Need your expertise on hotels and room selections in Moorea & Bora Bora for my homeymoon in April 2004. The package we are seriously considering includes Moorea Pearl Resort / Garden View room and Hotel Sofitel Marara / Beach Bungalow -- total package for two = $4,800 (no food). Any thoughts?

First of all you don't mention from where you're flying (if your home or from the West Coast, nor the number of days you'll be spending in Tahiti.

The Pearl Resorts are lovely and while lots of people say you should stay in the OTW bungalows, that's a heavy hit in $$$ ($600+/nt), and I don't believe it is necessary. I'm not familiar with the Sofitel property, but if they are anything like others they have worldwide, they receive good reviews.

Assuming you're going on a 10-day trip, then $240/person day/ea. is a good price including Air and Hotel.

Most prices for Tahiti are quoted without meals, and meals are relatively expensive on the islands - the tour operator usually charge between $100-$130/day/person if you want meals included.

I would suggest, however, that you get a price for the buffet breakfast, so you know you can at least get your day started. And you can always grab some fruit or yogurt to take for a snack mid-day. After that, you might not normally eat lunch, other than maybe getting cool drinks; and as for dinner, you might do just as well at the hotel with their a la carte menu and share dishes or go out to a restaurant or another hotel.

I was there in January and stayed at the Moorea Pearl Resort. We had a garden view room which actually did have a view of the ocean (room closest to the main building)! I would recommend this resort. It was quite new, clean, well managed, quiet and friendly. The beach is rather small but then again I don,t think Tahiti is known for great beaches. It is not a large raucous resort but has a subdued air of class and intimicy I think would better on a honeymoon.
I agree with Sandi re prices and food. I think a full breakfast was about $20-25 otherwise there is a small shopping area with some cafes,restaurants and grocery stores within walking distance where we usually got our breakfast/lunch snacks beer etc. The resorts one restaurant is quite good with a weekly seafood buffet and polynesian dance show. Many of the restaurants nearby will provide free transport. Alfredos is a good bet for Italian style and modest prices.

As for Bora Bora I highly recommend that you stay on one of the motus (islets) across the bay from the main island. The reason is that this is where you get the best view of Bora Bora and it is truly breathtaking. They all provide transport from the airport which is on a motu and also run regular free boat shuttles to the mainland. We stayed at Le Meridien which was superb. Again it is fairly new which is important in tropical climates, well managed and in a very advantageous location. The restaurants are very good but again not cheap and there are the usual activities and entertainment associated with a mid size resort. Here too many restaurants will provide free transport. I can personally recommend Bloody Marys for regular fare and Fare Manuhai for more upscale French cuisine. This is where I really recommend you splurge on a premium overwater bungalow even if for only 2 nights - after all you only get one honeymoon. They have a glass floor panel under the coffee table so you can watch the fish - we saw many types, and you can swim off your own private deck. They also have beach bungalows and regular overwater bungalows with decent views, not quite as good as the premium ones, you get what you pay for.
I cannot comment on the Sofitel but I did a fair amount of research in advance and believe the Bora Bora Pearl resort would also be a good bet.
Try to locate some reviews by Lord Balfor in the epinions web site and I think in this forum as well. He is a good source of info on Pacific islands and resorts.
As for prices what does $4800 include? You also will need interisland airfare which may be cheaper with an airpass. Most flights from the west coast arrive about 2:00 AM so you may want to consider a hotel in Papeete for 1 night rather than waiting for the first flight to Moorea/Bora Bora. Go to Moorea first and leave the best to last!

Do rent a car for a day or half day on each island - it is an excellent and fairly cheap way to see the islands. Only takes 1-2 hours to drive around them.
Bon Voyage. Chris.

Supplementary.
Here is the website for Lord Balfors review on Bora Bora. It makes for good and informative reading.
http://www.epinions.com/trvl-review-...39BC6BED-prod2

Chris.

Christo thinks the same way I do - "save the best for last"

If the $4,800 already includes all your transfers - from PPT to Moorea and Bora Bora and return and even a hotel upon arrival (as Christo reminded me of) - then you have a pretty good deal there.
Also realize that when you return from your last island, you usually have quite a number of hours till the plane departs - I believe around midnight - you can check your bags and go for a relaxing dinner.

And as Christo suggests, try to stay at the Pearl Resort on both islands - often you can get a deal if you use the same resort throughout your trip (but no guarantee, just a maybe, but ask).

Christo - Thanks for the kind words and vote of confidence.

ChelJosh - For a week-long trip (I assume that's what you are going on), that's quite a good price (in my opinion), though as Chris says, it somewhat depends on what is included in regards to inter-island airfares. In general, I'd say that both Chris and Sandi are right on in regards to their observations.

Regarding my series of reviews on Epinions: Hopefully they can be of some help. I've tried to be fair and accurate but keep in mind that it has been 3 years since I was there, and some things have changed (including the building of some new resorts on Moorea and Bora Bora). Still, I think there are of considerable use (otherwise I would have deleted them).

Overall I suspect that the package you mention would work out fine. Like Christo, I'm somewhat partial to the Pearl Beach Resort, but overall, I don't think there are any really bad choices. The islands and (especially) their lagoons are the real stars - not the resorts.

Ken

PS: Overall, the best source of information on the web (regarding French Polynesia) is:

http://www.tahiti-explorer.com

It has a very active message board. The only real drawbacks are that, since it is run by a travel company, they restrict what you can post (nothing will re-direct business elsewhere). The posters can sometimes be rather nasty as well (the main reason I don't visit it much anymore). Still, it IS a good source of info.

Thank you very much for the helpful information. Here is more clarification on the package we're looking at:

The $4800 package includes:

-Airfare from Los Angeles
-All inter-island transportation
-4 nights at Moorea Pearl Resort (Garden View room)
-3 nights at Hotel Sofitel Marara in Bora Bora (Beach bungalow; not OTW)
-All taxes and insurance included

A couple more questions . . .
1) How is the service on the islands? We've heard that the service isn't the greatest in the South Pacific. Is this true? Since we're on our honeymoon we'd like to be catered to a little bit.

2) How expensive are alcoholic beverages?

There is no indication of a hotel room upon arrival in PPT at 2AM so you have to wait somewhere till you head out to Moorea about 6am-7am.

I understand you can get to Moorea by plane or ferry. If you want to save some money and get a hotel room upon arrival, if only to shower - ask your tour operator for a hotel room (it might still cost $100) and have them book you on the ferry to Moorea. Sure it takes a little longer, but might be a nice way to approach the islands.

Price of alchohol - a beer can cost $10 or more. A bottle of Vodka about $40. Unless other posters have suggestions where you can find these for less.

Remember - an island almost always has everything shipped in - costly! Rarely do these islands have any industry to make up for income, so the tourists and even residents pay.

1) Yes, service is not the strong point of the South Pacific. The life-style down there is slooooooow and so (often times anyway) is the service. Visitors need to change their mindsets when they are down there, or they may be unhappy with the service. French Polynesia is full of honeymooners, each of them wanting to feel special. I suspect most of them end up feeling that way to a certain extent - but due to the amazing beauty of the place itself, not the level of service.

2) Agree with Sandi in regards to the alcohol prices.

Just as a point of reference, I got back in August and spent 8 nights at Sheraton Moorea/Sofitel Motu, stayed in OWB for $6600 incl air from LAX. If it's your honeymoon, I'd say spend some time in an overwater bungalow. I don't think you'll regret spending the extra money. Having been there, I would never stay in anything other than OWB, maybe the treetops at the Sofitel looked interesting, but that's just my preference.

As for the service, it is very much like most of Europe if you've ever been there. We found several couples there who should not have gone to FP but rather Hawaii. They did not enjoy themselves and turned into "ugly Americans" over food, service and prices. If you want to be pampered on your honeymoon, go elsewhere. I am American but can speak French when I'm there so it was a bit easier for me and the French treat me a little better. You will have no trouble with the Tahitians, they preferred to speak English with me even when I started in French where as the French would speak French. Moorea was very Polynesian, Bora Bora was very French.

Had a periodic email today from Frommer's, they mention a $999/person Bora Bora package (air + hotel) out of LAX, staying in hotel Maitai. Just FYI, don't know anything about the place I'd love to go one day tho'.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/961988.asp

http://www.hotelmaitai.com/bora/us/index.htm

Here's my $.02 for what it's worth.

My wife and I just got back from 2 days in Tahiti and 5 days in Moorea at the hotel Intercontinental Beachcomber for our honeymoon. We could not have picked a more beautiful corner of the earth to spend our first few days as husband and wife together.

The service and staff at the Hotel Intercontinental Beachcomber in Moorea and Tahiti treated us very well for our entire stay. We even had a outrigger canoe bring us breakfast (free of charge for honeymooners) during our stay in Moorea. The properties were very well maintained and the activites desk was always busy with things to do.

As far as the food/beverage prices go, be prepared for some sticker shock when pricing meals. We opted to go w/o a meal plan for our stay. A breakfast buffett at the hotel will set you back $20-30 a person. Our typical lunch of pizzas, burgers, sandwiches (I know, I know) ran about $35. Dinner set us back about $70-80 away from the hotel, most of which will pick you up if you call them or ask the hotel concierge. The seafood buffett/show at the hotel ran us about $75 a person NOT including drinks.
Typical beer/cocktails will run $8-15. Tipping is not required unless someone goes out of their way to do something for you.

Hope this helps, and have a great time!

-Rick