French Polynesia - Tahiti, Moorea and Bora Bora
After eyeing Tahiti for years when United announced they were doing servicing French Polynesia, I decided it was time to see something new post pandemic. With upgrades in hand, it was nice to fly United Polaris. The Polaris Lounge at LAX is quite nice and the food selection for breakfast was very filling. Live and Let’s Fly does a good job reviewing the lounge. For the local flight option, Air Tahiti is the only option to get around. Not to be confused with Air Tahiti Nui, Air Tahiti is the local only plane service for French Polynesia.
Initially, I was thinking of only staying in Tahiti because the Hilton Tahiti newly opened. Of all the Hilton properties in French Polynesia, the Hilton Tahiti was the most reasonably priced from an awards redemption. I opted to book a five night stay to maximize the point redemption. After making the booking, I was able to find two award nights over the first weekend of the trip at the Conrad Bora Bora. And in the middle of our trip, we also decided to book one night at the Hilton Moorea Lagoon. We did so because the Tahiti booking came with a fifth night ‘free’ so not staying in the hotel one night didn’t bother me from a value perspective.
Rental cars are not cheap and I decided after shopping around the island, Avis in downtown for a day was the best option. Note, the Hilton concierge/valet are not able to assist much in car rentals and/or getting to the car rental location. We wasted a few hours in the morning being sent to the wrong car rental company and ended up paying the taxi to get to Avis. If you don’t plan on picking up a car from the airport, you’ll need to figure out how to get to the rental car location either by walking or transport. From my experience, it wasn’t ‘far’ and the streets are safe enough to get to if you don’t mind walking.
Hotels
Conrad Bora Bora - Unfortunately, during this stay, it was overcast and rained for a day which limited ocean activity. Given the weather, we spent the two days lounging and relaxing on the property.
Because I was able to find a basic award redemption, I was not ‘upgraded’ as the upgrades were overwater/beach villas which the property would only do for a fee. Given the short stay and limited eating options, I opted to save myself the expense. If you were never ever going to an island resort and this would be your only overwater villa experience, I would say to do it. Otherwise, all the rooms are essentially the same size and all had individual pools if you were on land. It does appear that the land villas had outdoor showers as I can see the remnants outside the bathtub window. Getting upgraded to overwater in Moorea also alleviated the FOMO feeling.
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| Conrad Bora Bora Pool Deck |
The breakfast buffet is pretty awesome. The chef/pastry chef is French trained. The buffet was a mix of both local Tahitian dishes and French pastries/entrees. One of the best croissants I’ve had was at the Conrad. There is also a crepe and omelette station. The price isn’t cheap and worth to have the breakfast as a perk due to loyalty status or included in the room rate.
The hotel has other restaurants - Japanese, steakhouse, and cafe. I didn’t visit the French restaurant. All are good given that you are a captive audience.
I can’t comment much about the coral due to the weather. There are some patches by the side of the property where the villas jut into the sea. There is a lagoon area between the beach and the inner ring of overwater villas so you can paddle around in a kayak or SUP.
For airport transportation, you can opt for the faster and paid route with the hotel directly OR take the public route to the city and take the complimentary shuttle to the hotel. It depends on if you want to stop in the city with luggage. On a side note, I packed light because the luggage limitations on Air Tahiti was much more stringent than United.
Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort - Now that I visited Bora Bora and spending the week in Tahiti made me realize that the real coral viewings needed to be off island. So I quickly booked a night at the Hilton because the property is supposed to have wonderful corals off the beach and it was a quick 45 minute ferry. Grabbed one of the earlier ferry (there is two companies that runs between Tahiti and Moorea) and went straight to the hotel via taxi arranged by the hotel. The Tahiti terminal has a cafe and I was able to enjoy a brief snack/tea/beer. I would recommend if you’re hungry to eat at the cafe before getting on the ferry. There is a small snack shop on board but the options are better at the cafe. There is a Shell gas station across the ferry terminal and it has a good collection of snacks in the mini-mart.
The hotel couldn’t let us check in or out early or late BUT upgraded me to the beach overwater villa! So I was thrilled that for the one night it was a nice location and made it easy to snorkel to my heart’s content. The villa was attached to the beach but the balcony went into the ocean so the area was shallow and relatively close to the hotel restaurant’s and main pool.
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| Hilton Moorea Overwater Beach Villa |
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| Hilton Moorea King Overwater Beach Villa |
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| Hilton Moorea |
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| Hilton Moorea Overwater Beach Villa Bathroom |
The corals are nice at Moorea and much more accessible if you do not have access to a boat. In that viewpoint, I found Moorea more interesting than Bora Bora. So I spent as much of the day snorkeling. There are a ton of cats and they are super friendly. So if you’re done with looking at sea life, you can pet some cats.
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| Hilton Moorea Beach Corals |
Although the hotel didn’t let us stay in the room late, they did allow us to use an empty room for an hour to freshen up. It isn’t fun to go into the ocean and then travel somewhere else. So in a back handed way, I was able to see where the “base” villas are located and look like which also made me appreciate the upgraded villa even more.
Hilton Tahiti - I had previously read an article about the owners of the Conrad and Hilton in French Polynesia and how they were ‘re-opening’ the Hilton property in Tahiti. The combination of an ‘affordable’ Hilton and United opening routes to Tahiti was a good combination. Post pandemic, many of the Tahitian businesses have suffered as tourism is their only main revenue.
There is an attached mall across the street from the hotel which has a food court, pharmacy, and supermarket. In addition, it is a 20 minute walk to town if you want access to parks, shops, and restaurants. Given that, I can understand why the hotel has one restaurant, one pool bar, and one coffee lobby lounge. I did enjoy the breakfast buffet at the hotel. It’s a great option to start the day with an omelette and crepe/pancake grill. If you didn’t want to eat the buffet, they do have a limited menu or you can have both. If you have status, the free breakfast option is great or opt into the inclusive breakfast room rate. The hot chocolate was soo good.
Because I added Bora Bora to the itinerary after booking my initial weekday booking, I had two different stays with two different room types. On the first stay, I was given an apartment style room (which I would have preferred for the second stay). On the second stay, I was given a regular King room.
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Hilton Tahiti Apartment Bathroom
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| Hilton Tahiti Apartment Bedroom |
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| Hilton Tahiti King Room |
Intercontinental Tahiti - So after spending the week in Tahiti and getting ready to go, I learned that the Intercontinental had a great coral lagoon and access to the beach. I normally don’t stay at Intercontinentals so I was looking for a reasonable rate. Since the Hilton wasn’t allowing late checkouts, I booked a day rate with the Intercontinental. The debate I internally had was if paying the day rate was comparable to booking a boat tour for the day. With the flight out being in the evening and the airport was within 15 minutes of the hotel, it would make it an easy stay. Ultimately, I think it was completely worth it. We headed out first thing in the morning from the Hilton to the Intercontinental and jumped into the coral lagoon and the hotel pool. The hotel pool has a waterfall and it was split with a shallow edge for kids and a deep end for the adults. The coral lagoon was awesome, so much fish and coral. I easily spent hours swimming around. The area where the current is strongest is where the fish and coral are. The lagoon is fed from the ocean so there is a wall with a pipe where fish are pulled into the lagoon and they can exit at the other end of the lagoon. The hotel facility also had a dolphin reserve as well. If you are going to spend $500 per night, I would recommend the Intercontinental in Tahiti.
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| Intercontinental Tahiti Pool and Lagoon |
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| Intercontinental Tahiti Lagoon Corals |
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| Intercontinental Tahiti Lagoon |
The hotel restaurant looks amazing because they had all day buffet but I wasn’t capable of eating so much food for the day.
The room was nice, it is a little dated but I found it spacious and convenient. I was also conveniently located next to the laundry room and was able to clean up swimwear and clothes before leaving for the airport. The laundry was free for guests to use, one can make the argument that it should be complimentary given the room rates.
Activities
Besides going out in the sea, pools, or lagoons on the islands, most of my ‘tourist’ activities was from the day I rented a car to drive around the island.
Heiva Cosmetiques - A friend had asked me to pick up an order for her and I didn’t mind renting a car to get her order and use the rest of the time to tool around the time. The car rental can be about $100 per day and it was nice that the Hilton didn’t charge for parking.
Taharuu Beach - 6GGC+V76, Paparā, French Polynesia is a noted black sand beach on the island of Tahiti. I found it incredibly hot and waters were made for surfing. It isn’t a spot I would say I want to hang out all day especially because the black sand is really black pebbles. Having been on an actual black sand beach, I found the term black sand beaches misleading as most black sand beaches are really black volcanic rock. As it was mid-week, there is no working facilities available so the weekends might be a better time to visit.
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| Taharuu Beach |
Water Gardens Vaipahi - 6JQ5+QR4, Teva I Uta, French Polynesia is a nice stop if you’re driving around the island. It is a large garden area with pond and river streams. There are also some local birds in the gardens that are used to humans. The gift shop also sells the cheapest soda on our stay in French Polynesia.
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| Water Gardens Vaipahi Waterfall |
Arahoho Blowhole - FJG5+6RR, Faaurumai, Hitiaa O Te Ra, French Polynesia is a nice place to stop. We lucked out that someone was pulling out of the very tiny parking lot and was able to get a space for the car. Otherwise, we would have missed being able to walk around this small park area. The area is paved and you can walk around the edges of the coastline and see the blowhole as well as view the ocean. Tahiti seems to have very powerful waves that hit the island constantly.
Phare de la Pointe Venus - GG34+X76, Māhina, French Polynesia appears to be a popular local beach park. Plenty of parking and locals abound. After walking around a bit, the lighthouse was nice to look at and the ocean looked somewhat calm. It was late enough in the day that I wasn’t interested in going to the water and this was the last stop made before returning to the hotel.
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| Pointe Venus |
Happy Market - FC34+5QM, Fa'a'ā, French Polynesia with the rental car still in my possession, I decided to try a local market and see what things cost like compared to the Carrefour. Baguettes are super cheap as is pate. So if you’re a fan of baguettes and pate with or without cheese, you will be happy. I did find it interesting to see a large Vietnamese influence as there were packaged Vietnamese food available in the deli area. Outside of Southern California, I haven’t seen this level of packaging and branding of Vietnamese foods.
Carrefour - located inside the Center Commercial Pacifica Plaza across the street to the Hilton (a walkway connects the hotel to the plaza), it made it easy to grab snacks and sundries for the week while staying at the Hilton. Had they given us the kitchenette style room upon our return from Bora Bora, I would have made more use of the supermarket to cook dinners. Given the high price of food, I didn’t always need to eat out lunch and dinner.
Dining
Conrad Bora Bora - there are a number of eating restaurants within the hotel due to the location and lack of alternatives. The breakfast buffet is hosted in Iriatai. One of the best croissants I have eaten was at this restaurant. The hostess mentioned that all the chefs are trained in France that work at the restaurant. The breakfast options have some mainstay courses and some rotating daily items. Overall, I found the food very enjoyable.
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| Conrad Iriatai Buffet Options |
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| Conrad Iriatai Buffet Dining View |
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| Conrad Bora Bora Tarava Pool Bar |
Tamure Beach Grill was ‘reopening’ from the pandemic and we opted to try the new steakhouse. It ended up being the best deal in the resort as I order the ahi fillet entree. Since fish is so plentiful, I had two large fillets that would cost twice as much in the US. My partner’s steak entrée was good but the price is definitely more expensive than in the US. The desserts were also good.
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| Conrad Bora Bora Tamure Beach Grill Ahi Entrée |
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| Conrad Bora Bora Tamure Grill |
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| Conrad Bora Bora Tamure Grill |
Hilton Moorea - Since we had a one day turnaround, dining was limited to onsite facilities. The breakfast buffet is offered at Arii Vahine. I would say that this buffet was the least favorite on the trip but still a nice one. For dinner, enjoyed savory and sweet crepes at Toatea Bar & Creperie. It is centrally located within the overwater villas bridge network and has lights into the ocean for you to watch the ocean life. I was able to get a show of sharks and manta rays. Note that the guests can be ignorant and the staff doesn’t stop them from throwing human food into the ocean. The crepes were awesome and the flaming dessert crepe was super fun from a presentation point of view. Totally in line with the whole French Polynesian resort vibe.
Hilton Tahiti - Given that we spent the most time in Tahiti, I ate the least inside the hotel. Buffet breakfast is hosted by Moevai. I enjoyed the breakfast options at the restaurant and you can order special breakfast plates for additional charge. I really enjoyed ordering hot chocolate every day.
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| Hilton Tahiti Moevai Buffet |
Te va’a tere - there is a cafe inside the Papeete Terminal Ferry. They operate around the ferry schedules and won’t be open if there are no inbound or outbound ferries. I enjoyed a mouse meringue type of dessert that went well with the latte. You wouldn’t think it was good but it was delicious. Beer and wine also available.
Dreams of Lucie - Walking around downtown Pape’ete, the patisserie caught my attention and I enjoyed a quick dessert and latte while escaping the humidity and heat of the afternoon.
CJ’s Stone Grill - Place Toata, Bd de la Reine Pomare IV, Papeete 98714, French Polynesia after walking around the Pa‘ofa’i Gardens. There is a small row of restaurants at the edge of the garden/park area and the restaurant was the only one opening first when we were there. A word to the wise, the Tahitians do seem to observe a siesta time in the afternoon.
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| CJ's Grill |
Restaurant Le Moana - 98714 Bd de la Reine Pomare IV, Papeete 98714, French Polynesia enjoying a leisurely walk through the Pa’ofa’i Gardens, stopped at this restaurant in the afternoon and enjoyed happy hour. The restaurant has a bar on a pier in front of their garden patio. So if you are looking for a spot to hang out and look at the ocean, this is your spot. It isn’t fast service and I’m not sure if the food is good, I’m sure they are banking on their location to garner dollars.
McDonald’s - How can I not visit my favorite American chain? I had some assumptions that the McDonald’s in Tahiti would be similar to France given its territorial status. I learned that the Tahiti locations have the “croque mcdo” which is their version of a croque monsier. I think the mcdo was good for where we were and the chicken wings were tasty. I was also reminded of the French preference for mayonnaise as a dipping sauce.
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| McDonald's Chicken Wings and Croque McDo |
New Zealand Natural - located inside the Center commercial Pacifica Plaza with the Carrefour, there is a food court area where New Zealand Natural has a location. I was super stoked to order the Hokey Pokey ice cream. The only downside is that this location shuts down by 5 pm so if you want to have an ice cream, you have to be around during the day. So we did opt to stay at the hotel and hang out at the pool which made it possible for me to get some ice cream.
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