Where to stay for a pre or post stay

[gwnorth]

Dh and I are looking to book for 2012. We are also considering either a 4 day pre stay or 3 day post stay .

 

If you were going to do a pre or post stay, where would you choose to stay?

[Emdee]

My favourite is the Sofitel in Moorea but the Hilton is also well recommended. Havent stayed there but visited it some time ago. Also visited the Intercontinental Moorea and dont care for it.

 

I dont snorkel but love the Sofitel beach.

 

If you are looking for 4 days it may be worth while to go to Bora Bora or even fly to another island like Tahaa or Huahine.

[gwnorth]

Thanks Emdee. Flying to another island sounds like it would be pricey so I think we would stick to those you could get to by the ferry.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that I'd really like to stay in a OWB. Which hotel has the best? I understand that the the ones at the InterContinental in Moorea aren't really over the water or at least not completely.

[FlightMedic555]

We did 5 nights pre cruise at the Hilton Moorea in an OWB. It was spectacular. The best snorkeling I ever experienced. You can look at my lengthy review from July.

[Texed]

We are staying 4 nights post cruise in an OWB at the Intercontinental Bora Bora Resort and Thalasso Spa. We have heard good reports. :)

[Annagon24]

We are on May 25th sailing (only 1 month to go!) and we will be staying at Moorea Pearl for 4 nights. I will be happy to share our thoughts on it upon our return.

[egret]

We are doing a precruise at Interconinental Le Moana on Bora Bora in November. We wanted to go to Ta'haa Private Island but I guess they are renovating and PG Cruises didn't want to book us there. We stayed there in 2008 and it was great. We prefer beach bungalows since you don't have to walk so far to the beach.

[Texed]

We are on May 25th sailing (only 1 month to go!) and we will be staying at Moorea Pearl for 4 nights. I will be happy to share our thoughts on it upon our return.

 

We stayed there last trip. It was pretty good, but make sure you have all your documents showing what all is covered in the price. :cool:

[Wendy The Wanderer]

If you're intent on not flying Moorea is the answer. If flying, Manihi is my favourite, but would consider Huahine (I've not been to the latter.) I would not consider Bora Bora.

[Cruise4K]

For my profession, I just stayed on Moorea, Bora, Huahine & Tahaa and if you want to not have to fly then I would take the ferry over to Moorea and stay at the Hilton. The OWB are very nice. I like the Intercontinental as well but only the balcony extends over the water not the bungalows. The Intercontinental does offer a dolphin program if you want to do that but you can do that without staying there.

 

Air Tahiti (the inter-island carrier) does have weight limits of 44 pounds per person so if you have a lot of luggage for the cruise, then again I would suggest the ferry and stay on Moorea. There are lots of activities to do. I would suggest renting an Avis car for the day and driving around to really see the island and make sure you go to the Belvedere which is an overlook area between Cooks & Opunohu Bays. The ship will usually stay in Cook's Bay during the cruise. The Hilton is the only hotel where you can see both the sunrise & sunset clearly.

 

My favorite hotel on all the islands was Le Tahaa on Tahaa and to get there you fly into Raiatea and then there is a 35-40 minute boat transfer to the resort. The water is not exactly the same color as Bora Bora but close. Bora Bora is the most expensive and you will see it on the cruise but if you want to stay in Bora Bora the flight from Papeete is only 45 minutes. For over water bungalows, the largest was at the St. Regis which is next to the Four Seasons. The Le Meridien has the huge floor panel the size of a double bed to the water beneath the bungalow but the rooms are very small.

 

Please email me if you want more info: kristi@winsometravel.com

[gwnorth]

Thanks everyone so much for your feed back.

 

My concern with flying is that a) it would be expensive and b) it's more hassle and time consuming. I guess that leaves the ferry to Moorea.

 

If doing a pre-stay, I know that due to the ferry schedules, you generally have to spend one night in Tahiti since the flight gets in late from LA. I was thinking about Hotel Tahiti Nui which is apparently within walking distance of the ferry/cruise docks. I don't want to spend a lot on a hotel for just one night, but I don't want a dive either. Anyone have any comments on it?

[Texed]

My concern with flying is that a) it would be expensive and b) it's more hassle and time consuming. I guess that leaves the ferry to Moorea.

 

We have done Tahaa Resort and Spa, and Moorea. We have been to the Hilton, Pearl Beach Resort, and Moorea Lagoon Resort. But, we are looking forward to Bora Bora. We think it will be worth the hassel. :)

[elmwood]

We stayed at the IC Mo'orea and were disappointed by it, feeling it was very inferior to the one in Papeete where we had stayed for one night pre-cruise. Our OWB faced out to sea rather than onto the lagoon and even when sunny was lashed by strong winds making snorkelling off the deck impossible. The restaurants were very ho-hum there.