S.O.S. - &gt; Me and my girlfriend booked a trip to go to Australia-&gt;Tahiti and then to Bora Bora through a travel agent. We are suppose to leave in a week. We have paid, have a receipt and our itinerary. We do not however have our tickets yet. We were suppose to have them last week! The travel agent is now telling us that due to political unrest in the Fiji Islands a lot of people are going to Bora Bora as an alternative vacation. They are saying that the Hotel that they told us we were booked at (LE Maitai overwater bungalow)has no room for us. <BR>1.Is there really political unrest in the Fiji Islands 2. Can they do this to us? <BR>3.Any suggestions <BR>Thank you for any help you can give us. <BR>

Way, <BR> <BR>Unfortunately there is considerable unrest in the Fiji islands at present and there are traveller advisory warnings in force for Fiji. There is also extensive civil unrest in the Solomon Islands. <BR> <BR>Local Fijian's overran a resort last week forcing the evacuation of the guests. They did this in the name of native title to the land where the resort is. This is on top of the Political unrest in Fiji. <BR> <BR>I am sorry for your misfortune, I hope you have good travel insurance. <BR> <BR>

Way: Yes, it is true that there is political unrest in Fiji -- but that is irrelevant, since your reservation was not for Fiji! If you had a reservation on Bora Bora and paid for your vacation, your hotel has an obligation to make you whole. After all, the coup was not on Bora Bora, it was in Fiji! There is no excuse for the hotel in Bora Bora to dishonor your reservation. What is the hotel offering you? If they are reputable they should offer you either a full refund or get you an equivalent (or better) room elsewhere on Bora Bora. Your travel agent should be pursuing this on your behalf, regardless of whether you have travel insurance or not.

The hotel is not offering anything except money back. The travel agent is working on getting us into the hotel Bora Bora but is asking that we pay the difference in price. I let them know this is unexceptable because we were given a price already. In addition to this they said that we will have to spend one more day in Tahiti and one less day in Bora Bora. ALSO we also wouldnt be getting an overwater bungalow like we we had at the previous hotel! This was something we were really looking forward to. At this point we are still waiting to see if they can get the hotel room at the Bora Bora. All is falling apart!

This does seem very unfair. But, I understand that all you want is an unforgettable Tahitian vacation. Has your travel agent tried some of the other hotels in Bora Bora? HBB is certainly the premier one (I'm not familiar with the one you were booked into - but based on the fact that someone is changing your reservations, I probably wouldn't want to stay there anyway) but Le Meridien and the Pearl resort (can't remember the exact name) are also very nice. I personally stayed at Le Meridien and the OWB were wonderful. Good luck!!!!

I know it is hard to look on the bright side - We went to Bora Bora in May, When we arrived at the Airport in Denver - United Airlines had cancelled - ALL - Flights to LA!! What a mess. But we did finally make it (on FRONTIER - GREAT AIRLINE!) <BR> <BR>Le Maitai is undergoing Extensive Renovation right now - and frankly, it really didn't look like that nice of a place to stay at. I heard their service was poor from a number of guests staying there - plus they had to deal with the dust, torn up grounds and noise of the construction. <BR> <BR>Are there any other hotels available? We stayed at the Sofitel Motu and it was fabulous!! The Marara was also very nice and it might be closer to the Maitai's cost. Even the budget accomodations like the Bora Bora motel looked better than the Maitai. <BR> <BR>It may cost more but as long as you still get to go (something we also were almost not able to do) and you will be staying in a much nicer hotel. <BR> <BR>Good Luck! <BR>

Thank you all for your response. The agent has gotten us a room at Hotel Bora Bora and has agreed to pay the difference in price. All in all everything is fine now. Again thank you all very much!!!!!!!!

Did you get an overwater at Hotel Bora Bora with the difference paid??!! That's more than double what you'd have been paying at Maitai! Who's your travel agent?! Believe me, even a garden bungalow at HBB is better than an OW bungalow at Maitai. You got dealt a favor whether you know it or not.

You are understandably frustrated and upset. But I will bet that once you are on Bora Bora you will find all your concerns melting into unimportance. We just returned from there. And we would have to say that it is heaven on earth just about any place you wish to stay. Yes, there are individual differences, from one resort to another. But the entire experience will be unforgettable. We would counsel you to avoid the local clip joint, Bloody Mary's. There are so many other places to see and enjoy.