It is basically about the view - there seem to be two overwater categories, bungalow and suite (different square footages) and then the only difference is the view between the rest of the categories.

I'm anxiously awaiting a review of the reopened property - I have a reservation at the St Regis for next year which seems to have excellent service but aging facilities, so am pondering swapping to the Westin.

I don't suppose anyone has a schedule for the shuttle to the mainland? I'm arriving on September 23rd. I guess I'm the guinea pig.

The dinner menus are not very inspiring. There are a lot more choices at the St Regis.

Also, the breakfast buffet looks gone from when it was Le Meridian and replaced with a la carte.

and whether it has a plunge pool or not.

Monster amount of availability on points seems to have been released in the last 48 hours.

This hotel has been rebranded as:
The Westin Bora Bora Resort & Spa
can a mod rename the thread?
Thanks!

Agree, dinner looks pretty underwhelming. Anyone know if they will be offering shuttles between Westin and St. Regis? I really enjoyed the Asian option at StR.

For what months? Don't see any that doesn't have a cash plus points redemption offer

Just checked in for a four night stay using 3 85k certs + points. I was upgraded to the Premium Otemani View Pool (second highest). I am a Bonvoy Plat.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3436b34007.jpg

WOW!!! More! I demand more!! ;)

Very nice! How is it? Any initial observations? Excited for a stay there next April.

Did you use upgrades, or was it a proactive elite upgrade? Any special occasion noted?

I am just wrapping up a 2 night stay here at the Westin. I was pleasantly surprised when the hotel emailed me about arranging boat transfers and found out that they are complimentary. Pick up from the airport was seamless and we rode over with 3 couples. Check in was quick and easy and then they gave us a tour of the property. I am a Bonvoy Platinum and could see in the app my room type had been changed to overwater premium a few days before arrival. The day before arrival I checked the app again and saw the room was overwater suite with pool. This was a slight downgrade, I don't know if they just didn't have the overwater premium ready for when we checked in, it was fairly early around 11 am. Though our room with a plunge pool was fantastic. Obviously the view of Mt Otemanu is gorgeous, but the benefit of having a lagoon view is the water is a bit bluer and more clear and there's a sandbar about 20 yds off your deck that you can swim out to and stand. It also provides wonderful views of the sunrise. The resort feels empty, more so the first day for us as some more people arrived our second day, but we really only saw about 8-10 guests total the first day. We ate lunch at the restaurant and were the only ones there until a couple sat down as we paid to leave. I never visited when it was the Le Meridien but the resort looks fantastic. The bungalows are wonderfully decorated, the pool looks great and has an awesome view of Mt Otemanu. They let us use the Cabanas for free since they've only been open 2 weeks. Overall, it has been a really unique experience to be at a resort this close to opening. They only have 2 restaurants along with in room diving which is a bit limited as they have similar items, but the prices weren't quite as bad as I was expecting so that was a plus. You can choose breakfast as a plat, it is a buffet with an omelet station and lots of options. The fruits are good along with their pastries. The bacon and sausage I ate seemed to be reheated from the day before but they also had fresh juices which are good. There's a lagoon that will be connected to their ecocenter where they hope to rehabilitate turtles, and the lagoon will be open to swimming in the future, but both of those are closed for now. Overall, this resort is fantastic as you can currently book directly into the overwater villas for the base points price. I hope they keep it that way as there's a ton of villas and they are fantastic. Obviously, the extra space in the suite is great, but I would book the basic villa to come back no problem, although I hope they keep the elite recognition and upgrades up even when they get into more of a normal routine and it's not just a opening special. They have a free shuttle to Vaitape, I also saw one of them go over to the St. Regis but I don't know if that is free or not. We had a bottle of champagne in our room along with some nuts and candies when we arrived, presumably for being a plat member but not sure. They give you refillable water bottles when you arrive at the airport in BOB, filled with water which is a nice touch. We're moving over to the Conrad today, and I'll probably post over on that forum for a review of my stay there, but the concierge here at the Westin was very helpful about arranging transport over there. Feel free to ask any questions you have, I'll try to answer them and I'll add pictures below.

TLDR The resort is gorgeous and I think they did really good job on the renovation. Elite recognition seems to be high currently and is the best deal to book directly into an OWV in Bora Bora.

The renovated bungalows are very nice. There's still renovations going on around the resort particularly in the back areas including the eco center and the beach bungalows. The lagoonarium isn't open yet. Breakfast is still a buffet.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...5511a7c68c.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...c8814394db.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...b820e41e75.jpg
https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...bbf6f2d308.jpg

I did not use upgrades. About 3 days before check in the room type changed on my reservation. There wasn't any special occasion noted. Occupancy is low given that they just opened and that was probably a factor.