Welcome to my last installment about our four night stay at the St. Regis Bora Bora. In previous installments I covered the three night stay in our nice Reefside Garden Villa, and our one night stay in a disappointing Overwater Superior Villa. Now let's talk about the rest of the resort. To get to the…
Continue reading: Review: St. Regis Bora Bora Resort
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I just ate there, traveling by boat from the IC Thallasso.
The food at Lagoon was disappointing , but not bad. The boat t for the transfer had motor exhaust coming into the cabin, made me queasy it was so much. I complained, they refunded the $60 transfer fee.
I thought the view at the Thallasso was amazing and similar to the one at that the St Regis. What made you think the StRegis was better?
Or, be a contrarian, and save oodles. Book an Air BnB, get around on bikes, book tours like Lagoon Services ($100 for 4 hr killer snorkel tour) and grab food at the markets. Yeah, it's not going to be an "over the water" bungalow experience, but it really rocks. I'm on Bora Bora now and can vouch that BB can be done on the cheap.
How would you contrast this with St Regis Mauritius?
The pictures of Bora Bora seem to show nicer beaches but I dont think SRMauritius was anywhere near as rundown as Bora Bora looks.
Have you guys stayed at the LM Bora Bora or the Four Seasons? Curious how they compare. Thanks for this review. Will definitely avoid!
What is your overall impression of Tahiti? The reason I ask is that it feels like there is much more hype and thus investments in places like Bali and Maldives and in my view Tahiti, Seychelles and Fiji are kind of left behind in terms of new hotels or improvements into existing ones. Am I wrong?
You have really cured me of any particular itch to want to go to Bora Bora...the name conjures up exotic images. Your review, and pictures, conjures up pedestrian tourist trap.
I've never seen such a critical review of a St. Regis property before the Bora Bora property. Now that Lucky has posted all three parts of the review I would love to give my opinion.
For some people, lunch is the biggest meal of the day. I would be outraged if I could not enjoy more than 1 restaurant for lunch on a stay. How can a St. Regis not cook a delicious room service burger? The adult-only pool looked pretty nice. That first pool did not look five star at all. The poor maintenance is just sad. How can villas have scratched hardwood floors that would drive me. I really don't care about what the golf carts look like. However, I want my villa to be in good shape.
I can't wait to see what to read your review of the Conrad! Will cross off this property off my list (not like I'll ever have enough points to go to Bora Bora)
The prices!!!!
Good lord, I don't know what I find more sad. The fact people charge such prices or the fact there are suckers who will pay them.
I visited StR Bora Bora in 2016 and found it to be immaculate. The maintenance was not an issue (although the bikes bad) and the food was delicious (once you got over sticker shock). I was impressed. It has obviously gone seriously downhill. It is going down the path of the StR Kauai which I thought was a trainwreck last year.
Just came back, awsome place specially if you use 48,000 points. You seem to be just neat picking on little things that most people don't even notice nor care. Its bargain deal at one of the most expensive properties. I had nothing to complain about whatsoever. Definitely a steal with the points.
I went to the Le Meridian Bora Bora a few years ago and it was REALLY great. The St. Regis was more expensive and almost upgraded to this property but glad I didn't. My Premium Overwater Bungalow was really great and super modern. Looked much nicer than the photos you posted. I don't know how it is these days but when I go back I'll book the Le Meridian again based on your review.
@Lucky, I really enjoy reading your reviews and find your style to be easy to read at that. Just wondering if you ever venture in to w/e area you are staying and try local restaurants? It seems it is always just a review of what the resort you are staying at provides.
Do you have to pay tax and service charge on top of the prices listed on the menu? If the prices are all inclusive and you don't have to tip in addition to it, then it makes it a little better. Still high no matter what.
St Regis Mauritius is extraordinary. Spent there 10 days and got upgraded to the presidential suite. It was very very good.
Same here. I will not go there even though I was close to booking. And those prices are criminal.
Four seasons next door has exact same view but property is in much better shape. With that said, it’s not cheap and I rather go to the Brando when all said and done.
My best meals were taking the boat/shuttle to town and they had a really great restaurant there. I'll have to look for the name but it was really incredible. None of the meals at the hotel were anything special. Very expensive but I wouldn't agree with those that say it was "touristy". When I stayed at the Le Meridian we had the furthest overwater bungalow facing the mountains and it was really quiet and peaceful. There weren't too many people there and it really had a peaceful feel to it.
One of the most beautiful and special places we went. We did a lot of activities including snorkeling that was just incredible. I'd highly recommend a trip to Bora Bora.
Lucky! How did you get from SR bora bora to the Conrad? We’ll be there this summer and also split stays between the two.
From start to near the end (before you gave your overall) I thought the same...the whole place looks dated and boring. I would not be happy to have flown there and paid those rates: points or rev. So many amazing hotels in the world and that does not look even close to a destination resort with a supposed luxury tag. I feel bad for honeymooners who head there expecting the best experience of their life and getting just, meh.
This is my problem with St. Regis and why I never trust their properties: inconsistent and uninspired. The owners should sell. New owners should invest millions and rebrand as a Mandarin or whatever. It's a great spot. It just needs inspired and caring owners.
Is there a way to get to St Regis Bora Bora without paying that crazy transfer fee?
The lack of lunch options are easily understandable - I imagine many guests, and even beyond Chinese guests - will eat a late brunch, and only have dinner to save cost.
@Dylan Come to St. Regis Chengdu, they’ll let you know what a truly VILE burger is. (Still a very lovely and cheap property, do come and stay though.)
I have read your reviews over the past week or so and am in complete disagreement with the review. My wife and I spent the last week of January 2019 at the St. Regis Bora Bora (7 night stay). Our villa was amazing, not a single thing wrong and all in great condition. We’re recently retired but when I was working I spent well over a hundred nights a year in travel status across the globe over a 30+ year time period. Primarily in Hilton or Marriott associated properties, thus I feel we have a good sense of what to expect with a high end property. Yes, this is not a cheap place to stay but you absolutely get value for that expense. Yes, many of the staff are local. We took the time to ask them about themselves, their lives and experiences being in Bora Bora, etc.; we found them to be excellent, caring, and attentive. Food was expensive but very good. We loved the Lagoon, Italian, and Asian restaurants. I could go on and on but feel the picture you’ve painted is biased and not representative of our experience. I highly, highly recommend this establishment based on our experience that is barely a month ago. We can’t wait to return.
Since HNA group was mentioned as a reason SR is poorly maintained, and HNA is the parent company of Hainan Airlines. Has anyone noticed service degradation on Hainan flights?
Fair review. We really enjoyed our week there but it did seem worn a bit.
Pro tip: their achohol drinks are insanely expensive. Like $25/glass of wine or drink.
Buy your alcohol at duty free before you fly in. We did and it saved us a lot of money.
That said, this was still the most expensive free trip we’ve ever been on.
Overall, knowing all that - we loved the vibe and the ocean and I recommend it.
Just so you know, EVERY hotel/pension/camping bike in French Polynesia is downright sh** (and I'm mincing my words).
I have pretty low standards in general when travelling, and I loved my stay in FP, but since biking is usually the best option for easy access to pretty much everything there, I was appalled by the general conditions of the bikes every where I went, as most of them are downright dangerous as you're stating.
Other than that, great review. I am interested in the Conrad one since I'm planning a trip to Bora-Bora in 2020 !
And I agree with you that the St Regis might have the best spot on the island, though all hotels on the eastern side might as well (Le Meridien, Four Seasons...) since that means a sunset on Otemanu.
@ Ron and @ Evan - my stay at StR Mauritius was a disaster. It’s a beautiful property but service was truly lacking. A few examples: I got a serious case of food poisoning and allergic reaction to their stale lobster dish. As an ambassador elite was not even given one hour of extra check out time with the excuse that housekeeping needs time to prepare my room (I was told they need 3 hrs to do this). I asked my housekeeper on the way out of my room and he told me he needs 10 minutes. I get you don’t have one room checking out but a flat no and no flexibility is not cool especially given that we waited for ages when we arrived (we were checking after 3pm). This really left a bad taste in our mouths.
Those food and drink prices are truly insane and the reason we would never ever stay at a hotel that isn't in a city/town with other options.
Serious question, though: what do you do at these kind of resorts if you're vegetarian? I noticed a quinoa salad for lunch and a vegeburger option. I saw nothing else with vegetarian protein. Is it simply understood that if you have any sort of dietary requirements you just don't go to resorts?
Thanks, I've stayed at St Regis Mauritius (part of Honeymoon), so was using that as a relative comp. I had great time (other than some Rain). Property and staff were mostly great... had one issue when we made dinner reservations at one of the property's five restaurants and were told they were full and we couldn't be seated (despite our reservations)... It shouldnt happen at a place charging that kinda price per night, but its not a trip ruiner either.
Thanks for the great review. I wonder if there is any such in depth review for the Le Meridien. Cannot find anything good enough from google search. Thanks.
So glad I was able to visit Bora Bora and the Hotel Bora Bora in an overwater Bungalow back in 1983 when it still was worthwhile, now it appears to be an overpriced tourist trap
I was booked at the SR for 10 nights when this review came out so I was a bit worried honestly. But our experience was the opposite. We opted to bring food for lunch (to save money, but it ended up being nice to just eat whenever vs going out/dealing with room service), but we enjoyed all our dinners at Far Niente, Bamboo and Lagoon. Some food was basic but other dishes had really good flavors! We usually stuck with seafood or vegetarian items though. I didn't dislike anything or find anything inedible. There was some wear and tear in our bungalow but nothing as extreme as in the review. Cleanliness is most important to me so nicks here and there are fine and somewhat suit the vibe of an island getaway (vs a modern looking room in a big city - if that makes sense). The bikes we chose were in working order but I am sure some were not as well off (at one point we saw a big on the grass missing a pedal). At the end of the day if you're spending a lot you want perfection, but in reality there is no such thing. The biggest con for us was the the time to wait after we called for some services (such as house keeping or ice), most times it took 5-15min, but a couple times it took 45min to hours and multiple add'al calls. Not ideal but we dubbed it 'island time.' Bora Bora is magical and I think the SR is a great way to experience it if you go in not expecting perfection is every aspect.
Friendly alert:
Made a PA + cash upgrade reservation before Mar 5th on this hotel then cancelled mid-March, the deposits never get refunded back to my card account after a month!!! The reservation manager responds email very very slowly and was reluctant to admit it's their issue. I am disputing the charge now.... will see how it goes... and never stay at this hotel in my life!
To use the words vile and disgusting about the food makes your review a joke. We're here right now and everything has been great. This is one of the most pretentious, douchiest written articles I've ever seen from a points guy and that's saying a lot. I have said some things need to he better (bikes for sure) but you nit picked to death here. I mean really, vile? Disgusting decking? Haha, wow. The deck looks fine, the food is good, very expensive, but it's fine at the pool bar. Now, Lagoon was phenomenal. Prices are crazy but that's the cost at all the high-end resorts. For you points people to whine so much is sad especially since you're likely using miles to fly here and points to stay. Live a little.
Ash, we did 2 nights at LM and 4 nights at StR. LM was very nice got upgraded to OWB for free from a points booking. The room was smallish and definitely tired. But it was still very nice and comfy. The people were excellent and the food was great. You can definitely see the upgrade coming over to StR as far as looks and modern style plus the size of the rooms at StR are much bigger. We have a land villa here at Regis. But I really enjoyed our stay at LM because of how out of the way everyone went for us there. First dinner night they gave us a special table and brought us free champagne because we're Silver Elite (imagine that). Breakfast buffet was great. You should definitely do half board there as it's well worth it. Meal plan at StR is no good, better to just buy what you want. Plenty of toys for free at LM. Pools are both small and kind of bland but the ocean is right there. StR pools are better and they have the swim up which LM does not. I would come back and stay at both resorts.