Review: St. Regis Bora Bora Overwater Superior Villa

Great review Ben. Wish I could be a fly on the wall when Marriott management meets to discuss it.

I was there in June of 2017 and didn’t find the rooms to be that bad.

Lucky, did you find the mosquitos to be endemic when you were staying at the reef villa? We split our time between a 2 bedroom owb with pool and a beachside villa and honestly there were so many mosquitos at the beachside accommodation we couldn’t even go outside. I’m going to the Maldives in June and I’m purposefully booking end of pontoon for the entire trip because the mosquitos ruined the bora bora trip and we were there during their winter.

thanks for the review and info. On my last Bora Bora trip, I was torn choosing between the Four Seasons and St. Regis. I went with Four Seasons and loved it. I thought on my next trip I'd stay at the St. Regis. But, now I won't. Thanks for the heads up.

@ Christy -- Interesting, can't say I had any mosquito issues, and I'm usually sensitive to that.

If I paid $1000/night for that, I would be pissed.

Great review. This is the reason why I put a fair amount of value on new or recently renovated hotels. It's frustrating when you get a luxury hotel charging luxury rates but clearly resting on its laurels.

If I had paid $200 a night for an off season Florida gulf coast hotel and the furniture was in that kind of shape, I'd be annoyed. For $1000 a night? Absolutely not.

It's especially bad, because as you noted, they shut down a good number of the overwater villas in low season. One would think it would be even easier for them to perform basic upkeep and maintenance than at a typical hotel.

Def does not look like a St. Regis. Very disappointing indeed.

Yep just your typical refrigerated Doritos.

I’m curious whether this place is at risk of losing its St. Regis brand affiliation.....? The parent company must know that an inferior experience at such a prominent you-only-live-once destination is really damaging to the broader reputation. I associate St. Regis with first class properties, same as Four Seasons (By contrast I associate Ritz-Carlton and Waldorf Astoria with overpriced hit or miss). If I paid this much with such high hopes for that experience I’d be unlikely to ever visit a new St Regis again, though I might go back to one I knew to be good.

I went in June 2017 and had a similar issue about finding the place a bit run down. The views make up for it, but wish the place had better up keep and better food (other than Lagoon).

I don't recall the mosquitoes being an issue but I recall the numerous geckos that were able to get into our villa.

As you mentioned so much of those issues are an easy fix. New stain or paint can go a long way. Even the floors could look better without being sanded and refinished. Old English (and similar products) go a long way when applied to the scratches. I am fine staying in more budget friendly hotels, as long as I know what I'm getting. There is no excuse for this, except greed.

We just stayed in a "historic" hotel in a nearby resort type town. It is not just off season, it is dead season but the price was still 3 to 4 times what other hotels were going for. It was so sad to see the suite in the (the once) somewhat grand hotel looking just like a run down old room. No historic charm, just run down tired old rooms.

Just spent 10 nights in an owb at the end of the string, mountain view, deep enough to dive in off the deck. I travel 200 days a year for business and i know hotels. We chose 4 seasons because if their standards of quality and service at every property of theirs I've ever stayed at and the only word to describe 4S bora bora is perfection. Incredible... we will go back and we will not even consider another resort. I rarely get time to relax, why gamble ?

Refrigerated Doritos are the only way to eat Doritos. If you're not eating them refrigerated you're eating them wrong.

Just kidding but wow would I be disappointed if I was staying here.

A trailer park for rich people

Yikes, I would be pissed if I paid so much money to stay in rooms that look like they were pulled from Myrtle Beach

The table is the worst part. Truly incredible. I planned my honeymoon around staying here in May (and also the Hilton Moorea for four nights). We are in a beach bungalow. Hopefully its not as horrible as this-- maybe it is one of the renovated rooms. Huge disappointment.

Did some one get murdered in the bed? What is with this stains on the headboard? Looks like more of an old Westin than a St Regis. Obv management there is cluesless based on their response to you and how the property looks.

Just wanted to say that i really appreciate this post and these series as well. I’m planning a very similar trip with my fiancé right now for our upcoming honeymoon. I currently have a stay reserved at the St. Regis (on points + cash) at one of the lesser OWBs. Now I’m debating if we should go back to looking at the Le Meridien or just pay cash for a different resort. Thanks!

Wow.

You compare the SR BOB to a Motel 6, but I think that's a bit generous, as I'm rather certain you would not find such a hideously decrepit table in a Motel 6.

And the dilapidated floors? And don't get me started on the the headboard. No way I'm putting my head near that at $100/nite, let alone $1,000.

The fact that SR BOB and SR MLE (which was gorgeous) share the same name is an embarrassment to the brand.

Also, if that room was available for an upgrade with cash, why were you not entitled to a free upgrade with your platinum status?

I once stayed in a local hotel similar to Courtyard/Four Points with this kind of furniture for $50 in China and I wrote an angry review.

what's different from the review in Dec - seems the same?

@ applesa -- In December I shared my initial thoughts, this is my full review. 🙂

@ Erika -- Upgrades are only to "standard suites," and this isn't categorized as such, unfortunately.

@ Lucky, really? THis is the website language:

ii. Complimentary Enhanced Room Upgrade for Platinum Elite Members. Platinum Elite Members and above receive a complimentary upgrade to the best available room subject to availability for the entire length of stay at the time of check-in. Complimentary upgrade includes suites, rooms with desirable views, rooms on high floors, corner rooms, rooms with special amenities or rooms on Executive Floors. At The Ritz-Carlton, suites are only included for Titanium Elite and Ambassador Elite Members and rooms with direct Club access are excluded. Enhanced Room Upgrades are subject to availability and are identified by each Participating Property. The Complimentary Enhanced Room Upgrade for Platinum Elite Members and above is available at all Participating Brands except at Marriott Vacation Club, Marriott Grand Residence Club, Aloft, Element and participating Vistana properties.

I suppose the room wasn't available for your entire stay?

Very curious, how did the hotel's website photos compare to the in-person quality? Or how did it compare to reviews/visitor photos on a site like TA?

As in, were your expectations a little low already or were you completely caught by surprise by the condition of the hotel?

Thanks for the honest review!
These days, it's hard to get honest reviews from people staying at these high end hotels specially the OWBs. They seem to gloss over the bad stuff since they spent so much $$/points/time/energy/planning to go there...

That screen behind the bed....ewwwww!!!

Lucky - My question is more in regards to St. Regis Maldives. Would you say that there's a big difference in beach facing OWB vs ocean facing OWB? Have a stay coming up and wondering if it's worth pushing for an ocean facing bungalow for additional privacy.

Thanks!

Feels like deja vu, i swear ive seen these pictures and comments before...

Park Hyatt Tokyo is the perfect example of a hotel that is 'past its prime' but is extremely well maintained and borders on nostalgic. It's possible and if a hotel chooses not to renovate, maintenance should be a given at this price point.

Thanks for the review, Lucky! This is actually great timing for me, my wife and I have two nights free in Tahiti and are debating what to do. I did get a rewards booking here for an overwater deluxe lagoon view (requiring about $400 per night copay), but I had already been debating going to Moorea instead. Now that Hilton is having a promotion, I can just book into an overwater room for about $600 with them which is cheaper than the copay and flights to Bora Bora let alone the 120K Marriott points. I didn't see anything when I searched, but you haven't happened to stay on Moorea as well have you?

@ Marsh I bet someone a few years back murdered their girlfriend on the bed after an argument.

I booked the reefside pool villa with points and paid to upgrade to a superior overwater bungalow. When I checked on the app, it's now showing deluxe overwater bungalow so I guess I got a free upgrade to the next category room as a Platinum member. Free upgrade is possible 😉

I will be also staying two nights at the Le Meridien before the SR BB so will report back on the condition of Le Meridien. On a positive note, the boat transfer from Le Meridien to SR BB is free and confirmed with both hotels that I will only need to pay half of the airport transfer fee for each hotel since we are taking one-ways.

I’m not feeling the holiday of a lifetime vibe

Wow. Let's damage our oceans with some overwater villas which we don't even bother to keep up!

You save my $. Got points and cash reservation on this hotel and now I'm having second thoughts. The bigger issue is to ruin our 20th wedding anniversary! I might just cancel my reservation

I’m here right now in Deluxe OWB. I read this review after it was too late to cancel my reservation so we came anyway. So glad we did!!!! This place is AMAZING! Cannot grasp how our experience was so different from OP. Food is excellent. Room 10/10 in maintenance, size, and comfort. Service is warm and friendly. The site is extremely well maintained. Golf carts all look fine. Bikes work well. Layout of the place is very cool. Employees friendly, here only 4 days they all learned my name, and I have gotten to know many of them.

So this Is a public service announcement: the place is fantastic. Don’t worry. It will be just fine.

Oh my gosh I am coming over next month for our Honeymoon and after reading the bad reviews I am shocked. I have heard amazing reports so not sure. Maybe you were just unlucky. SGD are you sure it will be ok? It seems like a 5 star ? I can't imagine it to be really bad

Hi,
Wow! Thank you so much for this blog... as I am about to book St. Regis

BS review. We’re here now (Nov 2021) and place is phenomenal…sure you can nitpick but your review seems very bougie.