they say yes, make a note of their name.

One quick tip - if you're thinking of a spot of champagne from the minibar, it's cheaper to order it via room service (about £25 for a 1/2 bottle and a £6 service charge) than to take it from the mini bar (£55 for the same 1/2 bottle)

As I say - I hope to have my trip report up within the next week.

Cheers,
Schofs.

schofs

The food at the restaurants at Thalasso is generally very good. We had a meal at the Reef on a day when they don't do the Buffet which costs a fortune, and it was exceptional.

It's not cheap by any means, but it's good.

Bloody Mary's on the mainland is rubbish. The food at Moana is ok, but nothing like that at Thalasso. Also had an amazing meal at Villa Mahana... have got the chef's email address if anyone wants it - it's quite pricey, but perfect for a special occassion - possibly the best restaurant in Bora Bora

Camino1

Thanks for the report. I thought the only RA advantage they were not required to honor on Reward stays is the upgrade, so the minibar should be included. By the way, did you get the upgrade?

GordonGordon

I have been RA consecutively 3 years and did burn quite a lot of points at IC hotels worldwide and have never come across any IC hotels charged me for the mini-bar. Everytime when I see the mini-bar charges on the bill, I will politely remind the front desk that I am a RA and the mini-bar should be complimentary. They are more than happy to take off the charges.

If you stay at Moana, u can also enjoy the meals at any restaurants at Thalasso (vice versa) without bringing your credit card or cash with you. All u need to do is to sign the bill and it will be charged automatically to your Moana room account, even if you have meal plan, you can choose to eat at either hotels. I guess the computer system at Moana and Thalasso are linking together. I personally find the food at Moana quite good, but not the service.

Either for paid or reward night, you will get some free upgrade for RA. For reward nights, Thalasso and Moana will give you an upgrade to the room u like unless the higher room categories are fully booked. One time when I checked in, I wasn't very satisfied with the location of the room they pre-assigned me, then they even brought out the map and let me choose wherever and whatever I wanted as long as the room was not occupied.

Camino1

Cool!

schofs

The only thing hotels are obliged to offer on a reward stay to RAs is late checkout.

I also got early check in and an upgrade from Emerald to Diamond bungalows (and the best bungalow as it was right at the end of a prong)

While hotels often won't charge for your minibar on a reward stay, they're well within their rights to

uk1

Hi,

I'd be interested to know why you think this to be true. I also thought so but the the T's&C's for RA's do not specifically state that RA benefits are not available on reward stays. I just wonder whether this is factual or urban myth?

http://www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/pc/...ssador/tc.html

Any pointers?

schofs

Wirelessly posted (Portable FT Checker: BlackBerry8700/4.1.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/155)

It explicitly says it in the benefits book that comes with your membership pack.

davidjdewey

I will ask about the minibar when I check in. If they say no, I will probably steer clear of it. It's not worth risking paying ridiculous prices if they don't take the charges off. I planned on getting some food and drinks outside the resort and bringing it with me anyway. Is the minibar big enough to fir any small grocery items?

schofs

There was enough space for a couple of bottles of beer, but not say for a bottle of wine.

To give an example of price, a bottle of beer from the minibar was about £6, whereas the same beer from the bar was about £3, and from the supermarket in a larger bottle was £1

davidjdewey

Thank Schofs. I really appreciate you sharing your experience with me. I will definitely hit the store and ask about the minibar just for the heck of it. Do you happen to know what they charge for internet access at Thalasso?

schofs

I think there's an hour free in the rooms, but not sure as I didn't take (read: wasn't allowed to take) my laptop.

In the business centre it's 700 Francs (about £4) for 15 minutes.