I’m going to split the St. Regis Bora Bora review into three parts — a land villa review, an overwater villa review, and then a resort review. I’m doing this because I have a lot to say, and I know a lot of you read on mobile, so putting 150+ pictures in one review isn’t ideal.
We spent a total of four nights at the St. Regis Bora Bora, with our first three nights in a Garden Reefside Villa, and for our last night we upgraded to an Overwater Superior Villa (you can find a cost breakdown in the introduction post). So in this post I’ll cover our accommodations for the first three nights.
The St. Regis Bora Bora has about 90 rooms, and a vast majority of those are overwater. There are only roughly a dozen land villas, while the rest are overwater villas spread out over a few “wings.”
We were assigned villa 504, a Reefside Garden Villa, which is basically their standard room. The good news is that they’ve apparently renovated just a few villas, and this is one of them. To my knowledge I don’t think any of the overwater villas have been renovated, so that’s one benefit of staying in a land villa.
I don’t believe the outdoor areas of the villas have been renovated, but rather only the indoor areas (at least if the outdoor areas have been renovated, they didn’t do a very good job). The land villas are all located on one side of the resort, and have lots of privacy (you can get around the resort either by bike or golf cart).
St. Regis Bora Bora path to our villa
St. Regis Bora Bora Reefside Garden Villa exterior
The room is marketed as being 2,700 square feet, though in reality that includes the outdoor space as well. Inside the entrance was the living area, which featured a dining area towards the front, and then a living area towards the back.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa living room
St. Regis Bora Bora villa living room
The dining table was circular, and had four chairs.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa dining area
The living area had a curved couch, two chairs, a TV, and then an out-of-place-looking couch in the corner.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa living room
St. Regis Bora Bora villa living room
Back behind the dining tables was a desk with a chair.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa desk
Across from that was a minibar, as well as a kettle (there’s no coffee machine, since part of the St. Regis butler service includes complimentary coffee).
St. Regis Bora Bora villa minibar
St. Regis Bora Bora villa minibar
I thought the villa design itself was really impressive, and loved the roof.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa living room
Then there was a door leading to the bedroom, which featured a comfortable king size bed.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa bedroom
The bathroom was behind the bedroom, and could be accessed by doors on either side of the bedroom. There was also a shield that could be opened so you could see from the bedroom into the bathroom, and vice versa.
The shower area was huge, with both a handheld and rainforest shower head. On top of that there was a soaking tub just outside it.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa bathroom
Across from the shower were two sinks, each with their own mirror.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa bathroom
Then on one side of the bathroom was a toilet.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa toilet
On the other side was a large closet.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa closet
The villa also had an outdoor shower (which Ford loves, though it’s a concept I can’t get behind as someone who hates having dirty feet).
St. Regis Bora Bora villa outdoor shower
The outdoor area behind the villa was huge. There was a large “yard” on both sides.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa exterior
St. Regis Bora Bora villa yard
But the outdoor space as such didn’t feel especially luxurious. As I said above, I think they renovated the inside of the villa, but not the outdoor area, because the furniture felt run down and cheap.
There was a cute little pool.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa pool
Then in terms of furniture there were two loungers.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa outdoor area
Then there were two hanging “chairs” outside the bedroom.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa chairs
There was also a pagoda with a dining table that had seating for four.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa exterior
Lastly there was a hammock.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa hammock
There was a sandy area behind the villa, and then a path down towards the ocean. I wouldn’t really call the area down there a “beach,” but rather there was a small river leading into the ocean, and then the ocean in the distance.
St. Regis Bora Bora villa view
St. Regis Bora Bora villa view
You could walk quite a ways from back there, though most of the landscape was pretty rocky. There is a helipad there, which is pretty cool.
St. Regis Bora Bora helipad
A few more things to note about the room.
First of all, I was pleasantly surprised by Wi-Fi speeds. I had read some reports of the hotel having slow Wi-Fi, but I had no issues whatsoever.
Next, we were offered a very nice welcome amenity consisting of a bottle of Billecart-Salmon, two bottles of water, macarons, and a box of chocolates. While I think in general it’s appropriate to get a welcome amenity at a high end hotel, I thought this one was especially nice, especially given how expensive everything is in Bora Bora.
St. Regis Bora Bora welcome amenity
Next, as is brand standard for St. Regis, we were entitled to butler service. In reality we had a butler assigned to us the first couple of days, but he was off for the last two, and no one was assigned in his place. That’s totally fine by me, since it’s not a service I value all that much.
With butler service you do get two free items of pressing daily, and you also receive complimentary coffee. Note that this hotel restricts the complimentary coffee to once daily, and only in the mornings (this varies by St. Regis — some offer unlimited coffee all day, and others have restrictions like this property).
St. Regis Bora Bora in-room coffee
Lastly, I was disappointed by the lack of complimentary water in the room. When we called they brought us more, but only as a “one time exception.”
St. Regis Bora Bora land villa bottom line
I was a big fan of our land villa at the St. Regis Bora Bora. The villa was massive, and they did a good job with the renovation. The villa was well designed, felt fresh, and I liked just how big the yard was (even though I think they should have updated the furniture outside as well).
I love the complimentary coffee in the mornings at St. Regis, and also appreciated the welcome gift.
Unfortunately that’s where my glowing review of the hotel ends…
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