My wife and I stayed here for our honeymoon after much searching. In fact, we stayed here twice. Once in an overwater bungalow, and once in a beach villa. We sandwiched a Bora Bora cruise in between, which was AMAZING! Review to follow.

First impressions of the resort are great. We were greeted at the airport and boarded a little boat for a 10 minute ride to the resort. Once we go there we were received with a great little duet singing island songs, and drinks and reception staff. Check in was easy, and we were whisked away to our overwater bungalow by golf cart. We had a great spot, overlooking Bora Bora itself, and the accommodation was amazing. I've got some great pictures, which I hope to add, but I was really impressed with the quality of all fixtures and fittings and the location itself. The memory of sitting on the deck sipping a glass of wine as the sun went down will stay with me for a long time. Overwater bungalows are also cool since they're...well... overwater. If you like a swim or snorkel, you can just dive straight in and swim with the fish. We also had the joy of swimming with wild rays and turtles. How cool is that? The beach bungalows are also nice, with a great little plunge pool (actually bigger than a plunge pool, but not quite a pool, pool), and are absolutely vast. However, the one we had overlooked the ocean not the lagoon, which meant the view was a little desolate. No big deal.

So why is it average then? Well, the service is really variable. We were on our honeymoon so I was pretty relaxed but the length of time it took to get a drink at the bar was bordering on the criminal. The breakfast buffet is also pretty shocking, with a desperately sad selection of hot dishes and flies pretty much covering everything else. The pricing is also mixed up, with a fruit juice being more expensive than a beer!? Probably the worst thing though, was the "fine dining" restaurant. We went a number of times, which surprised me, since our first trip was an absolute shocker. The service there was beyond appalling and it took us nearly 45 minutes to get our aperitif. As I recall, it came with our starter!? The table was also barely lit with any candles, and even after requesting some extra we had to rely on taste to tell what we're eating rather than sight. Interesting experience that. To cap it all, I had the embarrassment of challenging the bill, since the wine they'd brought us, was MUCH more expensive than the wine I'd ordered. Since I couldn't see the label, I had no way of knowing, but it still left a bad taste in my mouth. Figuratively speaking. To be fair, the restaurant manager sorted it all out, but I was very reluctant to return.

So, would I go back? Probably not. Actually, I probably wouldn't go back to Bora Bora at all, but that's more because there are so many other places to visit. I think we visited the hotel soon after it's opening, so maybe they were still ironing out a lot of issues, but for a resort of this calibre and cost, in a place where there are plenty of alternatives, you end up expecting perfection. The location delivered, but sadly the logistics didn't.

My wife and I just returned from our honeymoon at the St. Regis and have to say it is one of the most beautiful places we have ever been to. We were there from the end of March '08 for 6 days and had flawless weather. I plan to return to the St. Regis as often as possible, it is truly an amazing place.

I'll start by getting the few negatives out of the way first. While we were there there was a water issue and had the water turned off on several occasions. Slightly annoying, but we understood it was beyond their control. Also, there seems to be an ongoing gas strike and were told that several of the excursions had to be cancelled because of a shortage. The biggest issue we had was service in the restaurants. We didn't feel that it was up to par as you would expect in a resort of the St. Regis caliber. Although everyone was very friendly, the service was slow and somewhat forgetful on several occasions, and had to call management at one point. We did find a server we liked Julia, and had her wait on us as much as possible. Julia made up for a lot of our service issues. thanks Julia!!

Now, regarding the expense. Everything is extremely expensive. If you're going there, know it now and get over it. If you do not realize that your on a tiny island and everything has to be flown in as well as at a premier resort, you are fooling yourself. We definitely recomend the meal plan. With it you get breakfast and dinner at all of the restaurants and it saved us a great deal of money. If you do not opt for the meal plan, you can go to the main island, buy some groceries and alcohol if you drink, and save yourself money. You can have a great time, go on excursions and maintain a budget...just don't set it too low.

We stayed at one of the overwater bungalos (321) and the room was stunning. Spacious, beautiful view of the lagoon and sunrise. We were up every morning with coffee to enjoy the view. The water is crystalline blue and gorgeous. The bed was awesome, very comfy and larget flat screen tv (2) along with a bose stereo system throughout. Very private, the resort was at about 50% while we were there and enjoyed some sunbathing in the buff. Quick tip, buy some cheap rafts before you go and leave them when you leave. Made the lagoon that much more enjoyable. Just awesome, clean, great butler service. Our butler was Etienne and he even let me borrow his personal IPod charger all week as I forgot mine. Can not say enough about the room and resort in general.

We did the JetSki excursion from the resort around the island and it was awesome. Our guides were friendly and we stopped several times to view coral gardens and have a break for water and fresh coconut. Bring your masks that they provide in the room to view the coral better. We did a private single tank dive which the concierge set up for us through DiveEasy. Our favorite excursion. Our guide was named Ben and he was awesome. Just the nicest man, he helped to calm my wife down during the dive and even held her hand until she was comfortable. Diving with Lemon Sharks and Black tipped Sharks made her a bit uneasy. The reef was beautiful and if you dive, the cost is definitely worth it. About $800 US for approx 3 hours total. Ben also took us to an isolated coral garden a favorite spot among locals and allowed me to snorkel. He took underwater pictures and video clips of our dive and provided on a cd. Definitely will use him again when we go back.

We did go into town once, but did not spend alot of time there. We were too busy enjoying the resort. If you are planning to buy pearls, you can get the best price at the airport in Papeete than on Bora Bora. We bought ours at the Tahiti Pearl Market on Tahiti and realized we could have saved about $200-300. Although the experience at the Market was great. We picked our own pearls, had a choice of thousands ranging in quality, size and color and had them set right there. Worth the extra cost.

We used the spa almost everyday. Great work out facility and the massages we rec'd were great and the staff at the Spa some of the best at the resort. Snorkeling in the lagoon near the spa was fun and lots of different fish to see. If you get up early enough you can grab a couple of bikes for the day, which we did almost every day and tour the resort that way. Great way to get around.

For dinner, definitely make reservations at Lagoon as soon as you get to the resort so you can reserve an outside table for sunset. Great food, view, ambeance ...the whole setting. We made friends while we were there and had dinner and drinks there several times in lieu of going to Villa Mahana or Bloddy Mary's. Mixed reviews from people who were there. Although food was said to be great at Villa Mahana. We were also told by new friends about the all day catamaran and private dinner excursion as well as 4x4 tour on main island ,and they were worth the cost. We were in more of a lounge about mode.

Overall an unbelievable experience. We were sad to leave. Bringing us to that, we stayed 2 nights in Tahiti at the Intercontinental hotel before we left. I wish I would have spent those 2 days at the St. Regis. The food was aweful, and room was mediocre. I guess everything is a let down after the St. Regis. Although, I will not be going back to that hotel. The market was interesting, but we did everything in about a day. . And bought our pearls there. A whole different experience than Bora Bora.

Well I hope this review is helpful. I did alot of research before we chose the St. Regis and was glad we did. As seen in previous reviews, I'm sure some of the issues will be resolved when the Four Seasons opens later this year. We spoke with alot of people who visted Tahiti, Moorea, and some of the other islands..they all said the same thing, time better spent at Bora Bora and St. Regis. We will be going back . I used Heather Stewart at Tahiti Legends travel and she was a great help. Did not push any one resort, has visted many of the different resorts and gave us an objective viewpoint. We would recommend her and will use Legends again. Good Luck!

just completing a stay at the St Regis and do not plan to return. Location and facilities are generally quite nice. Upon arrival Sat 3/29, we found no water available in the room. Water service was restored sometime in the evening so we could then take showers and freshen up - no notice on this from the butler who did the hotel tour with us and then dropped us off at the bungalow. No water to drink available except for one liter bottle from minibar - 700 cpf=US$10 - quite amaazing. We did later find a note from management in the service cabinet just outside the front door to the bungalow - this is where the staff apparently keeps extra towels - not usual place for guests to access. resort had open excavations apparently associated with the water system work but saw no one working the issue during the entire stay. Water leaks were evident at the construction site on the path to the Oasis Pool.

caution - room service was supposed to be 20-30 minute wait on delivery - closer to one hour is practical fact.

free shuttle boat to shore but then US$100 taxi ride to town (and the return the same cost) - not the hotels problem but unexpected surprize.

hamburger and fries - US$45, Casear salad - US$35, breakfast buffet about US$100/person

Bungalow is very comfortable but maid service is spotty and limited. Dirty dishes were left out after the bungalow was serviced.

One reason we selected the hotel was for a no-smoking policy. Apparently does not apply to staff (an apparent manager smoked multiple cigarettes at breakfast (while in conversation with a couple from Papette we had ridden the airport shuttle boat with) - rest staff pointly ignored the restriction bringing him ashtrays periodically. Also does not apply at bar or in the bungalows - smoking in the bungalows is particularly concerning with the possiblity of fire and apparently shakey status of the water supply.

The Oasis pool is quite lovely but apparently requires a paid reservation to use it (curious when this is the only pool mentioned on the hotel's main website and pointed out by the butler without a caution on the paid reservatiuon nature of the pool use ($200/4 hours for a two person cabana). My wife and other guests were asked to leave by hotel staff - curiously no one from the suite (#216) that had reserved the pool cabanas (all of them for all day according to the pool staff) was at the pool - no reserved signage - hotel reception staff politely showed us the pool cabana resrvation paper when we enquired - the booklet available in the room appears to state that the cabanas can be reserved but does not indicate that without a cabana reservation, the pool cannot be used by guests also no indication in the room booklet that fee was required to use the pool.

The hotel's private lagoon is also quite beautiful to view but has limited access and was experiencing low visibility in the area closest to the main hotel. This was one of the features that also attracted us to the resport over other lower cost resorts - extremely limited access, no staff available to direct guests to locations that might have better viewing - limited fish in the most accessible portion.

the natural lagoon under the bungalow was devoid of fish even around the coral heads - in this three day stay we saw one ray at a distance, perhaps 4 puffer-like fish - we did see quite a few small (6-8inch) ribbon-like fish - would like to know their name but no info available to describe the indigenous fish.

Lots of technical concerns with the hotel - many many nuts on the bolts that tie the support columns and beams together on the boardwalk to the overwater bungalows are loose - no lock washers. Structure does sway when hotel golfcarts run down it - fair amount of rail damage where the carts have hit the railing. Boardwalk lighting was subdued and quite nice but over 90% of the wiring holddown clamps have broken off and the wiring is now unsupported - likelihood of spark and fire with time as the wiring insulation abrades away. Clamps were plastic from regular home repair supply and had deteriortated from sunlight exposure. Visible water leaks under the bungalows and walkways out to bungalows. We experienced a major sewage backup that took some hours to correct. The main pathways throughout the resort are tiles bedded in sand - numerous places tiles are loose and sticking up perhaps two inches above the surface level - major tripping hazards and could cause horrible accident if one were to trip and fall into the path of the zooming hotel carts - staff is usually fairly observatant but less cautious at night. One our bungalow deck, deckplanks had been repaired with stainless steel screws to re-fasten planks - screws were not driven to be flush with the deck surface and remain both a tripping hazard and a foot cut hazard.

At $1500 per night, one would expect better service and facility condition.

After staying in Tahiti and Moorea, the St Regis in Bora Bora was by far the best resort we have been to in awhile. The staff were extremely nice and quick to serve you in any way possible, the grounds were huge and incredible. The rooms were tremendous (1600 sq feet), clean, and hi-end. You truly get the best of both worlds, luxury lodging with secluded privacy in the middle of a turquoise paradise.

The USD doesn't go as far as usual these days, where a hamburger at the Regis will set you back $50+ USD, and a beer is easily over $20.

The jean-george restaurant, Lagoon was amazing ($250 dinner), and the Spa was extremely good as well ($200 for 50 min massage).

All in all (prices aside) it was quite an incredible resort, and I would definitely recommend it.