planning a honeymoon for next august and am interested in an o/w or beachfront bungalow. my research to date tells me hotel bora bora or bora bora lagoon are the top spots to stay but that service can be shakey. we generally like the smaller places,and those without kids or jetskis, as both can dampen the enjoyment of a leisurely day on the beach.<BR><BR>any advice on the above (or other spots) is much appreciative.<BR><BR>thanks.

Jackson...Le Meridien is the best. You must consider it. It has the best location with the most beautiful views! Let me know if you have questions! Try the forum tahiti-explorer.com, it is great for french polynesia!

To us location is the most important consideration. For our tastes the Bora Bora Hotel is the winner by a long shot. We want to be on the main island at that exact location and we have looked at and stayed once at other locations. We only ate dinner at the hotel once. When last there it was the drift snorkel with the current that was the winner, the view of the mountain in back and the walk along the lagoon to go to dinner at night. I don't know if our favorite place is still in business. Then we would come back and swim with the young manta rays under the light at the end of one of the hotel docks. I can still remember the reflection of the stars in the lagoon at night as we were returning from dinner. The local people are easy going, do not speak your language and service is something that is often slow. They don't understand or care much for the high powered culture of the developed world.

In my opinion, the Sofitel Motu is perfect for a honeymoon. It only has 30 bungalows and it is on its own motu that faces Bora Bora. We could have stayed in our room and never left. We have pictures on our website (the picture on the first page is from our deck at the Motu). If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me through the website.<BR><BR>www.tahiti.wunschl.com

I'm also booking the Sofitel Motu for my honeymoon. Other hotels you could consider are the Beachcomber (Intercontinental) or the Pearl Beach. I've heard great reviews of all 3...

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Stayed at Hotel Bora Bora in July 2001 for our honeymoon. It was extremely quite and I don't remember seeing any kids. The service was actually very good and the food at the main restaurant was very good as well. We stayed at one of the pool villas on land - the overwater bungalows were unavailable. The villa turned out to be great and a nice change of pace since we had just been in an overwater bungalow in Moorea. THe overwater bungalows at Hotel Bora bora didn't seem that nice from the outside to me -were in alot of shade, alot closer to the shore than some of those in Moorea and other parts of Bora Bora. Hotel Bora Bora was great, but if you must have an overwater bungalow I would try somewhere else in Bora Bora.

We stayed at Hotel Bora Bora twice, both in July. I didn't see any jetskis, but some kids, mostly Italian and Japanese, but not in large number to make any difference. The way you view your service depends on your basis of a good service. If you are looking for large US city highend hotel services, you will not find it there. Goto Hawaii for this. In FP, the service is French with Polynesian twist. They will leave you alone until you ask, and then you get what you asked in "due" time. We did not care, we did not go there to be treated like being in a big US city.

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My wife and I just stayed at Bora Bora Pearl Beach in September in an overwater bungalow (lucked out and had the one farthest out into the lagoon) and would recommend it to anyone. The service was good enough (no complaints), the quiet and privacy was better than expected (no jetskis in sight) and our view of the main island could not have been better. We'll likely stay there again on our next visit.

Jackson,<BR>Please, please, please stay at the Hotel Bora Bora for your honeymoon. We did and never regretted it for a moment. The hotel is owned by the Aman group, a group of hotels more exclusive than the Four Seasons. They will treat you very well. Check out the last few years of the Conde Naste Traveler Gold List. They are always the top rated property in Bora Bora.<BR><BR>The snorkelling right off of the resort is the best my husband and I have ever experienced (and we've been to the great barrier reef). The Hotel Bora Bora is very quiet and the most private and upscale of all of your options. <BR><BR>I know you are interested in an overwater bungalow...I was too, at first. Then I started thinking about it - the fact that there is no air conditioning so everyone has their windows open and the fact that (whichever hotel you choose) the overwater units are stacked up like a trailer park. I wondered if I was going to hear the other honeymooners doing what honeymooners do. We opted for a bungalow on the beach that was only 3 steps from the water. The bungalow is slightly larger (sitting room) and you get a lovely hammock and a small outrigger all to yourselves. When you wake up in the morning, you look out from your bed and there's the lagoon - just as if you were in an overwater bungalow. But you can walk the beach and experience the lush vegetation all around your bungalow. These accomodations are infinitely more private. We would hear the occasional coconut fall on our roof and it was so magical. Also, the snorkelling off of your private beach is just as good as those from the overwater units.<BR><BR>The only thing I would caution is to NOT swim with the manta rays at night. We were very tempted...but when you hang around for a while, you realize the dock at night is a feeding frenzy. The lights on the dock attract plankton, which attract little guys, which attract big guys and pretty soon, there are sharks all over the place breaching out of the water for the kill and the water is VERY VERY dark. I recommend you keep your late night swimming to the quiet beach outside your bungalow!<BR><BR>Best wishes.