When people think of overwater bungalows, the Maldives or Bora Bora probably come to mind. While the Maldives has an endless number of resorts, Bora Bora has few properties. The region has now seen its first new hotel opening since 2017, with the debut of the Westin Bora Bora.
In this post:
Basics of the new Westin Bora Bora
The Westin Bora Bora has opened as of September 2024. In fairness, it’s not a brand new hotel. Instead, the Le Meridien Bora Bora underwent a major renovation, and the property reopened as a Westin. The Westin is located at the base of Mount Otemanu, and boasts the largest collection of overwater bungalows in Bora Bora, alongside beachside villas.
The Westin Bora Bora features a variety of amenities, including the largest swimming pool in Bora Bora, which is an infinity pool in the center of the resort with a swim-up bar and a waterfall cascading from the second floor into the pool. The resort also features a full service spa, plus a fitness center.
The Westin Bora Bora boasts a total of 142 accommodations:
- There are 128 overwater bungalows, many with their own plunge pool, and these start at 441 square feet (41 square meters), which is quite small for an overwater bungalow
- There are 14 beachside bungalows, for those who prefer to be directly on the beach, and they also start at 441 square feet (41 square meters)
I’ve gotta say, the rooms having sinks right next to the bed doesn’t feel very high end to me. Otherwise the rooms look quite nice.
As far as dining goes, the Westin Bora Bora features six dining concepts, comprised of:
- Tipanier is the all-day French Polynesian bistro, featuring a breakfast buffet, plus lunch and dinner service
- Maere is the resort’s signature restaurant, using fresh local ingredients
- Varavara is the beachfront restaurant serving lunch and dinner
- Honu Tiki is the beach bar, offering frozen drinks, light snacks, and more
- Te Ava is the poolside restaurant, open for much of the day
- ‘O’a Bar is the outdoor lobby lounge bar, offering cocktails and more
Westin Bora Bora rates & points requirements
With the Westin Bora Bora now open, what are rates like? For those paying cash, rates start at well over $1,000 per night, and during many periods of the year, the cheapest rate is over $1,500 per night for a base room. Rates below are show in cash (in XPF), and one USD converts to a bit over 100 XPF.
For those looking to redeem Marriott Bonvoy points, rates are potentially very attractive, at least compared to cash rates. I see some nights that are priced under 70,000 points, and then keep in mind you can also get a fifth night free, bringing down the average cost to a bit over 50,000 points. I value Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each, so that’s an exceptional redemption.
I don’t understand the Westin branding
Am I the only one that finds it a bit strange that a lot of money was poured into refreshing a Le Meridien, only for it to be rebranded as a Westin? To be honest, I haven’t really understood the Westin brand since Marriott’s takeover of Starwood. But perhaps I just don’t understand Marriott’s brand positioning anymore more broadly, given the amount of brand inflation we’ve seen.
I get Westin in the context of a generic business hotel, where you’re looking for comfort and a decent gym without much local flair or luxury. But are there really a lot of people who say “boy, I’d love to travel to Bora Bora and spend $1,500 per night to stay at a Westin?”
This may very well be a beautiful hotel, and it’ll certainly feel “fresher” than the other Bora Bora resorts. However, I can’t help but think that the Westin branding detracts from the resort, rather than contributing to it.
From a branding perspective, you’d think that it would make a lot more sense to brand this as a Luxury Collection, or Autograph Collection, or Ritz-Carlton, or something… but a Westin? Something tells me that only a tiny percentage of guests will be paying the standard cash rate found on marriott.com.
I’d be willing to bet this property will be a “points farm,” with a vast majority of guests redeeming points, and those paying cash largely booking package holidays or through consolidators. After all, the standard pricing here isn’t that far off from what the Four Seasons is charging.
Bottom line
The Westin Bora Bora has just opened, and it’s the first new(ish) resort in Bora Bora in many years. However, in reality it’s just the Le Meridien with a substantial makeover. The property looks quite nice, even if the small overwater bungalows with the sinks right by the bed are a bit strange for a property like this. But still, it’s a nice new addition. I just don’t get the branding.
What do you make of the Westin Bora Bora? And what do you make of the branding?
HI @Ben. I understand what you mean by "points farm," but I've never really thought about that concept before. Could you write a post about the concept, and perhaps even mention some properties that you would place under that designation, and what to expect.
I arrived in Bora Bora on Tuesday -- which I believe was opening day -- and saw a large-ish group from our flight hop on the Westin shuttle. Most of the other hotels were picking up less than 5 people, but this group numbered about 10 to 15. May be a contingent of social media influencers/content creators?
Our snorkel guide mentioned that the Westin's opening kept getting delayed (what else is new?), so they...
I arrived in Bora Bora on Tuesday -- which I believe was opening day -- and saw a large-ish group from our flight hop on the Westin shuttle. Most of the other hotels were picking up less than 5 people, but this group numbered about 10 to 15. May be a contingent of social media influencers/content creators?
Our snorkel guide mentioned that the Westin's opening kept getting delayed (what else is new?), so they moved all the earlier booked guests to the St. Regis.
The Westin/Meridien Bora Bora, Conrad Bora Bora, Sofitel Moorea and Hilton Tahiti are all owned by Le Groupe Louis Wane. Louis Wane also owned the St. Regis Bora Bora and Hilton Moorea, but sold them to China-based HNA group (parent company of Hainan Airlines) in 2016. HNA has since sold St. Regis to a Hong Kong-based firm, and Louis Wane has been approved to buy back the Hilton Moorea in partnership with the Hilton Group. https://www.radio1.pf/lapc-autorise-le-groupe-wane-a-reprendre-le-hilton-de-moorea/#
I booked this property months ago with the help of Ford’s colleague, Toby. I also have 2 nights at the Four Seasons where I’ll celebrate my 60th. We also have a beachfront Air BnB on Bora Bora for 3 nights and 3 nights at the Intercontinental on Tahiti along with a rental car while there. I’m expecting this to be a very different experience than the Maldives, which we loved. I’m hoping for a great time at each place we stay.
Paying over $1000/nt to sleep in the bathroom is crazy
Bora Bora is unique in the world. Hence the Westin hotel with higher brand prices. Have you seen the prices at the St Regis and Four Seasons BB?
As for the Maldives as a comparison. Maldives have a number of factors going against them. Bora Bora has the beaches/water of Maldives PLUS the lush jagged tropical mountain scenery that doesn't exist on the sand bars called Maldives. French Polynesia has direct flights from US, Maldives...
Bora Bora is unique in the world. Hence the Westin hotel with higher brand prices. Have you seen the prices at the St Regis and Four Seasons BB?
As for the Maldives as a comparison. Maldives have a number of factors going against them. Bora Bora has the beaches/water of Maldives PLUS the lush jagged tropical mountain scenery that doesn't exist on the sand bars called Maldives. French Polynesia has direct flights from US, Maldives do not. Maldives is an authoritarian Muslim country where practicing other religions is deemed criminal and prison-worthy. A lot of the free world would not vacation in such a country regardless how permissive/apart the resort sandbars are.
At least the Meridien reopened as something, not that it looks very exciting. (Sinks in the bedroom give a nice bedsit vibe.). French Polynesia has a significant brownfields problem with shuttered resorts, and they're eyesores.
-- On Bora Bora, Aman's Hotel Bora Bora, the Orient Express Bora Bora Lagoon Resort, and Sofitel Private Island are all shuttered and rotting away. The shuttered Bora Bora Club Med has been used as housing for workers at...
At least the Meridien reopened as something, not that it looks very exciting. (Sinks in the bedroom give a nice bedsit vibe.). French Polynesia has a significant brownfields problem with shuttered resorts, and they're eyesores.
-- On Bora Bora, Aman's Hotel Bora Bora, the Orient Express Bora Bora Lagoon Resort, and Sofitel Private Island are all shuttered and rotting away. The shuttered Bora Bora Club Med has been used as housing for workers at other resorts, but it's a dump.
-- On Tahiti, the former Hyatt Regency is a ruin and the Meridien is closed. The Sofitel Maeva was pulled down after closing, and the Hilton Tahiti was repurposed as a medical clinic for a while (but did surprisingly reopen).
-- On Moorea, the Intercontinental is abandoned.
Many of the closures occurred long before the pandemic. High prices with a currency tied to the Euro and an upside down season where it's best to visit in the North American summer do not help to attract visitors. Also, many tourists substitute cruise lines for hotel stays, polluting the lagoons even more in the process.
Thanks for the info, I don't understand Bora Boras price point. I have been to Maldives twice , the Conrad and the latest all inclusive Baglioni Resort. Both are excellent and they do have special rates once in a while. For the price resorts in Bora are charging , I can go to Mladives twice . Is Bora Bora really better than Maldives?
French Polynesia is essentially a developed country with labor laws similar to France, so its cost base is much higher than places like the Maldives and Fiji.
Bora Bora is spectacular and looks quite different from Maldives coral atolls, as it has a large tombstone-shaped mountain on the island at the center of the lagoon. Still, Bora Bora has too many tourists and too many cruise ships (which thankfully don't sail into the eastern lagoon...
French Polynesia is essentially a developed country with labor laws similar to France, so its cost base is much higher than places like the Maldives and Fiji.
Bora Bora is spectacular and looks quite different from Maldives coral atolls, as it has a large tombstone-shaped mountain on the island at the center of the lagoon. Still, Bora Bora has too many tourists and too many cruise ships (which thankfully don't sail into the eastern lagoon where the Four Seasons, Westin, St. Regis, and Intercon Thalasso are located). For that reason, I prefer Le Taha'a off of Raiatea or (off the grid) the island of Maupiti, west of Bora Bora. Raivavae in French Polynesia's Austral Islands group (a 2-hour flight south of Tahiti) looks a lot like Bora Bora but with almost no tourists. Just simple guest houses.
In the Maldives, the atolls and resorts are much more spread out.
I'm actually curious how many properties become the said "point farms", and what's the criteria for one.
Is alila ventana big sur a point farm? What about Le Meridien Maldives?
It ought to be against the law to paint all that beautiful tropical hardwood white. Ugly. Hope they didn’t actually do what the renderings are showing. Stayed there a couple times and preferred the old look more.
Have you been able to find any actual photographs, particularly showing the room interiors and decks? It looks like pretty much everything on their website is a rendering, not an actual picture. And even those don't show the private outdoor spaces for the rooms.