Redeem IHG Rewards Club Points For Bora Bora Overwater Villas

By: Ben Schlappig

Published: January 9, 2014

26 comments

Just as Emirates A380 First Class or Singapore Airlines A380 Suites Class might be the most aspirational airline award redemptions, using points for an overwater villas seems to be one of the most aspirational hotel award redemptions.

The two most “popular” destinations with overwater villas are the Maldives and Tahiti/Bora Bora. Unfortunately the catch is that most of the resorts at these destinations don’t let you redeem points directly for an overwater bungalow. They usually have a suite on the premises of the property that they let you redeem points for, and then you can pay cash to upgrade to an overwater bungalow if you want. The cost of that can add up quickly, especially when you consider that most of these resorts are remote and require expensive (~$500 per person roundtrip) transport from the airport to the hotel.

Anyway, per this FlyerTalk thread, the InterContinental Thalasso Bora Bora seems to have recently started allowing award redemptions directly into overwater villas.

Overwater-Bungalow-2

When you do an award night search you should see availability for an Emerald Overwater Villa.

Overwater-Bungalow-1

For the dates I searched, the room would have gone for 104,625 XPF plus tax, which is ~$1,400 per night all-in.

Overwater-Bungalow-3

The description of the Emerald Overwater Villa is as follows:

Overwater villa facing the island with beach view 100sqm spacious shaded terrace and big pontoon with sun lounges for sunbathing direct lagoon access freshwater outdoor shower 2 flat screen tvs sep living area internet access max 4 or 3 adults and 2 children at a charge up to 15yrs old

I don’t have any reason to believe this is a mistake, though at the same time I’m guessing availability will book up pretty quickly. IHG Rewards Club points can be purchased in a roundabout way for 0.7 cents each, so this is an opportunity to book an overwater villa in Bora Bora for $350 per night, which is a hell of a deal.

InterContinental-Thalasso-Bora-Bora

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joeyflower Guest

June 22, 2016, 12:17 am

hi i know this is an old post do you know when exactly these nights become available. i have been tracking availability with no luck. do you know what time they open up? pacific mountain time etc.? thanks any booking info will help

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Rozalia Guest

June 9, 2014, 7:20 pm

Thank you Lucky! One more question if you don't mind: I haven't yet booked the flight from PPT to BOB. Should I so much in advance? We land in PPT at 5:05AM. Would I have enough time to catch the 7:30 AM flight out to BOB? I understand that the left side of the plane is a must and that one needs to stay in line early to get a seat on the "good" side. Any suggestions?

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Rozalia Guest

June 8, 2014, 5:55 pm

Hi, I was wondering if one can buy a meal plan ath Thalasso when arriving there or in advance if overwater bungalow was reserved with points only. Also, if I buy the Ambasador loyalty program, would that help any? Going there with my graduating daughter in March 2015. Thank you.

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Andrew Guest

May 12, 2014, 11:25 am

Sorry, know this thread is a bit old now. I was looking into possibly going here sometime next year (toward the end of the busy season, Oct/Nov). The award space for that time range isn't available but looking at their calendar it seems there is no rooms available for the entire 351 days. I'm wondering about the state of award space at the hotel. Is it possible that with this change they're also reducing award space? Or is it more likely that people are grabbing them the instant they become available? Not sure if I should bother getting the points needed to book a room if it ends up that it's become near impossible to book.

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Katie Guest

May 5, 2014, 4:57 pm

My husband are planning a trip to Bora Bora and Moorea in Oct 2015. We were just planning on using our Amex blue sky (we each for our own with a $400 sign up bonus- statement credit so we don't have to stay anywhere in particular, etc. plus the rest of what we accumulate until we book) anyway, I just saw your blog about the ihg rewards card and the free night after your first year as a card member and every year after. I'm thinking we may need this card, too! Credit score is over 800 for both of us, so assume we can get it no problem. But, if we get it now, and our free nights won't be available to use until may, 2015, is that cutting it too close to book an ow bungalow in bora bora at the IC? If booking opens up 351 days prior, well, we won't have our free night by then. Or, can we just use the 60,000 or 80,000 sign up bonus and get a free night that way? It looks like we'd have those points within a few months. I hope this makes sense. But it would be great to get as much as possible out of our trip by using rewards. Thank you in advance.

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