The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort

Three stars My wife and I went to the St. Regis Bora Bora in Oct. 2024 for our 25th anniversary. Given the cost (both in terms of $ and time / effort) to do this was high, the bar for us was high as well. Here’s a summary of our experience. The Good: - Lagoon restaurant - not cheap (and not included in packages which included dinner either) but well worth it, amazing experience - Bamboo restaurant - while it's no Lagoon, it was probably the #2 dining experience on the property, and importantly, it’s included in the package if you have one. - Spa - pretty expensive but really good as well, if you don’t mind dropping >$300 on a massage, then this is worth the price of admission - Boat tour - we did a two hour sunset cruise and it was a highlight. Crazy expensive but worth it at least for us. - Physical environment - Bora Bora, and the property itself, are amazing, full stop. There is no bad view from anywhere that we saw. That said, honestly you don’t have to stay at the St. Regis to enjoy this, it’s inescapable. - Hotel staff - generally speaking everyone there is super nice and courteous. - Further to the above, the house cleaning staff is great! While we had mixed experiences for different parts of the property, interestingly the housecleaning folks were wonderful! They magically slip in whenever you are gone, (usually breakfast) and you come back to a nice clean villa and they even straighten up bathrooms, organize stuff, etc. They are also super pleasant and very happy almost to a person. We enjoyed them! - Morning in-room coffee service - a nice thing to wake up to! Just dial the magic #9 on your phone and the butlers will bring you coffee service to your room each morning. - Dedicated bikes for each villa - a nice feature as the property is pretty spread out, probably too far to walk back and forth all the time. The Okay: - Aparima Bar / dining - for the caliber of the property, this experience overall is pretty so-so. There were too many times to count where we’d ask the waitstaff for something which they would enthusiastically acknowledge and then promptly forget. Happened most days at least once or twice. They don’t seem to have systems for things, like the simple idea of writing things down, etc. Also at least to the American palette, the cuisine was just okay. For example for breakfast (and this is the only place on property you can get breakfast), lots of high fat / high calories pasties, just a couple of actual main dish types things that seemed to rotate every couple of days - “Butlers” - so when you get there you are whisked away for a golf cart tour of the property by your “butler” and then they are supposed to help you get all set up for whatever activities you want to do while you are there, etc. That said, it’s not really clear what they are supposed to be doing vs. the concierge folks, etc. Our butler would appear here and there and then disappear for a couple of days. It was hard for us to tell whether they work on commission for booking activities or something. I finally asked the hotel mgmt. And apparently it's the concierge folks who work on commission, and butlers don’t. Net net, we just didn’t totally get the butler thing. - Villa deferred maintenance - we stayed in two different villas (see below on bugs) and while they are generally very nice, they both also had noticeable deferred maintenance needs. Floors (esp. In bathrooms) definitely had water damage / softspots. There were several times I stepped on individual floor boards that would pop up and out on the other end. Also noticeable scrapes on floors, drapes didn’t really work for all windows, etc. The Ugly: - Bugs! - we had swarms of white, winged bugs flying around in our first villa for the first few nights. It didn’t dawn on me at first but turns out they were termites! I talked to the management and it sounds like this is a pretty common issue in Bora Bora but it was still very unpleasant. They moved us to a larger villa (with a private pool!) for the last few days but we traded termites for cockroaches! (only a few though). Also got eaten alive by mosquitos every evening that we want out anywhere. We brought several types of strong bug spray and nothing touched them. We even asked the locals how they handle it and they said “we just don’t scratch the bites”! Also found a bit of evidence of mice in our 2nd villa, not fun. - Cost of everything -- drinks at the Aparima bar / beach are exorbitant (like $28 - $36 just for regular cocktails). We did a Costco package (don’t poo-poo this until you look into it, I was shocked to learn that Costco travel is actually legit and helpful), which “included breakfast and dinner”. What they don’t say is that drinks are not included anywhere, and even whole restaurants (like the Lagoon) are not included at all. There is definitely a sense of nickel and diming everytime you eat -- Further to this point, anyone staying at the St. Regis (or other similar properties) needs to realize that there are no other options besides dining at the hotel's restaurants. Unless you want to grab a boat ride to the main island or elsewhere, there are no other ways to eat. Thus if you stay for any length of time, (we stayed for seven nights) the options start to feel limited -- Costs of activities were pretty crazy as well. We did a private sunset boat tour (no room left in shared tours), and it was $1,250 for a two hour ride. While it was a highlight for us (and is mentioned above up in the “good” section as well), the cost was pretty painful. All in, the experience was nice and memorable for us, but not what I would call a 5 star experience overall, and probably not worth the sticker price if you are paying full pop for the stay.

We enjoyed our stay at the St Regis Bora Bora! The lagoonarium was gorgeous with tons of wildlife and much better than expected! The beach was very enjoyable. Raihau, Max and the beach boys were attentive and great (especially Raihau)! Our butler Mina was okay overall but on the few requests we had, was slow to follow-up; we had to ask on the follow-ups a couple of times.

This is the second time we have been to the St Regis We used Pacific For Less for our trip. both times.Claudia and her team did an excellent job planing and the trip was perfect. The St Regis is beautiful, the rooms are huge, the grounds are beautiful and the staff is excellent.

This is a hard review to write to find the correct words to describe how epic this resort is. Nina Maurin and her team are amazing at doing everything they can to fulfill every request. Nina’s energy, enthusiasm, and passion for serving guests is remarkable. I know these qualities are instilled in her team. A big shout out to our amazing butler Violaine. Her attention to detail was outstanding. How she made us feel like the only couple she was working with is beyond me. Between a surprise for our anniversary and accommodating a special cake request for my wife’s birthday, Violaine came through. The butler team is terrific at recommending excursions to meet your interests. We went into town, whale watching, to a pearl “factory”, and on a sunset cruise. All were fun with terrific hospitality. When selecting your villa, consider the mountain view rooms have spectacular sunset views but the water is often choppy. The lagoon view rooms have great sunRISE views and calmer water. If you are looking for Maui style night life, Bora Bora may not be for you. If you are looking for some of the most memorable scenery and hospitality of your life, go visit Nina, Violaine and their colleagues.

This establishment truly understands the art of hospitality. Every detail, from the welcoming smile at check-in to the farewell at departure, felt carefully choreographed yet utterly sincere. The staff's ability to anticipate needs without being intrusive was impressive. The facilities were immaculate, with a perfect blend of functionality and aesthetics. It's clear that guest satisfaction is not just a goal here, but a passion.