NYC girl

Hello! Has anyone been to the Intercontinental Resort Tahiti (Papeete)? We will be staying there for 3 days before a cruise for our honeymoon. We are Ambassador and will be staying in an over water bungalo.

I would greatly appreciate any random tips or answers to the following questions off the top of my head...

1. Best way to get to the hotel from the airport at 5am? Taxi?
2. Can you book excursions through the hotel?
3. Is there anything in the area that is walkable?
4. How does the hotel handle Ambassador? (I have read they are hit and miss). Do we get unlimited bottled water?
5. Do they allow you to take a day trip to the IC in Moorea and use their facilities?

Thank you so much in advance, this board has already been incredibly helpful!

szg

Ic Tahiti is a very nice location.

1. I have arranged a limousine transfer from the hotel. This is a nice service. The hotel is only 5 minutes from the airport away, so a taxi should this also do.

2. There are a lot of excursions possible to book. In the room there is a map with all excoursions, which are available. Or ask the concierge.

3. No, but the busstop is next to the hotel and you can drive into the city. You can walk at the beach, there on the eastern side there are other hotels.

4. We had all benefits of an ambassador. The best thing was, that I have received a letter from the hotel, that the minibar was free because of my status. But at this time I hadn´t RA and at check out don´t have to pay for the minibar. This was great, because we took the mineral water always from the bar. A bottle of mineral water was brought every day.

5. I have stayed also some nights at IC Moorea. A daytrip is possible and there are tours for the dolphin quest (swimming with a dophin). But only to visit Moorea for a day is a shame.

FL350

NYC Girl,

I’m also planning a trip there (IC Thalasso) for around April or May, and have done some research into the resorts around the islands.

‘Looks like szg answered your questions quite thoroughly, but I would like to include this URL, just in case you haven’t already perused it. It is a very nice image bank for all the IC properties in French Polynesia. If you have not yet seen this, you will all the more look forward to your excursion there – Enjoy!

http://www.ic-pix.com/hotel.php

Rumour has it, during WWII, the US forces placed a base on Bora Bora, and when the war was over, many servicemen had to be forcibly removed from the islands. Seeing these pictures gave me some insight as to why…

I hope to book one night revenue, and use points for the remaining 10 or so nights, with the hope that I can upgrade to and keep a really nice bungalow with my RA status…

DCF

This is my second favourite IC in the world (second only to the Moana Beach on Bora Bora). A cruise will give you a taste of multiple islands, but it's a shame you can't stay longer on Bora Bora.

So here is my crsh course on the IC Tahiti. I apologise if it sounds patronising...

1) The name
Don't call it by its name. Call it the "Beachcomber" or better still "Le Beech Cumber" - that was its name throughout most of its life and its what everyone still calls it!

2) The location
It's at the end of the runway. Don't let your travel agent sell you an overpriced transfer, because a taxi costs CFP 1,500, or $15.

3) The locality
You can take a taxi into Papeete (only worth seeing the market really), and ask them to come to pick you up at a pre-arranged time.

If you're groaning under French Polynesian prices due to the weak US$, you can walk ten minutes from the hotel down to the Carrefour supermarket at the Moana Nui shopping mall.

4) Tours
Book two things. One is a Circle Island tour. The second is dinner at Le Belvedere restaurant: a van comes and takes you up to a spectacular mountain-top location for a fondue dinner. If you can afford it, also book a helicopter tour of the island.

5) Your bungalow
Don't expect great things here. There are 3 types of overwater bungalow. Small "motu" bungalows are quite old but have great views of Moorea. Larger "Lagoon junior suites" are about 13 years old and more luxurious, and the best is the one-off bungalow suite which was the prototype for the new Bora Bora Thalasso IC.

The message here is that the view of Moorea is lovely but the lagoon is not brilliant turquoise like you would find on Bora Bora, so just don't expect the romantic overwater dream. Taking a cruise is a great way to see multiple islands for a good price, but the price you pay is that you never get that staying-on-a-desert-island-sand-between-the-toes-bungalow-over-turquoise-water experience.

The IC Beachcomber Tahiti is a superb hotel, but it's the world's best airport hotel, not a Bora Bora-like dream.

NYC girl

Thank you so much for the tips, they are very helpful. I am so excited.

FL350 - those pictures are amazing, i am trying to decide if I should send them to friends and family to make them jealous! (Although I don't need any of them tagging along on our honeymoon, so it might have to wait!)

gleff

The IC is the best property on Tahiti. The only true resort, really. 3 days might be a bit long there, but it's still a nice place.

As an Ambassador, if you've booked a Motu bungalow then request a Lagoon Bungalow which is nicer as mentioned above. As an Ambassador you'll get a welcome gift (probably DVD of the resort and a poster) as well as welcome snack.

Just enjoy the islands and don't expect a particularly high level of service.

Big_Foot

It's such a contrast to Bora Bora... Le Moana is very small, Thalasso is bigger,
but still quite small, IC Thaiti is huge! I think their "over-the-water" bungalows
are a bit of a joke, there is no privacy what so ever, as people are walking
in front of your door all day long, kids are screaming and playing with fish
in the fish pond etc. It's more like all inclusive Caribbean kind of resort.
The food is good though, people are friendly. I'd skip the full circle the island
thing as this might only destroy your Polynesia dreams. Thaiti is NOT Bora Bora,
it's trashy and poor, the town is even polluted and dirty. They have a French
supermarket now! Honestly if this is your only place you're staying on your
cruise, just take a ferry and go to Moorea. IC Thaiti is a one night thing
before you go to an amazing island of Bora Bora and your flight
schedule forces you to stay on Thaiti.
http://www.wildlifeland.com/BoraBora/

Andrew

FL350

Happy that you enjoyed the pics.

BTW, Congrats, and enjoy Tahiti! ^

DCF

Trashy and poor? That's a bit harsh for a place with a lower illiteracy rate than the USA, and with 100% of the population covered with health insurance!

Seriously, the island of Tahiti is a large, working island. It's a bit like Oahu without Waikiki. There is traffic everywhere, and even the schoolchildren have mobile phones. It's rich by Pacific standards (higher per head income than American Samoa or New Zealand) but it doesn't look like a manicured resort island in the way that Maui does.

But the mountains are spectacular (hence my recommendation of a helicopter trip and dinner at Le Belvedere) and so is the majestic view from the Beachcomber to Moorea.

Do you have any flexibility with your Tahiti stay? Could you not switch to the Moorea Beachcomber IC instead, and just fly in to Tahiti for the cruise - it's an 8 minute flight? Moorea is the world's second most beautiful island (after Bora Bora) and you would be better off on a honeymoon there than 3 days on Tahiti.

szg

I wouldn´t spent to much time at Tahiti or Moorea. The best island is Bora Bora. I have a stayed for 10 days there at Ic Le Moana Bora Bora and I was very satisfied from the location and the hotel.

http://www.wildlifeland.com/BoraBora - realy good pictures.

NYC girl - enjoy your stay !!

demiurg

I do not know if you have any choice of hotels before your cruise, but I personally would check if instead of Tahiti you could spend your days in Moorea. It is just a ten minute flight away from Tahiti, so you would not loose much time from hopping on the other island.

I have actually found Moorea more interesting and scenic than Bora Bora - as an island. If you include the lagoon and the motus into the picture Bora Bora wins hands down.

NYC girl

So many fabulous pictures! Thank you all so much for your tips and opinions. We picked the Beachcomber originally because it was much more 'reasonable' than the Moorea and Bora Bora resorts, and because our flight was going to land at midnight and we would have had to stay one night on Tahiti, then 3 nights Moorea, then 10 nights cruise, then one more night Tahiti and that just seemed more exhausting than fun. Of course Air Tahiti Nui helped us out with that by CANCELLING our flight, so now we land at 5am and only have 3 nights pre-cruise (why am I not appreciative?), so we could have gone straight from the Tahiti airport to Moorea, but we already booked at the Beachcomber, however, there is a large increase in room rate to switch to Moorea / Bora Bora so I think we will stay put.
We booked back in August and soon after we booked, there were no more bungalows or any kind available which seemed pretty crazy to me as it was so far in advance, but glad we got one before they went away, can't imagine going all the way to Tahiti and not having an overwater bungalow! I will certainly ask for the upgrade, but I have braced myself to not be disappointed if it doesn't happen.
Thanks again, I greatly appreciate all the help!

njbride

I was just there a couple of months ago but only for a few hours. We took the nonstop from JFK which arrived at about 1AM and I was grateful that the IC was only 3 min away. I have the Ambassaor membership also and I went to a different line to check in which was pretty quick and easy. I think we were upgraded to a lagoon room from a garden room. if you have 3 days I suggest you skip a hotel stay in tahiti altogether and take a morning flight from PPT to Moorea which has plenty of activities to do or to BB and stay at the Thalasso. If you want an OWB in Moorea your best bet is the sheraton.

EdV

Hey guys, I need some help here making my decisions. I have dutifully collected my PC points and am ready to redeem them for our honeymoon (my fiancee is very excited about this).

Okay, so right now I've got 400k PC points (10 nights) and I'll have on BOGO voucher for this trip to Tahiti. Itinerary is shaping up as this:

1/17/08 - I've got on hold 1 Biz and 1 First class seats on Air Tahiti Nui #1 arriving PPT at 6:20pm. ^ (I hope to fix that separate class thing soon) Returning 1/31/08 ATN #4 at 9:05 from PPT.

1) Since we're getting in "early" around 6pm should we get right on a boat to Moorea and get off of Tahiti right away?

2) Obviously we want to hit up Bora Bora as well but my fiancee wants to keep shuttling about to a minimum. But boats are better than planes. So I was thinking going right to Moorea for 4 or 5 nights.

3) Then flying to Bora Bora and doing 4 nights at Le Moana and then 4 nights at Thalasso to experience both of them. Is this necessary or should I just pick one and stay there for 7 or 8 nights?

3) Flying back to Tahiti for 2 nights before departing.

4) Right now rooms are available at all properties for points. I'll have to book 4 paid nights right now but I'll be selective about that so I can be sure to use 1 if not 2 BOGOs if I time it right. Does anyone think mixing a booking of paid nights and points at any of the properties would help?

azepine00

Fly; getting to the ferry pier from PPT with luggage is too much of a pain.

I like you plan, Le Moana is better visited first since it's closer to town and you can explore the island more.

I would skip Tahiti altogether. Add time to Bora Bora or perhaps make a side trip to some other less explored island (with minimum luggage).


BOGO is better used at Le Moana, you can get a better value by booking a more expensive bungalow and hopefully continue to stay in it on points too.