Please do your homework on the St Regis. This was our third trip in three years to Bora Bora. St Regis food is out of this world for Tahiti and her islands. However,the rest of the trip was a huge disapointment. We have stayed at the Pearl the last two years and decided to take it up a notch and stay at the St. Regis this year. It was so disapointing... we had booked the over water deluxe and the first five days were spent with awful plumbing issues. When we we ask for them to do something they would send a guy that has no idea what he was doing finally at 8:00 pm on the 5th day they move us to a different villa. It was a beach villa very pretty and much bigger than we were booked for, we could see the ocean and it had a private pool. (FYI bugs are much worse inland than over water)

Back to the overwater villa we always stay overwater so that we can snorkel off the deck... the water was not very clear and there were only a few fish, We saw 2 sting rays the whole time and one of those was from the deck of the Lagoon Resturant. At the Pearl the water was clear and we saw all kinds of fish right under our bungalow everyday and all day long. (FYI the food at the Pearl is just okish)

There were a few flowers in our room the first day and that was it. The Pearl put fresh flowers in the rooms daily.

I guess the the thing that bothers me most is that we had cash stolen from my purse and my husbands wallet ($1000 USD). We were stupid and left them out but we have never ran into those issue in French Poly.

So, when we go back to Bora Bora we will stay at the Pearl. And deal with the just ok food.

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.