Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook or Twitter!
- Introduction
- Planning
- A Bad Start & a Few Hours in Los Angeles
- Air France Lounge – Los Angeles
- Air France Business Class – Los Angeles to Papeete
- Getting to Moorea
- Hilton Moorea
- Hilton Moorea, Panoramic Overwater Bungalow #87
- An ATV Tour in Moorea
- Whale & Dolphin Watching in Moorea
- Eating in Moorea
- Moorea to Bora Bora
- Bora Bora Airport To InterContinental Thalasso
- Emerald Overwater Bungalow #204 at the InterContinental Thalasso Bora Bora
- Jet-Skiing in Bora Bora
- A 9 Hour Bike Ride Around Bora Bora
- Eating in the InterContinental Thalasso
- InterContinental Thalasso Coral Garden Suite
- Around the InterContinental Thalasso
- Hilton Bora Bora Nui
- Royal Overwater Villa, Hilton Bora Bora Nui
- Dinner at Villa Mahana
- Eating in the Hilton Bora Bora
- Is Food Expensive in Bora Bora?
- A Day in Papeete
- Air Tahiti Nui and Southwest Flights Home
- Conclusion & Blog Giveaway!
So I decided to pay the extra $50 and get a private boat and save time. The cheaper option (which I learned about later) would have been to pay $50 per person from the InterContinental Thalasso to the airport. And from the airport take the free Air Tahiti shuttle to the main port Viatape and then pay ~$8 round-trip for the Hilton shuttle to the hotel.
This would have taken longer, but we would have saved ~$150! We did do this on our way back and saved ~$90 instead of taking the hotel’s shuttle boat directly to the airport.
Here are the Hilton shuttle boat timings to and from Viatape.
When we arrived at the Hilton, we were greeted with serenaders…
We also got a small glass of tropical juice and a cold towel.
The reception was right where we got off from the boat.
The reception area is connected to the beach and resort by a walkway.
The hotel is nicely landscaped, but not as meticulous as the InterContinental Thalasso in Bora Bora. It also has a much more rustic feel compared to the modern and smartly designed Thalasso.
There were hammocks between the trees,
and paved pathways throughout the resort.
The hotel had free paddle boats, but the water was too choppy to use them when we visited. It was very windy on the days we visited, and some of the free activities like kayaking and paddle boats were closed due to the wind.
It was a gorgeous sunny day when we arrived and the views were great!
The pool area is large.
And there were beach chairs on the beach and by the pool area.
The pool area is very well designed.
And has some great views.
Emily couldn’t wait to get in the pool!
There was a small pond with lotus leaves which didn’t look like it was cleaned often.
Rooms
Daraius: I booked 2 nights at the Hilton Bora Bora for 50,000 Hilton points. I then emailed the hotel to ask about an upgrade from the standard garden room to an overwater bungalow. I emailed info “at” hilton-borabora.pf & gs.mgr “at” hilton-borabora.pfThe hotel acknowledged my Gold elite benefits of free breakfast, free internet, 2 free bottles of water on arrival and a complimentary upgrade from the regular garden bungalow to an overwater bungalow (subject to availability). They offered the following upgrades, per night:
- Overwater bungalow – Complimentary as a gold elite member at check-in subject to availability
- King Deluxe Overwater – 8,000 XPF or ~$87
- Royal Overwater – 20,000 XPF or ~ $216
- Presidential Suite – 100,000 XPF or ~$1,082
This FlyerTalk thread suggests that the upgrade rate could be double what I was offered, though some folks were offered the same rates which I paid.
Here’s a map of the Hilton Bora Bora. If you are paying for an upgrade, it doesn’t hurt to specify a room preference. The hotel will do their best to get you the room, but there are no guarantees.
Garden View Villa
The standard award reservation for 50,000 points is a Garden View room.
The views are, well, of the garden!
There was a little balcony to sit out and soak up the sun.
You can see the Villas next door, but they aren’t that close to each other.
Hillside Villa
Above the garden villas are the hillside villas, which are, on a hill!
You can take the stairs up, walk around the curved paths or ask for a golf cart to pick you up!
But the views were gorgeous. If I wasn’t staying in an overwater bungalow, I’d want to stay in a hillside villa.
I walked around the hillside villas and the views were really good!
The villas appeared to have the same layout as the garden view villas.
Did I tell you how good the views were from top?
Lagoon View
Even though these are 1 category above the entry level Garden View villas, I thought these were the worst of the lot. They looked more cramped together than my apartment complex!
The entrance didn’t seem particularly nice either.
There were stairs leading up to the entrance of the villas.
The view from lagoon view was nice, but didn’t seem as nice as the views from the hillside villas.
Overwater Villa
These are the villas which are not circled in the map. On the east side, I’d choose #110 and on the west side, room #341 & #342 appear off to themselves.
The bungalows in the #300 east wing seemed to have coconut trees and appeared quieter…
Deluxe Overwater Villa
I’d choose #109 followed by #108 as the best deluxe overwater villas on the east side of the resort.
Room #101 is kind of off by itself and has a relatively private view as well.
Rooms #105 & #106 look east and you may be able to see Mt. Otamanu if it is a clear day.
The next set of deluxe over-water villas are in the center – #201 to #212. And the last set of deluxe overwater villas are in the 300s on the west side of the resort.
Royal Overwater Villa
There are two Royal Overwater Villas – #107 & #126. We asked for #107, but were assigned #126.
The villa was very large and had a huge deck with a jacuzzi, but it was overlooking the resort’s dock and we could see (and hear) the boats going to and from the resort. Royal Overwater Villa #107 is definitely more private! But we were still delighted with our room.
We will share our pictures and video review in tomorrow’s post!
Presidential Overwater
These are the most expensive villas at the Hilton. The retail rate for these are a ridiculous ~$3,800, though you would pay “only” ~$1,000 to upgrade from an award stay.
But these are HUGE! There are 2 presidential villas – #1001 & #1002
These 2-storeyed villas have 2 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 2 dressing rooms, a living room, swimming pool, sun deck, and an outdoor living area with a jacuzzi, sun deck, and gazebo.
