worldtraveller73

Marlborough Wine Day Two
Blenheim, New Zealand.

We started the day by visiting the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy owned and financially backed Cloudy Bay winery. Unlike most of the other visits which had complimentary tastings, we were on the hook for $10 each for premium tasting. Marlborough hasn’t completely caught on to the paid tasting concept as most of our tastings were free. The cellar door here, or rather, the gardens around it, were very leafy and surprisingly lush.











There was a nice outdoor patio which was closed due to it being winter. In its place, there was another neat crackling fire in the tasting room. It was another deserted tasting experience with us and one other couple being the only ones here for our one hour stay.











After Cloudy Bay, we headed across the street to Allan Scott family winemakers. It was another small format tasting room but a much more intimate and personalized experience.







We had some great tasting sauvingon blanc, pinot gris and pinot noir. The wine pour host happened to be from france and had been in New Zealand for 3 years. There was also a small lunch place here but we decided to keep to our original plan to dine at Brancott Estate. I would have loved to have had an extra day to come back to dine here since the format looked really appealing.





We went on wards to Whitehaven which was across the street from the MVI hotel. It’s situated in an odd a combination area which also has an artisan store, a restaurant (not run by the winery) and a small tasting room.









We learned of an interesting story of the owner who quite corporate life, went sailing around the world for two years, settled in Marlbourhough and started Whitehaven, then passed away from cancer at 57 years of age. His wife and daughter now run the company and they are among the 6th most popular Sauvingon Blanc in the world. It was quite an impressive leadership story with a sad ending. The logo is that of a maritime theme, thanks to his past life and love of sailing.

We left there and onwards to Brancott Estate. We weren’t exactly here for the wines, which seem a bit mass produced but rather here for the lunch. The Brancott Estate absorbed Montana wines some time ago and has a large corporate facility which was almost over the top compared to some of the small family tasting rooms that we had experienced in the last 2 days. We had to wait about 40 minutes for a table so we had a very leisurely tasting while we waited for lunch.









I had the lamb rump on potato and porcini bake with wilted spinach and chimichurri sauce whereas MrsWT73 had a goat cheese tarlet with sweet potatoes salad. Both were excellent with a great view over the vineyards. MrsWT73 enjoyed another glass of rose.













After Brancott Estate, we headed over to Whiter Hills for the last tasting of the day. There were several off labels here with a good variety of wines available. My palette was pretty off by this point so I left most of the tasting to MrsWT73.















Back to the hotel for a nap. We went and had a light dinner with ham sandwiches and Chicken and Mushroom soup by Wattie’s from the PAK and Save grocery store in our room. It wasn't super glamorous but sometimes the comforts of home are better than another night out on the town.

worldtraveller73

Day drive from Blenheim to Nelson, New Zealand.

We started our third day in Blenheim by walking across the street to Vines restaurant. Little did we know that there was an outstanding breakfast restaurant across the rural highway outside our hotel.









I had a flat white and a “biker breakfast” (cyclists I think, versus motorcycles) which was poached eggs on beetroot, avocado, feta and spicy tomato sauce. It was excellent and I was sad that we hadn’t had a few more breakfasts here during our stay.







After a brief stop in town at MrsWT73’s favorite Katamandu outdoor equipment store, we headed North on Route 6 towards Havelock.



The plan today was to head up to Nelson for a day trip to see the town. Some photos taken by my passenger MrsWT73 through some beautiful scenery in northern New Zealand…









We passed through town and stopped at the one lane Perlous Bridge where we went for a brief walk. We encountered some of the most clear streams / rivers that I have seen. Clear and crystal cold.









We followed the trail and wandered further into the park and down the river bed. It was a very scenic break from driving and as you can see, the weather fully co-operated on our trip.







We headed back from the park and took a closer look at the one lane bridge; eventually crossing it on foot. There wasn’t much to see on the other side, but we crossed it for the record books anyway.







We hopped back in the car and headed westward on Route 6 towards Nelson. There were some twisty turns on our route but we made it to the end. It sounds silly but one the main reasons for heading to Nelson, aside from a wine tour break, was to accommodate a visit to a New Zealand Starbucks to collect a travel mug for MrsWT73’s shelf. We successfully found a very derelict looking starbucks and had a very odd tasting filtered coffee (with power grounds all over the cup- should have had a latte). Nelson itself is a quaint town right on the coast

We then went to the Cantebury Cathedral which is an imposing structure at one end of downtown. With no set plans for lunch, we decided to have some snacks on the Mac’s patio since it was in full sun. It was pretty much a self serve deal here, wait staff existed but you pretty much go inside to order otherwise we’d be waiting forever.











Mac’s had decent pub food… Calamari for me, flatbread for MrsWT73 and a craft beer while the winter sun dipped through the buildings.





After our feed, we left the downtown area and headed over to the beautiful Tahanamui Beach. The beach had some very fine sand and was full of families out for the day. It was the type of beach that kids could run around on forever since it was so wide and spacious.









From Tahanamui Beach, it was back in the RAV4 and back the way we came driving up the coast and eventually inland to Havelock.





Back in the car and headed back the way we came, bound for Picton. We took the reverse route and by the time we hit Havelock, we turned Eastward on the Queen Charlotte Way. We stopped at the Cullen Point Nature Reserve for a brief sightseeing walk. It was only a walk as it only took about 10 minutes. We were able to get some winter sunset views from the view point over the mussel harvesting area that occurs in the bay.









We continued Eastward on Queen Charlottes Way from Havelock towards Picton. I should have perhaps taken it as a sign when Google Directions directed traffic around this stretch of road on a longer route.



I can’t imagine the Queen ever taking this route. It was super twisty and even as the driver I was almost sick by the time we got to the end of it. We did manage to find some wild or free roaming turkeys that were watching the river on our route, something which I had not seen before.









We eventually arrived to Picton. Picton is mostly known for being the ferry terminal where travelers can take the car ferry to the North Island. I previously took the three hour ferry ride in 1998. We weren’t taking the ferry today, but instead seeking dinner. It has a scenic view for a ferry dock as the boats crawl outwards toward the ocean surrounded by mountains and fjords on either sides.







We headed into the town which was deserted after the last ferry had left and had dinner at Café Cortado. It was a pleasant local place. We were feeling light for dinner so we had split pizza half vegetarian and half spicy. It was served nice and thin crust. The restaurant was surprisingly packed for a town with less than 3,000 population.







After dinner, we gassed up the car (at about almost $2 per litre!) and drove back to Blenheim for the night for packing and getting ready to depart on the first flight leaving tomorrow morning. The drive today was a beautiful scenic drive to a part of the world we wouldn’t have otherwise visited.

Another brief but otherwise fabulous visit to New Zealand complete!

nequine

A great part of NZ to tour and sample some very nice wines. We went to the Alan Scott vineyard as part of the wine tour we did in the region - safer to let someone else do the driving while you sample the wines!

austgap

Excellent TR so far! Thanks

quirrow

Just returned not too long ago from my trip to Fiji and New Zealand as well! Though I had a slightly different itinerary from yours since I departed out of SIN on Fiji Airways as well, and I went to NZ first to ski in Queenstown before staying at Sheraton Tokoriki for 5 days.

I had the same impressions that FJ was not a bad airline at all even in Y, and the food in both Y/J was good. Service on FJ was a notch better than many airlines and they were very professional.

For my stay at Sheraton Tokoriki I was upgraded to the same Beachfront Retreat as a Platinum as well (no SNA applied) but the service I experienced was frankly the worst amongst SPG properties I stayed at this year and I found food prices at the resort inflated.

Amidst all these service flaws in the resort, I did get better weather as the waves was not that huge, and we were able to snorkel all the way to the edge of the house reef where there was a lot of fishes. My friend even spotted a swordfish. When the waves are not that big, the staff at the dive store would even provide a jet ski ride to the edge of the house reef and pick you up from there. Staff at the water sports and dive shop was definitely the better ones in the resort that I encountered during my stay.

SFO777

Sorry I'm late to the party on this report.
Outstanding report, great pics and narrative.
Thanks worldtraveller73.

flatlander

Thanks for the report - the Marlborough area looks lovely. It seems one could stay a couple of days and cycle around some wineries if one wished - more drinking without risk of driving at the same time

twindocstravel

Nice report! Fiji Airways front cabin looks pretty descent but anything less than 180 degree lie flat makes sleeping a bit difficult for me. Your report took me back to 2008 when the fan and I flew a then Air Pacific (ex-SQ) 744 on the LAX-NAN route. Your pics are making me want to head back to Fiji.

worldtraveller73

Thanks for following nequine. The Marlbourough area seems like it's just coming into being world renowned as it has a sleepy hollow feel to it in the off season. Thankfully, MrsWT73 did most of the tasting being a Sauvingon Blanc fan and I was along for counting sheep.

Thanks for your support austgap.

Thanks for the information quirrow. These experiences, and mine, seem similar to that of any new resort that has yet to refine themselves as they get more and more experienced. The upgrade to the beachfront villa is a pretty strong upgrade as a platinum.

You are most welcome SFO777. We've been enjoying your latest trip report, as always.

Thank you flatlander. The Marlbourough wine area itself would lend perfectly to biking as it is completely flat and in a valley with mostly wide roads. I didn't look for any bike rental areas (being winter) but it's possible properties could rent them out to guests.

I remember those colorful Air Pacific 747 planes in Vancouver so many years ago twindocstravel. Our FA indicated that Fiji Airways had hoped to return to Vancouver one day, although I think realistically they would be more financially successful if they targeted China.

worldtraveller73

Air New Zealand
Operated by Air Nelson / New Zealand Link
Economy Class (V)
BHE-AKL (Blenheim – Auckland)
NZ 8202
June 12, 2017
Booked: Bombardier Q300
Flown: Bombardier Q300
Departure: 6:00 AM
Arrival: 7:30 AM

We had a very early 3:45 AM wake up for our flights to Papeete, French Polyensia. I had to do a bit of research to find out when the check in cut off was for Air New Zealand and it seemed to be 30 minutes for domestic flights, but 60 minutes for domestic flights that were connecting to an international one. I tried to check in on line, but since we were traveling on a one way ticket (we were on a separate Aadvantage award ticket onwards from Papeete), the computer was unable to check us in with no return ticket. Playing it safe these days, we opted to arrive to the airport at 4:45 AM to address any perceived issues.

We departed the enjoyable Marlborough Vinters Hotel and drove the 10 minutes up the road to the Woodbourne, Blenheim airport.

It was pretty deserted at this hour and we were welcomed by Air New Zealand staff as the first traveler arrivals of the day. The plane was parked here over night, along with another Dash 8- 300 on the apron scheduled with a 7 AM departure for Wellington.











We checked in. The friendly staff validated our tickets and took careful detail of our onward travel details. Our bags were checked through to Papeete, meaning that we didn’t have to collect them at the Auckland Domestic Terminal and transfer them over. We also got our boarding cards for our international segments.

The coffee shop “CPR” did not open until 5:30AM, and I spent the last of our hard NZ cash on a Flat White and an Americano. There is no security screening on domestic travel so I was able to check us in, get a coffee, then run back outside to return the Thrifty Rental Car by leaving keys in the drop slot, then come back inside ready to board the flight. I actually almost forgot the rental car return process as I discovered the keys to the car in my pocket while I was waiting for the coffees. Early morning flights and my old age, LOL.

The boarding call was at 5:45 AM and our plane was promptly boarded in about 5 minutes. There seemed to be a lot of young families that were traveling back to Auckland this Monday morning.



We were able to get our rollies under the seats without issue. As we got underway, there were no taxi ways at the Blenheim airport so we headed out down the runway with a U turn at the end before we departed in a northward direction.

There was a coffee / tea and water service by our lone flight attendant. A small cookie was also brought around. I spent most of the flight nodding off to sleep as we traveled upwards to Auckland.





Our pilot made great time and we were able to land in Auckland about twenty minutes early.

We rolled up for the domestic terminal and ended up at Gate 42. We were among the first off and set out for our domestic to international connection at Auckland.

worldtraveller73

Air New Zealand International Lounge,
Auckland International Airport
New Zealand

On arrival to the domestic terminal, we set out on the ten-minute walk between the domestic and international terminals. While it had been raining earlier in the day, it was thankfully dry at the moment. It was a relief and as mentioned before, the walkway itself is not covered.

We had our international boarding cards so aside from stopping to take photographs of the mayhem Air New Zealand check in area and premium check in zone we headed upstairs to depart. The public departure hall, is a bit dark compared to other airports as it seems to be on the ground floor, with the departures hall upstairs.







I used the E-Gates again to depart the country. The E Gates were open to New Zealand, Australia, USA and Canadian residents and we handed in an exit questionnaire. We were into the departure concourse within a fair amount of time.







We were short on time in that we had only about 60 minutes prior to our next flight so we headed straight for the Air New Zealand Lounge.

The lounge is located at the left side of the departure concourse and up one level. There are convenient escalators so there is no waiting for crowded elevators.

The access for today’s visit was courtesy of MrsWT73’s Air Canada Aeroplan Star Alliance Gold card. Since it offered guesting privileges, I was given the wonderful opportunity of coming in and writing this report.







Continuing on with the theme from our Air New Zealand Domestic Lounge visits, on our visit, the lounge was exceptionally crowded. It was near or over capacity as there wasn’t anywhere to sit. There were actually customers’ standing in the access rows eating food because there was no where else for them to be. It is something to remember if you are coming through at 9 AM on a Monday Morning like we were. Busy!

Fortunately, there did not appear to be much difference in the food and beverage between the international lounge and the domestic lounge. Punctuate this experience with people rushing around and public address announcements asking people to move their bags off chairs and you get a sense of the hectic environment that this place was. =)















A fairly large place, but not very exclusive this morning since it was busting at the seams. The lounge did offer some great air side views of the departure concourse and several Air New Zealand air frames.







We found a spot to sit “on the patio”. It seemed to perhaps be an outdoor patio at one time that has been enclosed in, but separated from the rest of the lounge. It had some larger footprint patio furniture along with tiled flooring (not carpet).





Once we were settled, we got an opportunity to get some food. Like all lounges in Australia and New Zealand, the food offerings were excellent. There were scrambled eggs, sausages and a full bar and beverage availability.







Yep - MrsWT73 had more than one glass of sparkling. I was busy running around taking pictures.



MrsWT73 also discovered a panini station. The automated barista was also in use. Similar to the domestic lounge, you could order a drink via the Ipad app. We didn’t partake this time as the line for drinks was about 15-20 persons deep.

MrsWT73 called the lounge “awesome” and “that’s what a lounge should be”. She was especially impressed that there were several varietals of wine on offer (upwards of 6: Sauvingon Blanc, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, sparkling, plus ciders, beers and bar spirits). She said “It made me feel that Air Canada was totally low budget compared to Air New Zealand”.

Flight announcements were made, and also posted on the imminent departures monitors. I eventually found a television room in the back, in addition to the showers.







I also found some sleeping loungers that were previously almost fully occupied.





We headed down to our flight at about T-45 so that we could take advantage of the priority boarding as we were traveling in economy for this segment and had rollies with us.

The Air New Zealand International lounge was easily up there as a stellar lounge with our other favorites such as the Turkish Airlines Istanbul Business Lounge and the Qatar Al Mourjan Business Lounge in Doha. I remain fully convinced that Air New Zealand runs some of the best lounges within the Star Alliance network. The only drawback was the massive amount of people that were hanging out here before their flight. Either everyone is flying on business, or Air New Zealand offers a generous access policy as it seems they were at or over capacity on a regular day when we passed through.

worldtraveller73

Air New Zealand
Economy Class Sky Couch (S)
AKL-BHE (Auckland – Papeete)
NZ 40
June 12, 2017
Booked: Boeing 787-800
Flown: Boeing 787-900
Departure: 9:25 AM
Arrival: 4:25 PM –1

We headed down from the lounge at about T-50. The British "Harrod's" retail outpost that was here the last time I passed through in 1998 is now gone. There were some entertaining signs on the flight departure screens on the walk down. Just relax!





We arrived to the gate at about T-45. Although boarding on our card was posted for T-60, nothing was happening.







When boarding started, it was an all at once priority boarding call (Business Premier, Premium Economy, Star Gold) and about 45 of us gathered to get on the plane.

The economy section is set up in a 3-3-3 configuration. We had booked a window and an aisle on hopes that no one would be assigned a middle in the premium top tier section at the front of the cabin (accessed thanks to Star Alliance Gold status). We were able to get our rollies stored in the overhead without any issues.

Air New Zealand has de-constructed their air fares, allowing for the purchase of a Seat Only, Seat and bag, and “The Works”. We had purchased a “The Works” fare, which was inclusive of food and entertainment. Sharp eyed observers will note that some of the seats have a different head rest marking on them consisting of a silver stripe which differentiates “the Works” customers so staff aren’t required to check boarding cards the whole time.













As we ended up with a seat mate, and an unexpected empty row behind us, we made a quick move as soon as the FA “boarding complete” announcement was made. We ended up in the row occupying the window and aisle seats with an empty middle a la European business class. There was ample leg room for our flight. More on the SkyCouch in a bit. . .

Air New Zealand has entertaining safety videos. This month’s featured Rachel Hunter (Rod Stewart’s ex wife).







Although the flight map features had highlights of the destinations that Air New Zealand visited in pop up bubbles, which I found to be a bit annoying and distracting when you’re trying to enjoy the map.





There were a reasonable selection of movies available, although I didn’t really watch anything memorable.



We had take off from New Zealand; over the water of course.





A lunch service was offered. The choices were a chicken curry with rice or a beef casserole with potatoes dauphinois. I went with the chicken curry and it was good for the portion delivered. It admittedly has been a very long time since I have had an economy meal (I usually eat before flights). The meal was good but didn’t fill me up for long – I was starving when we landed.






Skycouch Review:

The seat happened to have an Economy Sky Couch. These are additional seat recliner parts that fold up horizontal so that you can have an entirely flat surface. We didn’t pay for this feature, but happened to get the opportunity to review it.

The couch is activated by pressing a second button on the armrest. Staff dropped off the couple belt, along with instructions on how to use it – including a Kama Sutra diagram of approved positions.







We tried out the Sky Couch. There are mixed experiences here.

MrsWT73 who happens to be 5ft 3 inches, loved the sky couch. She liked that she could sit cross-legged on the seat and that you could tip over and jut go to sleep. Myself, at 6ft 2 inches, found the couch exceptionally compact and not really a value add. I was too long to sleep sideways on the couch with out bending my legs in a sharp kink to avoid my legs from going into the aisle, and this wouldn’t really have been comfortable for the couch partner. I wasn’t able to slouch in the skycouch, and have my feet up against the couch with my back against the wall because tall bodies don't bend that way.

I ended up just seated in the economy seat (without couch) and MrsWT73 used the couch along with the middle seat. The couch fold up is in two pieces. I frankly found it more comfortable to rest with my head against the fuselage wall than use the couch. To me, this does not look comfortable at all.







My summary and opinion is: if you are choosing between a skycouch and premium economy, premium economy is far better every time. I would likely only choose this configuration if premium economy was completely sold out or double the price of the skycouch.


Towards the end of the flight, we had a cloudy approach into Papeete with some views of Moorea on the left side of the approach.





Eventually touching down to a grey and cloudy Papeete, French Polynesia. We pulled up to a non gate position and were let out into a rainy island of Tahiti Nui. We also re-gained a day having crossed the international date line, and got the opportunity to experience June 12, 2017 all over again









We had a musical arrival and arrived into a very third world airport. The airport appears to be under renovation and is in a terrible mess. There was no air conditioning only a few tired rotating ceiling fans so everything was a hot muggy mess. Surprisingly, the photos represent better than it actually was.

We were divided into two lines – one for international passports and one for EC passports. Surprisingly, there were about 60 + people in the EC Passports line. Where are all these EC passport holders coming from? Did they travel to New Zealand from Europe and add on a trip to French Polynesia? Either way, it was a very slow go despite only our plane in the arrival hall. It took us probably about 35 – 40 minutes just to get stamped in to French Polynesia. The entry would mark country number #63 for me.









We bypassed the almost street pricing duty free on arrival. It was cheaper to have packed wine from New Zealand in the suitcases; which we did. We cleared the baggage hall and went to change some money into francs. We found a taxi outside in the taxi rank to take us over to the Le Meridien Tahiti hotel.

The Air New Zealand flight to French Polynesia is one of the few ways to get to the Islands of Tahiti, with the other carrier being Air Tahiti Nui. I think it’s probably a bit of a toss between the two carriers. We didn’t earn any frequent flier miles on this ticket, despite being over a $500 paid ticket since Air New Zealand doesn’t credit many base fares to Star Alliance under their Air New Zealand Airpoints program.

The largest surprise was with the state of the Papeete International Airport, which was under a massive, but seemly stalled, refurbishment. For a destination that is supposed to be so upscale, the state of the airport didn’t make a great first impression.

worldtraveller73

Le Meridien Tahiti
Panoramic Room – King Bed
Puna'auia, Tahiti Nui
French Polynesia

We had 9 nights in Tahiti by virtue of reward seat availability or the lack thereof. We were hoping for more like a 7 day stay. It’s hardly an ideal situation in a country where some hotels can go for over $2,500 a night at the high end.

We decided to stay at Le Meridien Tahiti for two nights on the way in, as the price point was a bit lower than most of the other properties we were staying at in Tahiti. We ended up saving about $1,000 CAD by working in a few nights here. In addition, our arriving international flight arrived late and we would have arrived after dark to Moorea by the time we had taken another flight or ferry to get over there. Le Meridien Tahiti didn’t have the greatest reviews and having now stayed here, I can’t imagine why you’d travel from overseas to stay here as a primary property.

We took a taxi from the taxi rank at the airport. Our driver was able to get us there within 15 minutes for 2,700 CPF’s. We arrived to the main gate and past the sorry looking fountain that was out of service on our visit. It sort of set the sad tone for the stay overall.













This property had been described in another trip report writer as a Holiday Inn from the 1970’s. I’d have to stay that description is pretty accurate. It has a French Polynesian theme to it with some seventies red. I think it's supposed to be vibrant, but comes off looking quite tired.











I had attempted to apply SPG Suite Night Awards into a Junior Suite category; the only rooms available in this pool. The SNA's failed to clear, despite it only being a 2 night stay. On check in, I asked if there were any Platinum Suite upgrades available? Our host did check with the manager but unfortunately none were available. This wasn’t really a surprise as online availability was pretty much non existent for months prior to travel, but I thought that I would check anyway. According to the FlyerTalk thread on this property, there wasn’t a lot of great past Platinum treatment at this property. I didn't push our requests as the suite was not important for our short stay. We did get a pre-assigned upgrade to a Panoramic Room, which is on a higher floor and has a view of the water.

We guided ourselves up to room 564. The room had been recently upgraded with tasteful colors, but aspects of the room were showing quite a bit of wear and tear. Let me be frank. Over the years, I’ve stayed in about 40 Starwood hotels internationally on 5 continents. This one gets the sad award for easily being in the worst room wear and tear shape of them all. The whole property and starting with our room were in really rough condition. While some areas were patched up, others were really showing markings.











The washroom was otherwise nicely decorated with Malin and Goetz toiletries.







The in room desk appeared to be de-laminating; there were over 25 spots where you could count the scratches on the desk. It looked as though the desk was made of particle board and that the cardboard was showing through. There were some mild stains on the linen and the air conditioner in the room clunked throughout the night.







There was even a gyproc cut out in the bathroom ceiling where they were conducting (or were conducting some work) that appeared to have been patched up. In fairness, in our room the bed linens were in good condition (aside from the stain) the walls were scuff free (except for the wall size picture which was heavily scratched) and everything was in working condition.



The room did feature a nice view as promised (Panoramic Room) that over looked a water feature with lilies towards the ocean. I am personally not one to appreciate water features – I see them more as mosquito breeding grounds. They seem to be really popular in French Polynesia.





This hotel participates in faites un choix ecologique (Make a Green choice).

The visitors to this property appear to be mostly an international group. French couples, families from the United Kingdom, Americans or other business travelers dining and visiting solo.

We had dinner the first night at Le Plantation. We did a little self property orientation on arrival and the place was so deserted at 6 PM we thought it was closed. It was sort of the vibe that the place had... not many people and a bit without personality.

The Plantation is a self service concept where you identify the kind of meat (meat and fish) you want and it is cooked for you with one side and one sauce. It was reasonably priced for resort food – much cheaper and larger portions than our Sheraton Tokoriki experience. Either everyone eats late, or no one eats here at all…



We had the platinum breakfast the next morning. It is a full buffet with an egg station. There are juices but no sparking wine. The breakfast was a standard offering but not all too special. It seemed like many of the staff were just going through the motions and seemed pretty dis-interested with their jobs. This may have been an assumption on my part as it seemed a bit typical of the “French” standard of service.

We spent the next day at the pool. Although towel accounting isn’t unusual, this property has guests complete a form with two parts went a towel is signed out. This is handed to you when you take the towel and theoretically a charge is placed on your room account. We set up by the sandy bottom pool, which was not heated (a good thing). The whole property was mostly deserted.













I left MrsWT73 and went around and took some property photos. The beach here, like the beach in Fiji’s Denarau, is pretty uninspiring. I would not recommend staying here on a long Tahiti holiday as there are much better beaches elsewhere; especially if you have traveled all this way to get here.











The beach was marked with a snorkel trail under the over water villas. The over water villas appeared to be completely closed during our visit. There was a padlock over the access way to the pontoon so I suspect they are in the process of being refurbished. It may have explained why there was no suite upgrades available.







Strangely, there were also lots of chickens and roosters roaming the property. I never got the reason why, but they were cock-a-doo’ing at day break.





The fine dining area is right on the water, as is the evening bar. Returning to MrsWT73, we were set to order lunch on our loungers overlooking the water. I went to the pool restaurant but was informed that they don’t allow eating by the pool, or elsewhere on the grounds outside of the restaurant. We are talking about a difference of about 75 meters here between the pool area and the restaurant. Strangely, they allow lots of smoking in this area since all the French around us were smoking. Unfortunately, it was not very hospitable or accommodating, which we found was the theme of this overall property. I just can’t figure out if it is because it’s French, or the overall attitude of this property.







One good thing about the property is that there is a supermarket within walking distance. It was immediately out of the front doors of the property and up the highway about 5 minutes walk. There was heaps of wine and other food available and we ended up returning once to stock our suitcases before we went onward to Moorea and Bora Bora.





It’s not often you get to a beach resort supermarket that has a wine shelf that’s stocked like this! Champagne was available for about $80 USD- almost reasonable considering the distance that it had traveled to get here.





We did take in a last sunset from the main island Tahiti Nui. The sunsets were better than what we would get at home.







Overall, I wasn’t all to impressed by the Le Meridien Tahiti. The aged condition of the property and the rooms with wear and tear didn’t really impress me. If you added the less than inspiring beach, the casual attitude by the staff and the difficulties in something as simple as having a sandwich by the pool seemed to make matters much more complicated than it needed to be. The fact that we paid about $350 USD for a night here made the value proposition even worse. Ultimately, it serviced the need as a place to stop over on the way to Moorea and was cheaper than the high rates we paid on the outer island. Other than a simple sun tanning spot, or a place to pass through on the day of arrival from an overseas flight, I regretfully have to advise that this place is best avoided.

krazykanuck

Says the +1 on a *A Gold card That said, I agree with you from when I visited that lounge last year. There seems to not be enough lounges to handle the number of people. Personally, I had access to it because I was flying Virgin Australia SYD-LAX in Business Class and Virgin doesn't have a lounge in the international terminal, so all those folks get to use the NZ lounge.

As always a great report. Thanks for the bit on the NZ Skycouch; I've seen it advertised but was never fully clear what the deal was with it.

757

Great next part of your report! I'm sorry to hear about your experience at the Le Meridian. It reminded me of my wife and my experience when we stayed at a rain-forest resort in Panama in the off season a few years ago. We had the place utterly to ourselves, which was nice in some ways, but also a bit lonely as well too.

Looking forward to the next part!