Songer5

Here's a link to another Thread you might find useful. I updated it for St Regis Bora Bora.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...-benefit.html#

rubikcube

My wife and I will be staying here in January. We booked a package that includes breakfast. Does anyone know if it is possible to upgrade to the meal plan that includes dinner? What would that cost?

BobbySteel

Where's it updated? There's no reference to Bora anywhere on the thread.

silentbob1974

Click on the Full Wiki. It's listed about halfway down, under French Polynesia.

Woodsmit

Just got back from 10 nights at the St. Regis after 5 over in Moorea at the Sofitel.

Overall, a very good experience:

Platinum Recognition:
I was there on a non-SPG eligible rate (ie through a travel agent) so not entitled to recognition but they still upgraded me from a Deluxe Overwater to a Premier Overwater Suite and extended free Wifi on request on “recognition of loyalty”. Breakfast was included in my rate.

We were extended late check-out on the last day which was great. I get the impression they do this as much as possible for folks.

Check-in:
When you land at the airport, there are folks waiting from the high-end hotels including St. Regis (others take a connecting ferry to the main city on the island). They ask you to identify your bags and they then take them to the yacht which goes directly from the airport to the hotel dock.

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On the boat, they begin the checkin process with a few forms to fill in which expedites arrival. When you arrive at the dock, you walk straight up to the lobby with your butler. Process there was fast and typical (ie hand over credit card) and then they take you on a brief walk of the main restaurant and beach area and then on a golf cart to show you the rest of the property and your room (You can request a golf cart pickup at any time from your room or other areas of the property.)

As mentioned above, they had already pre-upgraded us to a premier overwater room, so then it was off to the room.

Room:
Rooms here are great. This particular room is around 2,000 sqft and includes an extensive deck with cold water whirlpool tub (There is only one heated hot tub on property and that is inside the Royal Estate Complex, see below). Living room is spacious with the requisite viewing glass in the floor and a TV in both rooms along with DVD player (they have DVDs at the front desk on request but we brought our own).

One note on the internet is that it doesn’t like to stay connected to mobile devices. I suspect this is a bandwidth saving issue. If you don’t check your email for some period, it drops. No big deal, but it does an auto-login loop again which means you need to actively check your email on your phone, it won’t background sync after a period. Laptops stayed connected as I imagine they maintain a constant stream of data flow.

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We also had the opportunity to see the Royal Overwater Villa and the Royal Estate.

The Royal Overwater Villa is basically the premier villa with 1) another bedroom strapped onto the other side, 2) a bigger deck and the addition of a pool. Three of the Villas (Room numbers 211, 214 & 216) have a slightly more private entrance and are more directly connected to land and have a good view of the mountain but a little less good than the premier overwater or the other two Royal Overwater Villas which are at the end of the Pontoon closest to the mountain (Room 202 and 122). I would probably prefer the 202 and 122 for the view but they are a much further walk from the main part of the hotel and are windier than 211, 214 and 216.

The living room felt identical to the Premier (Perhaps the dimensions differ a little but not positive), and each of the bedrooms are mirrors of one another and felt basically the same as the Premier. The one structural difference to note was that each had a door to the exterior so you could exit the bedroom without going into the living room. The deck is bigger than the premier deck but the big difference was the pool which could be nice if you have kids or want to float without worrying about floating away (I brought a little inflatable chair and a small line and tethered myself to the hut, and floated without much problem in the ocean while I read. Pool Master Water Chair Lounger (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1) and some light line. Fit in my carry-on easily.)

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Went through the Royal Estate as Well. Rooms are a little different there but the big attraction are the private beach, private courtyard pool, real hot tub, sauna and extensive facilities for a big family including a dining room, full kitchen, bar etc. For my own needs, I would prefer the overwater bungalows but for a large group / family with a desire for privacy etc, I could see the interest. The hotel also indicated that a chef can be arranged so you can take meals made there and this is the only room where they will deliver straight off the menu at any of the resort restaurants.

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Other Property Points:
Went to the gym almost every day. Generally uncrowded and nicely appointed and air conditioned.

We also did several spa treatments and those were more expensive than comparable US treatments but on balance not offensively so given the location etc. The facility was nice but apparently the Four Seasons has a nicer facility but I certainly wouldn’t decide one resort over the other on this point as this facility was quite adequate and service was very professional.

The restaurants were actually quite good, if expensive. The thing I found odd was not the expense per se but the unevenness of the markup. For example, you could get a very nice past dish in the mid 30s USD range but miso soup cost $25 dollars. Both are marked up but the past maybe 30-40% vs. a NYC cost in a nice restaurant but the Miso soup was many multiples of what I would see in a comparable NYC restaurant. That said, there were plenty of items in the pricing style of that pasta to choose from and you just need to exercise judgment for the items that seem particularly off price. In any event, we really enjoyed lagoon (ate there 4 times) and sushi take and Te Pau. Italian restaurant was good as well but preferred the others. Note that there is a buffet on Wed at te Pau that accompanies the Polynesian show. Food was quite good for a buffet with many cook to order items included (ie walk past the example grilled shrimp or seared steak, say you want that and they cook to order and bring to your table) but is certainly priced to perfection (over $150 per person). It provided a good seat for the show which we enjoyed. If that is not for you, you can watch the show from the bar area and surrounding grass without problem but the view and convenience is somewhat diminished.

For breakfast, they have a full buffet but again they have a big selection for the cook to order. For example, any omelets, waffles, crepes etc. This order is taken at the table and the server brings this back to your table, so it is really a mixed buffet / table service which was nicely executed. On Saturday and Sunday they have an included bloody marry bar with breakfast.

We did room service one night and enjoyed it tremendously (especially since we had a very nice view of sunset and mountain from our deck).

There is no charge for going to the mainland. You simply let the front desk / your butler know and they tell you when the next boat is departing. You share the staff boat which periodically goes back and forth to the mainland. I saw some people complaining about sharing the boat vs. taking the tricked out yacht. Think that is misplaced aggrievement. Other hotels charge to go to the mainland and the St. Regis does not and if you wanted a more private transfer, I am sure they would be happy to put you on one of the client motor launches and charge you for the privilege. So not really any diminution of benefit, just another option for you. Anyway, I thought it was perfectly fine and everyone is quite nice.

An under-talked about element of the resort is the lagoonarium. Basically, it is a big artificial lagoon in the center of the property. They have a biologist that keeps it stocked with a balanced set of marine life including a couple of Napoleon fish. The fish are very friendly and you see quite a lot more than in the bora bora lagoon off your room. This is because Bora bora is an older island with fewer inlets to the see, as a result you have very limited coral life off your room (In Moorea, the Sofitel had a huge coral garden which made snorkeling off the room deck quite nice). In any event, you get to interact with a ton of fish life and they sell fish food at the lobby shop for use in the lagoonarium. Please do this and do not feed them bread as they will fill up on bread, float to surface and drown. Feeding them the fish food, according to the biologist, was a not a problem as they got most of their food from the lagoon.

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I would certainly go again without hesitation.

lewende

Great TR! Your pictures reminded me good memories back there...will go back again...eventually.

BobbySteel

Fantastic TR. Thanks for doing it! Did you get a better rate through your travel agent than the SPG site?

Woodsmit

I never use travel agents because until this time, I could always get a better rate, recognition of status and earn points/status etc. I think the rate I could find using every code etc and even calling the hotel was $1,500 per night for the deluxe at that time of year (I booked two weeks before I left and it was high season) before taxes. I never asked the agent the exact booking rate for the hotel (not sure if they would tell me as that is part of the secret sauce I suspect) but when you look in the booking record at SPG.com, it implies $950 per night before taxes including breakfast. (I tried to reconstruct the itinerary which included Moorea and flights myself and came out a good amount better going through them vs. booking it all direct).

Trust me, given the nights and the points, I would have preferred to have gone direct but the savings were enough to justify and she was actually a very helpful and knowledgeable person about the island, activities etc. Much more so than I would have expected being a person who obsesses about researching trips on his own.

pricesquire

Good TR.

On another note, ouch - a pretty mistrustful view of travel agents (secret sauce?).

FWIW, most luxury agents I know don't add fees, especially to higher end clientele (I don't, at least).

Also, what do you mean non-SPG eligible rate "because you booked through a travel agent"? Were they Virtuoso? Virtuoso rates are compatible with elite recognition....

Some people don't realize, but booking through an agent is "booking direct" - it's not like we hop on Orbitz.com. Furthermore, booking via GDS is the king of booking direct! It's where hotels upload their availability in the first place. (Also of note, Virtuoso has on online portal w/ SPG called StarwoodPRO. We're seeing what you're seeing - plus more - we get to see the value-adds, i.e. upgrades, perks, breakfast, etc)

Not to mention in a lot of client -> agent -> vendor bookings, that vendor is actually someone "one above" the Internet or the front desk/reservations agent.*

*Example: StR ATL was booked solid on spg.com. Also booked solid if you were to call front desk/in-house reservations. What did I do? Called the Director of Industry Sales and they talked to the GM and bingo: room opened up for my client.


That's the beauty of an agent, right? Knowledge. Access. Helpful.

Still kinda confused on why you didn't get Plat recognition?? Weird...

controller1

I believe the "secret sauce" is referring to the pricing (opaque) of the combination of items booked (airfare/hotel combination).

I read it (perhaps incorrectly) that payment was made to the travel agent for the lodging instead of to the SPG property. This would make the stay ineligible for SPG benefits per the T&C of SPG.

pricesquire

I guess that info was in another post/thread? Don't see it above. If so (and I believe you), then I see what you mean.

Woodsmit

Correct. No aspersions toward agents, just that often hotels don't want TAs revealing the underlying pricing in a bundle so they don't undermine the normal direct pricing. That opaqueness (which is totally reasonable) is what I meant by secret sauce. As I mentioned, it was a good experience and I would recommend but as another poster pointed out, this sort of booking gets neither stay credit, points nor platinum recognition. I knew that going in. If anyone decides to go down I am happy to refer them to her. She was very good.

pricesquire

Gotcha.

1readyset2go

@Pricesquire-if you, or any V agent for that matter, booked a trip for us here are you saying I would get to earn points on my stay? I am a lowly Gold SPG so earning points is probably all I would get,but that's ok I would in paradise

@Woosmit-Great TR! I love the view you had from your unit! Thanks for posting. A trip to Moorea and BB are at the top of my bucket list. Keeping my fingers crossed that we will get to visit there in a few years.

pricesquire

Yes.