The last three nights of our French Polynesian three island tour were spent at the Moorea Sofitel Beach Resort. We are thankful that the lack of common courtesy and tahitian warmth displayed by Sofitel personnel was the exception to our wonderful visit to the islands. What a different welcome than the one we received on Bora Bora at the Hotel Bora Bora (see separate review).

Exhausted after a long days' travel from the tuamotus, our family arrived at the Sofitel around 5pm on a Thursday. The hotel had been notified of our late arrival by e-mail when we had made our pre-paid booking for our two garden bungalows. The check-in clerk asked for our papers and passports and told us to wait in the lobby. After a 15 minute wait, she brought documents to sign. My husband asked for some water at this point and she returned with juice for all. We inquired about dinner at the restaurant that night and she said that it was too late. Reservations must be made by 3p.m. for a table. She then pointed to the curb and told us to wait for the porter. The hotel restaurant was not full that night so maybe the 3pm deadline has something to do with food delivery orders. Thank goodness for Allo Pizza when you are too tired to go out - they delivered to our hotel that night. Very yummy pizza!

We had two beautifully situated spacious garden bungalows to the left of the overwaters. Nice view of the beach and Tahiti through a few coconut trees and well maintained grounds. About a three minute walk to the beach. Wood patio with two rattan chairs and small table, beware the mosquitos though. Room design nicely laid out, the beds were comfortable. Lovely garden shower that people have talked about previously. However, the bathroom walls in both bungalows were stained with some splatters and mold growth, and could use a repainting.

Our bungalow was missing the blackout curtain the first night, only a sheer liner was in place. This was a bother not because of the light, but because a passerby on the walkways could see into our lit bungalow at night. Housekeeping was below par. Each day, room and beach towels would be collected and we would always be missing some replacement. No washcloths were left till the last morning. The condiment bar was not fully restocked each day - yes I need my instant coffee at 5a.m..In one bungalow, the coffee water heater pot reaked of soured milk. I was told that "it always smells that way", but it was replaced that night.

The beautiful white coral sand beach, with a clear view of Tahiti, is groomed daily - in contrast to the adjacent Temae beach which is left in its natural state (like our beaches here in San Diego). We saw a number of French famlies at the hotel vacationing with toddlers. The azure waters are shallow with a sandy bottom for quite a ways making this a great swimming beach. If you wish to snorkle, you must go out about a hundred yards to access coral. There are a few small rental boats docked always along the shoreline. Watch out for over enthusiastic paddleboaters in the lagoon if you snorkle.

No personal map of the resort or an activities list is provided for guests. One evening we took a stroll along the beach. We paused on the beach area directly in front of the infinity pool to admire the lagoon. A man called to us from the restaurant balcony nearby and told us to leave. He said that this area was restricted to spa guests only. There were no postings (or guests) to be seen. We apologized for the intrusion and left. We later learned that the man was the hotel manager. He never introduced himself or inquired about our stay during our visit.

We knew that the hotel is isolated from shops and restaurants. We rented a car from Avis and the four of us toured Moorea at our leisure rather than going on an organized expedition. We never did eat in the hotels' restaurants, we patronized the local restaurants and roulottes. Since the Department of Health in French Polynesia advises to drink only bottled water on Moorea, we stopped at a nearby market to stock up on water and snacks. The hotel does not provide any free bottled drinking water. Unless you want to pay 450XPF ($6.25) for a tiny 50cl bottle of water from the mini bar - go to the grocery.

My husband is a Sofitel Privilege card holder which entitle the guest to a late checkout. We were fortunate and grateful that we had the opportunity to do so with one bungalow. We appreciated the 4p.m. checkout (vs. noon), as we had a late Sunday night flight back to the U.S. Upon checkout, the front desk clerk asked us if there were any complaints. I told her that we had started out on a bad note with our abrupt checkin procedure and related the details. I indicated the couples currently registering. Unlike them, there was no warm greeting, no flower leis, no decorated drinks. Her only response was "sorry, you will get a shell lei when you leave". We got the impression that guests were an inconvience to the staff. When they ask if you needed anything , you better say "no". It is a lovely resort, but it lacks genunine Tahitian warmth, kindness and common sense courtesy.

This hotel was recently renovated & you can definitely tell! They provided us with excellent service the entire week. The bungalows were beautiful & the restaurants were fantastic. We also loved Moorea & enjoyed a lot of great activities.

The greats:
- Fantastic breakfast buffet--eggs made to order, tons of water, fresh squeezed juice, fresh french pastries, etc. The best we had while in French Polynesia & included in our rate.
- Great views from the bar & restaurant of Tahiti--just beautiful
- Beautiful infinity pool--a little small--but you should spend the majority of your time at the beach anyway
- Great beach--longer than any other hotel & you can access a public beach in just a few minutes which is fun as well
- Good scuba options with a nice staff
- The bungalow was top notch--very clean & new
- They kept leaving unexpected gifts in our room--champagne, free vanilla beans, tea, etc.
- Nightly tahitian dancing & music at the restaurant

The negatives:
- They serve cold stale french fries (on purpose) at their bar during cocktail hour. How about peanuts? Or the fantastic olives they serve at lunch?
- They charge for bike rentals--although the bikes are nice, it would be great if this was included. Definitely rent them & bike around the island though--fantastic views & you can visit stores & restaurants
- That's about it! Overall, one of our favorites!

We stayed at this resort for 3 nights before going to the Intercontinental Thalasso Bora Bora Resort . We had originally booked a garden bungalow but somehow got upgraded to an overwater bungalow, which we were thrilled about. The room was great, but what I enjoyed most about the resort was its beach and the snorkeling that's so easily accessible. It was so nice to have a beautiful, uncrowded beach within the resort and to be able to just take a swim and see cute tropical fish at the same time. I came to appreciate this much more after we went to the IC Thalasso in Bora Bora, where the beach appears to be man-made and the water is beautifully turquoise but almost completely empty of fish (other than ugly gray reef fish that seem to be common). We did see one stingray swim by, but that's it.

If we go back to the Sofitel Moorea, we'd stay in a beach bungalow. Again the beach in my opinion is the best thing about this resort, so I'd prefer to be close to it. It's unnecessary to stay in an overwater bungalow here.

One thing that I perhaps naively didn't expect but encountered there were geckos in our overwater bungalows, both in Moorea and in Bora Bora. We had 1 or 2 in our room for 2 of the nights we were Moorea. Some people may not mind this, but I was completely freaked out and could not relax until I knew they were gone. I found out that geckos are valued and honored by the local people. I respect that, and wouldn't mind seeing them around outside, but I can't handle them in my room and bathroom! Just know this ahead of time, although they may not be avoidable if you're staying in any kind of bungalow accommodations.

Also, we did not purchase a meal plan before going, so we paid for breakfast (at the time around $30 pp) and tried to get other meals elsewhere, which is very difficult since there is almost nothing else immediately around the resort. If we go again, in order to better enjoy our stay and relax more, we'd go for the meal plan. Even if it may seem expensive, I think it may be worth it.

The Sofitel Moorea was absolutely gorgeous and exactly what we were hoping for. We flew from LAX to PPT arriving on Sunday night at about 6:00pm. We spent one night at the Sofitel Tahiti, which was fine for one night, but I certainly wouldn't stay any longer. It was great though, because we woke up the next morning and walked to the Carrefour market (about 5 minute walk) prior to taking the ferry over to Moorea. We had purchased some wine and liquor at the LAX duty-free, and I HIGHLY recommend that you do this unless paying $15-20US/drink is in your budget. At the Carrefour, which is sort of like a Super Wal-Mart, we picked up some water, Hinano, Tahiti Drink, and some mixers for our liquor. If you have the time and are staying at the Sofitel Tahiti, I again highly recommend this, as it saved us a lot of money and provided the convenience of having drinks in our room in Moorea (including water)!!

The ferry ride over the Moorea was great - if you get any kind of sea or motion sickness, sit in the back or up on top (wear sunscreen!!). Our arrival to the Sofitel Moorea was smooth and we were soon in our gorgeous overwater bungalow (#215) which had a great view of Tahiti and the beach at the Sofitel. The bungalows are gorgeous, comfortable, clean - no complaints at all there!! FYI, with an audio jack, you can play your ipod through the Bose clock radio. The snorkelling was great right off the bungalow.

We had breakfast and dinner included in our plan. The dinners were actually all a bit confusing - I guess we had to do the buffet every night. Which actually turned out to be fine for us, because the food was pretty good, and having the variety was a must since they prepare the buffet for so many different palates (American, European, Asian, South American) - so, some of the choices may not necessarily be what you would expect as an American, but it was OK because you could go back up and get something else. The hubby was very happy about this since he often "struck out" on his first plate. Also, the desserts were excellent. And breakfast was great - no complaints (and I miss the chocolate croissants!!) Finally, as mentioned by others, lunch was VERY expensive ($100++/day total), but the portions are HUGE so we found we actually preferred to share a lunch, especially the vegetarian pizza.

We did two tours - the 4x4 with Moorea Explorer and the Lagoon shark/ray feeding with Albert's. We booked both through the front desk. Both were a blast - if you do Albert's, bring the Sofitel's snorkelling equipment with you (we didn't and regretted it). If you do the 4X4, bring bug spray and water (again, we didn't and regretted it). Other than that, we did a lot of relaxing, snorkelling and reading and just generally enjoying the gorgeous views.

One thing to note - I am a Sofitel Privilege cardholder, which is supposed to entitle me to a 4:00 checkout if available. Apparently, it wasn't available for us, so we had to check out at noon, though our transport didn't come until 4:00. This was fine though - we had lunch and hung out by the pool, and then took showers in an area they provided to us, so no big deal. Upon advice I received in the forum, we purchased a couple of pizzas from Maeva pizza at the Moorea ferry dock, and brought them with us to the PPT airport, and boy were we glad we did!! Everyone kept asking us where we got the pizza - it wasn't the best pizza ever, but it was better than any of the options at the airport!! The pizza takes 15-20 minutes to prepare, so plan accordingly.

Overall, this was a fantastic trip, and we really enjoyed it. If you are lookinjg for the ultimate relaxing vacation or honeymoon, with beatiful lagoons and views, go here. Based on the other resorts we saw on the island, the Sofitel definitely is the nicest (though the Sheraton looked nice too).