We arrived into Papeete around 9:45 p.m. on April 18, 2012. It was a little hot getting off the plane and then standing in line for customs seemed like it took forever. After going through customs and getting our bags, we were transported to the Manava Suite Resort. Upon arriving to the hotel, it was quite late so we didn't really get to see much of anything except our rooms. We were in a studio suite, which was set up beautifully. It had a little kitchen area in it as well. That would be nice if someone was staying for a few days, however most people just stay here for a night before or after they go to another island, so I'm not really sure the point of the kitchens at all.

We had 2 single beds in our room which was fine because I was sharing the room with another girl that was in our group. The beds were standard twin size. We had to be up the next monrning early to have breakfast and then meet with the hotel manager to do a site inspection of the property.

The breakfast area was great and had plenty to choose from. Most of the time you can get a package that has the breakfast included. Ours was included and so we were able to just give our name and room number and go have at it.

We got to see a couple of the different rooms which was nice to see. We saw a standard room and then a 1 bedroom room. The one bedroom room would be great for families because it has an actual separate bedroom.

After breakfast and our site inspection, we were given some free time to look around the hotel before having to leave for our flight to Moorea. I walked around the pool area a bit and took some pictures. The pool is an absolutely beautiful infinity pool that overlooks the mountains of Moorea. So incredible!! The only thing missing was my husband. :( However, I was here on a trip for work and so it was myself and some other travel agents without our husbands.

I would highly recommend this hotel for an overnight stay coming into or leaving French Polynesia.

We stayed here for one night before we headed to Moorea and Bora Bora. We considered a few places in Tahiti and ultimately landed on this resort. One note - the taxis start charging more at 8 PM (about $10 more I think). We dilly dallied in the airport shops and got to the taxi at 8:04 and they charged us the higher rate, so that is just an FYI. We paid about $200 USD incl tax for their lowest room. Intercontinental was more expensive and had not as great of reviews so we decided not to spend more on the name brand. The Manava was good - the room was nice but faced the road, no noise to bother us. It didn't make any difference to us because it was dark the when we arrived and we left right away in the morning. Before we left we took a walk around the property, it was well maintained and beautiful. There's a little lagoon area with a boardwalk so you can observe the marine life - we saw an octopus swimming around - that was SO COOL! Everything was clean, there was a huge bath tub which I am sad to say we didn't use, and the bed was comfortable. I would recommend this resort to others.

Like many other reviewers, we only stayed here for one night as a place to sleep after landing in Tahiti off a red-eye flight from Auckland, NZ. This review may not be the fairest review since this hotel really was just a place to crash in between staying at two luxury resorts in New Zealand and Bora Bora.... but a STICKY hair-dryer in the bathroom?! That was pretty gross... I had to wrap a tissue around the handle in order to use it without gagging. The hair-dryer was also tethered to the bathroom vanity so that it could not be removed, and the electrical cord was so short that I had to crouch down to use it effectively. Everything else in the bathroom was fairly sticky-feeling as well... just not pleasant.

Bathroom problems aside, it was a very average hotel. The grounds were nicely kept, but the room was a bit odd. We were in a lagoon-view suite, and the first thing we noticed when we walked into the room was that it was very narrow. We walked into a narrow hallway, with a small kitchenette to the side, as well as two more doors on the same side--one leading to a very small stuffy chamber that contains a toilet and a tiny sink (and maybe it was just me, but the height of the toilet seemed a lot higher than normal...), and another leading to the shower, tub, and sinks. There were also a couple of closets in the hallway.

After passing through the narrow hallway, the room finally opened up to the bedroom, where it was slightly better and less cramped. There was a small seating area with a couch/table, and a king bed next to the sliding door that opened out into a small patio that overlooked the pool. The TV that was in front of the bed didn't work--or at least we couldn't get it to. There was a small light that was on, indicating that the TV was receiving power, but the power button just ended up turning that light off.... then after a few seconds the light would come on again.... weird. The pillows on the bed were also those huge square pillows that one would typically use as floor cushions, so we had to look in the closets for some regular-sized pillows. We weren't quite sure if the square pillows were normally used on the beds or if they were supposed to be used as decorative pillows.... again, just a little odd.

The breakfast buffet was a little more than $30 USD per person for the full hot food spread, and about $20 per person for the continental (typical bagels/bread/yogurt/cereal, etc.). Pretty high prices for blah food but prices are high for everything in Tahiti anyway... the outdoor dining area was pleasant though.

Luckily this was just a stopover hotel for us.... I wouldn't plan to travel all the way to Tahiti to stay at this place. It's the kind of place you stay at when you are on a road trip and need a place to sleep for a few hours... not a hotel that you would cross an ocean for.

OK< it was just a crash hotel arriving late from LAX, but it was truly dissapoinitng. Its a long way from the airport. I would rather have stayed closer, like the intercontinental. The front desk is less than inviting, in fact you don;t even know its a hotel when you first pull up. We arrived to a stuffy, midew smelling room, that they put us facing the ocean. I couldn;t get the AC to work. The phones did not work so i went to the front desk. As I went to the desk and my wife was in the room, she said that all the power went off when 5 minutes after i left the room. The key card for the door also acts as the power key for the room. Never did get the A?C to cool us down on a hot humid tahiti night. Then the party boat was parked in front of the hotel til 2 am just rocking away. Now sleep this night. The bathroom was less than ideal. I am a perfectionist when it comes to bathrooms (you can see me other reviews) and this one was no better. There are no washcloths. You have to ask for them from the front desk. With the phones being out, its a long schlep to the front tdesk to ask for something as simple as a washcloth. The bathrom was less that appealing. Mold (why cant houskeeping learn about x-14 mildew remover?) and the basin was cracked. There are no clocks in the room and the phones did not work so that made a wake-up call impossible. And then the TV. Couldn't get that to work either. We went down for the breakfast that we pre-paid, and wish we hadn't. Most of the food was old or cold (bacon, sausage, etc), the meat and cheese tray was picked over and the flies were having a field day oin the fruit section. Coffee was from an instant brewer, and that was bad, bad. We really needed a good breakfast for a long trip throug the airport to Rangoria. Overall, dissapointing. A place to crash, but not a good way to start off the honeymoon. Went on the reviews from Trip Advisor. Sorry guys, this one didn;t cut it. Pool was nice to look at, but there were a lot of KIDS and lound playing around. The waters infront of the hotel were full of concrete and busted up construction projects. Not too appealing. Next time, its at a property I have an affiliation with, ie sofitel or intercontinental. Not worth the high price and save your self the breakfast, go across the street and get a coffee and a pastry. The view of Morea was nice, but that was about it.