BobbySteel

Here this week and it's lovely. Booked a standard over water bungalow and was "upgraded" to a superior (aka, normal, no pool or shower). It's nice but I don't really consider it much of an upgrade at all. The GM says occupancy is 85%+ now so sounds like not much they can do anyways.

msdossys

Due to overbooking at the Hilton Bora Bora Nui for our honemoon stay starting 06/27/15, we have been moved to this property. Couple of questions:

First, it appears we are stuck in getting a regular OWB instead of Superior or Deluxe. We have attempted to email the property to make sure our reservation is confirmed with the same details as we had at the Hilton (breakfast included, etc) but have not had a repsonse. Does anyone have a good contact email, or should I just bite the bullet and call?

Second, since we are now moving to the St. Regis, should I be able to sign up for SPG (noob) and gain points with this stay even though we booked the other hotel orignially?

TerryK

Sure. You should receive points for whatever you paid to St Regis directly. You won't receive points for room rate if paid by Hilton.

msdossys

Yeah the room is being paid by the Hilton, so no go for that. Ah well.

KENNECTED

You should still have an SPG account.

You can charge any incidentals to your room.

TerryK

As Bora Bora resorts are pretty isolated, you will charge plenty of incidentals (meals, drinks, activities etc). It is still a good idea to sign up for SPG. You should still receive Hilton points for what you paid to Hilton.

travelgirl530

We just got back from 5 nights here for our honeymoon. We booked a Superior Overwater Villa and were upgraded to a Deluxe Overwater Villa, which had a view of the mountain (not the interior lagoon of the resort). The resort seemed pretty full most of the time, and they were renovating a few of the larger OWBs (we were right next to some of the royal OWBs and 2-bedroom suites and could hear a little construction noise during the day). We were also to get a 4 PM late checkout on our last day, which came in handy, given our red-eye flight home. Great property.

bhrubin

Out of curiosity, do you have any SPG status? Did you do any scuba diving?

Sounds like you had a wonderful time. We'll be there in April 2016--can't wait.

travelgirl530

Yes, my husband has Plat status & I have Gold (we booked under his SPG account, though). It's a beautiful property - you will have a great time!

mrlonghorn

I have reached out to the resort with no response but it appears that there are two hotel boat shuttles daily to Vaitape and back. The timing doesn't seem ideal... Does anyone know what happens if you are there later, e.g., dining at La Villa Mahana or drinking at Bloody Mary's until late? How does one get back to the St. Regis? I appreciate any advice, thanks!

JBauer

Anyone have experience with the kids club here? Don't care it's mostly a honeymoon place. Free? Good? Have kids 7 and 6. Thanks

alanslegal

Just to gauge some ideas;

I am a Platinum member and have a stay at this property; using SPG50 my rate is around 75,000XPF per night for an entry level OWB. I understand that I will get free breakfast as a chosen amenity

Now, I have read and read these threads, and from the sounds of it these OWB are probably the best standard rooms in the entire St Regis chain (and maybe SPG chain) so I know the stay will be awesome. However, I have been snooping around over at the IC threads and the IC Thalasso Bora Bora can be booked for more than 50% less than the St Regis BB.

Now, has anyone stayed at the IC Thalasso and St Regis - which is better?

I'm a relatively simple traveller and will probably do nothing except gaze at the turquoise waters and Mount Otemanu whilst in BB

ajnaro

I’ve stayed at both. The Thalasso over-the-water rooms are basically all the same, but with slightly differing views and locations along the quay. I was offered an upgrade to a room with a direct view to Otemanu mountain. It really doesn’t make much difference unless you want to see the mountain from your bed. The room has sleeping and sitting areas but they are not fully separate. At the StR upgrades can make much more of a difference as the accommodations differ in both size and location. I happened to get a huge bungalow with several fully separate areas in a good location. Perhaps for this reason I enjoyed the St Regis more. However, there is a practical difference as well: at the StR you’re essentially a prisoner at the resort. There is no place to walk to and the shuttles off the sandbar to the island are few and expensive, with what seemed to me an inconvenient schedule. The Thalasso had convenient and (at the time) free shuttles to the other Intercontinental on the island at Vaitape. From there it was possible to arrange transportation around the island to visit points of interest. At the StR I felt that I had been corralled; at the IC I had more freedom of movement.

In any case, you need to be prepared to pay a small fortune for food, whether at the hotel or not. Some people seem to fill up on a late breakfast and take fruit or small sandwiches from breakfast for lunch.

alanslegal

Great information, thanks.

BobbySteel

Food wise I found the tuna to be the best value vs what you'd pay for it elsewhere in the world. I'll happily pay $28 for a decent size plate of absolutely fresh tuna tartare!