I have the Overwater Lagoon Bungalow booked and am confident in the property upgrading us one category further when we arrive but you're right the photos for the Classic room is misleading as it is not over water.

Given upgrades are pre-paid, did they refund the difference or pass it as a credit on your hotel bill?

Surprisingly they didn't ask me to pre-paid.....I was expecting a form from them to fill out my credit card info like previous resorts I stayed (Hilton Moorea, St. Regis Bora Bora, etc.) but they didn't! Just weeks before our arrival, I emailed them again to re-negotiate on the upgrade fee. Once confirmed, they didn't have me pre-paid either! When I check out to settle the bill, I did pay attention and they charged correctly :)

Part 2 of our Le Meridien stay trip reports and photos: Private Cruise the Beautiful Lagoon of Bora Bora ? Miss Vacation
Breakfast spread was okay (see the pics in my blog) but not as many Asian selections as I was hoping for. Get a table outside facing the mountain, the view made up for the food quality!

Part 3 where we had a half day at Le Meridien then transferred to the St. Regis: Le Meridien to St. Regis Bora Bora ? Miss Vacation

In summary, after stayed at the Le Meridien and St. Regis Bora Bora this trip (March 2019) and the Intercontinental Bora Bora Thalasso (Jan 2015):

Le Meridien - the best iconic Bora Bora - Mt. Otemanu views! You will see it at almost every single corner at the Le Meridien. Having breakfast and lunch looking at the view made up for its okay food quality. Modern overwater bungalows but small if you compared to the other two. Not sure if it's the same at other overwater bungalows, ours was shaky which almost made me sick due to I am prone to motion sickness. It wasn't like that at the Intercontinental or the St. Regis. Hotel grounds were kept nicely but you can explore and get all the postcard-perfect photos within a day or two as the resort is not that big compared to the St. Regis. Food selection was the worst, very limited, only two restaurants open for dinner. They don't even offer boat shuttle at night to go to the main island for dinner.

St. Regis - very limited views of the iconic Mt. Otemanu, only certain higher class premium overwater bungalows and at the Lagoon Restaurant. The other restaurants have no view. Breakfast/lunch only available at the Aparima Bar with the beach view. On the other hand, dinner has plenty of choices; our favorite was Bam Boo. There is a boat shuttle free during the day and a charge at night to go to the main island for dinner. We stayed only 2 nights so we had dinners at Bam Boo and Lagoon Restaurant; we didn't feel the need to go out. Plus, with 4 of us, the amount we'll be paying for the boat shuttle doesn't make sense; we could use that extra money to order more food. The food at both Bam Boo and Lagoon Restaurant are top quality so at least we don't feel like we got ripped off with the $$$$ price. This was also our 2nd time in Bora Bora so we had been to restaurants at the main island like Bloody Mary's. Superb service overall, the Butler team was professional and they went beyond to fulfill whatever we asked for...such as saber a champagne! Our deluxe overwater bungalow was huge and comfortable, my least favorite is the bathroom which looked a little bit wasting space and not luxurious. Hotel grounds were kept in great shape considering the size of the resort; that is why bikes are provided for free, you'll need that. Take advantage of their free sunscreens and aloe gel at the beach/activity hut, those smelled so good and easy to absorb! Note: still working on the trip reports and photos....

Intercontinental Bora Bora Thalasso - 2nd to the best Mt. Otemanu views. The overwater bungalows are just a little bit smaller than the St. Regis but I like their bathroom better. Hotel grounds were beautiful, many different photo ops throughout the resort with the beautiful Mt. Otemanu views. Food quality was just okay so I rather pay the extra boat shuttle fee to go out to the main island for dinner. The arranged pickups at their sister property Le Moana went smoothly so no worry about not making the last boat back to the resort. Service was excellent from check-in to checkout, especially loved their goodbye ceremony.

To balance luxury and the view, I would pick Intercontinental Bora Bora Thalasso, good luck with getting a room with points though! I was glad I visited back on 2015 where I easily got 4 nights on points just a few months prior to the trip. Note: all the properties don't feel crowded at all, we rarely came across other guests except for breakfast/lunch/dinner. We were quite surprised and always wondered where were all other guests since the occupancy rate while we were there were at around 80%+!

MissVacation, thanks for your comparison review of these 3 properties! Your vacation photos are beautiful. We were considering all 3 at one point, but ended up deciding on Le Meridian because we were able to book 5 nights using Marriott points, and they were kind enough to give us a free upgrade to an Otemanu View bungalow. Our visit will be in October 2019. Hopefully, our bungalow won't vibrate like yours did. We're very glad to hear the Otemanu view from Le Meridian will be very good!

By the way, did you have any problems with mosquitoes and/or other biting insects while at Le Meridian? My wife is wondering how prepared we need to be. Also, were there many fishes to see under the bungalows? Thanks!

You definitely need a good insect repellent at night! I found that the ones in the US aren't that effective there so I went to a pharmacy in Bora Bora town on our first trip, it's called Moustidose, a French brand. That became my favorite insect repellent, it doesn't contain DEET so it doesn't sting your skin or clothes. It's like a lotion, absorbs very smoothly and leaves a good smell!

Don't expect many fishes under the overwater bungalows because not much coral there and the water is quite deep and strong current. You'll love the views!

Thanks! Now you have us worried. Do we need to apply insect repellent even while we're in the bungalow, or only when we're outside / while dining?

There's currently a dengue outbreak in Tahiti, which isn't ideal. I'm not sure if it's in Bora Bora as well, but 2019 seems like a bad year for it. I've been in Nauru and Tuvalu in the last month and I've similarly received dengue outbreak notices from the WHO there. I'm currently sat in the Hilton Moorea next to some muddy pools of water which the hotel doesn't seem to be doing anything about.

I hardly check my PM so just responded, sorry for the delay!

I didn't notice any mosquitoes in the overwater bungalow. I only apply when we go out for dinner.

We went to Bora Bora during that year of a massive Chikungunya outbreak (2015) and the resort (Intercontinental Bora Bora Thalasso) was regularly spraying. They even informed us on the date and time too. We went back in March this year and I saw the dengue outbreak notice at the airport once we landed. But for the 3 resorts we stayed, there was no spraying so I guess the situation wasn't that bad. As a precaution, always apply insect repellent especially going out for dinner at night.

I just saw they have rooms for 13300 XPF/night in July. That seems incredibly cheap for Bora Bora, but I haven't monitored prices at this hotel in the past.

That is unbelievably cheap for this property. Are you sure you didn't miss a 0? ;) The lowest I have ever seen is about 3x that amount and that's for the "Classic" bungalows, which do not have direct access to the lagoon and may not be over water. I'm not sure, but I don't think they have the see thru floor panel either.

I was monitoring the prices for a while before I booked ours using Marriott Bonvoy points.