Our flight from Bora Bora to Papeete arrived shortly before 8PM, while our United flight was departing at 10:40PM, leaving us over 2.5 hours to make our connection. The domestic and international terminals are just a short walk apart, so we collected our bags at baggage claim (which took 10 minutes), and then immediately headed…
Continue reading: Review: Air Tahiti Nui Lounge Papeete Airport
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Shout out to the woman in the lounge with her bare (and nasty) feet on the table
Hopefully the lounge attendants wipe down the tables frequently with nasty feet woman!
Agree with the author. The downstairs main terminal was crowded, hot and stuffy with very poor food/drink choices.
Upstairs lounge was comfortable and clean. The food service replenishment was slow and needs a serious upgrade, but as the only choice you get what what get.
Good Post ..With my limited funds I'll take the ferry and do the Flts @ the right time and Save $$$$..
CHEERs
We were j just there February 22 of 2019 and thought it was absolutely beautiful, very comfortable and people are so nice. There were shower areas available as well. As far as the comment regarding the lady with her feet on the table, I can honestly say that we didn't see anything of the sort, the lounge was very clean & someone is constantly coming by to pick up anything you are finished with and wiping tables. Sitting in the lounge waiting for our flight was awesome! The most difficult thing by far, is LEAVING Tahiti!! You just never want to!
Lucky,
In regards to your comment about the lounge being full of Priority Pass members, do you think we are at a breaking point for PP? The lounges are constantly packed or straight up denying PP members. At some point, more and more lounges will just stop allowing PP members so they can accommodate the first/business passengers. This will just lead to members canceling credit cards with the benefit. For example, I am almost always denied from "The Lounge" in terminal C at BOS and The Wingtips Lounge in JFK T4.
When we were there year and a half ago in July which is the high season, lounge was packed to the rim. All seats were taken and then some. Not only that, air condition didn’t seem to work or perhaps because there were so many people in the lounge, the air temperature upstairs was the same as downstairs. There weren’t much food left on the counter and pretty much only thing left was the drinks in those mini fridges. This lounge was def not the one I reminiscent about when I think of great airport lounges. In fact, when I go back to Tahiti, I want to minimize my time at this lounge unless I go during low season.
I ended up with 4 hours between domestic and international so had to sit outside in the heat as international departures wasn’t open!
The main benefit of the lounge is the air conditioning - at the point of finally getting in all I cared about was cooling down. Totally agree about the food and drink!
Hi Ben, I read your travel blog in earnest a few months ago re choosing which resorts to stay at in Bora Bora and found it really helpful thanks. We ended up staying four nights at the Four Seasons for 4 nights and then the Conrad for 4 nights and both were great. I’ve stumbled across your blog again today when doing a google search for Air Tahiti Nui lounges as we had a frustrating experience there yesterday when awaiting out flight home to NZ which left me highly annoyed. So here’s a tip for anyone reading your blog and who is wanting to use the lounge at Papeete airport. When you arrive at the closed door ring the bell to be let in (providing it is no more than 3h pre-flight). A whole lot of us arrived over a period of 15-20 mins and just sat there thinking the lounge was closed. Several staff members came and went from the lounge during that time and not one of them told us the lounge was open and please come on in...not a word. Am going to try and contact some-one from Air Tahiti re this. If the lounge is open the door should be open IMO. Also...the upstairs area you mention (the well kept secret) was actually the lounge when we transited through Papeete 2 years ago so what they have now is a massive improvement on that to say the least....
Keep up the great work with your travel blog
December 4, 2023 Update:
Air Tahiti Nui business class passengers. Open lounge access.
Hot food is borderline not edible. Snacks are crackers, toast, olives, etc. The lounge bathroom and shower is broken and appears to have been out of service for some time and repairs aren't a priority. No shower. Restrooms are available on the lower level next to the stairs. Air conditioning is one of the only perks this lounge has going for it. Open bar is limited but much appreciated considering the rest of the experience is subpar.
Had we not had business class tickets and paid for the lounge access I'd ask for our money back. If you are considering the purchase of a lounge pass I would suggest eating before you pass security at L'Aviation and then asking to confirm the lounge is FULLY OPERATIONAL before committing to the cost.