We had very high hopes for the St Regis in Bora Bora, which was the second stop on our recent honeymoon. Overall, the resort itself definitely lived up to expectations. The setting is idyllic - we stayed in a beautiful overwater bungalow with views over the main island. The bungalow itself was very large and generally well equipped, as was the entire resort. The only issues we had were with the service. As prior reviews have noted, things are very expensive and thats something you need to get over before you arrive. Expense is not such an issue when the service lives up to it, as it generally does with the other "6 star" resorts that charge at this level. But when it does not, and you feel like you are being nickel and dimed, it is a bit frustrating (USD20 to deliver a tea bag that should have been provided in the room anyway for example). Another example - USD100 a head (pretty much) for breakfast - not a problem if you have great food and service - but if you get a poor selection of stale luke warm fly ridden items, with a decided lack of charm from certain employees, its not such a winning concept. About 75% of the staff are lovely - and you really get the feeling that they couldn't do more to help. OK - things are a bit slow, but you expect that in this area of the world. But when the other 25% are surly, it makes the effort of the good 75% not so noticeable! I would still rate the St Regis as a great 5 star resort, but when you want to charge 6 star prices, you need to up your game a bit beyond that and the little things really do start to matter. I didnt stay anywhere else in Bora Bora, so dont have anything to compare it to though.

We just spent a lovely week at the St. Regis. The property is beautiful, the service is outstanding and the food excellent. Had two dinners outside the property, Bloody Marys (so-so, not worth it in our opinion,) and Villa Mahana (outstanding, like dining in Paris). We would go back in a heartbeat if we were closer (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) and the dollar rebounds.

Smokingjoe

The St. Regis, like almost everyone has said before me, is a very, very beautiful resort. We were there the week of April 27 to May 3rd. Perfect weather throughout our stay. Split our stay between a beach villa with a lagoon view and an overwater villa with a mt. otemanu and sunset view. the overwater villa was 224 if anyone was wondering and if you look at the st. regis property map, you'll see that the villas on that row have a pretty good view of mt otemanu to your left and the sunset to your right.

Restaurants -- Lagoon was decent. maybe 3.5 out of 5 stars. Food was tasty but didnt find the menu all too appealing. Service was relatively fast though. Didnt like Te Pahu at all. For the prices they charge, they should at least make an effort to make the food good. Sushi Take was good. A tip for anyone dinning here would be to sit at the sushi bar as the chef sometimes gives diners something not on the menu.

Complaints -- Pillows and pillow sheets did not smell april fresh. At first I thought that maybe after we switch rooms they'll smell better. Not the case. We stayed at a bunch of other starwood properties and all their pillows and bed smelled good.
Also, the day we arrived, they gave us a bottle of champagne as a gift (we were on our honeymoon) and a plate of various sweets which we finished as soon as they served it to us. After 2 days, the plate was still uncleared. I was just wondering, the maid comes in to clean the bungalow 2x a day, how hard is it for them to clear the plate?

Hmm, what else? The gym was nice. They have a nice set of dumbells (10 to 50 pounds) and a few exercise machines, a couple of threadmills and some elliptical machines. The Lagoon was ok. Good to snorkel in if you had nothing else to do.
A few more years or so this should look nicer as the corals will settle and bloom.

Overall a pretty good stay. Food was expensive but everywhere in BoraBora is expensive anyway (if your money is in US dollars). Just suck it all up and dont bother with the exchange rate :)

Would i come back again? Maybe but not anytime soon. As the previous reviewer said, there's just so many other places to visit.

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.