I just returned from my two week honeymoon in Bora Bora. The first week was at theThalasso IC and the seconed was at the St. Regis. When we first arrived, we were impressed. Compared to our previous hotel, the beach appeared nicer with more comfortable chairs, the pool and swim up bar were much nicer, and they had more restaurants that we were excited to try. We were taken to our room which was at least 1 mile away from the hotel on the farthest dock in the middle of the lagoon. I found this amusing since we requested three times to be in shallow water. Coming from the Intercontinental where I played everyday off my bungalow, I was disappointed knowing I wouldn't swim in 25 foot water off my bungalow. We then decided to switch to one grade up and were put in literally the closest bungalow facing the mountain to the resort. Even there the water was too deep for me to feel comfortable in, but it wasn't as rough and we were very close to the hotel so we decided it was fine.

While at the hotel we did enjoy the very comfotable pool chairs and swim up bar. However, the pool/beach manager told me he would not put an umbrella up at the beach because of wind. I admit there was some wind, but it was nothing out of the ordinary. As a very fair person, I can't layout without an unbrella therefore, not oneday could I spend at the beach. Also, there were three things the housekeeping/room service did that I thought was 100% unacceptable. First, three times in a row when we ordered a bottle of wine at night, they overpriced it by 2-3 thousand francs. I caught it everytime and they fixed it, but give me a break. I could see one time, but three! They are probably use to people just signing away. Well I'm glad I didn't. Also, when they cleaned the room they left all of our empty glasses and bottles for three days! I called roomservice on the second day and it wasn't until the third they removed it, only to put it on our dock! Lastly, the staff would enter literally 1 to 2 seconds after ringing the doorbell. I couldn't even rise before they barged in, let alone get to the door.

There were highlights like I mentioned, the bar staff was excellent, the sushi restaurant was excellent, and key staff members were unforgetable. However, going from the Thalasso where I played off my bungalow and layed in an umbrella on the beach and experienced out of this world room service, I was left bewildered. The St. Regis was suppose to be the "top-dog" there. My opinion is that they know they are rated the best, so they don't try as hard.

When I checked out, I told the front desk manager my conerns AFTER I paided the bill. He then graciously offered to refund me for the upgrades I payed and give me 2,000 starwood points. After numerous calls to starwoods corporate office, I was refunded a total of $1800 US dollars and given 6,000 points as a member of the hotel. I am grateful for this.

As I mentioned before, the St. Regis had a better overall resort and rooms than the IC Thalasso, but the experience at the Thalasso was 100% perfect and I will never forget the hours I spent swimming with my new husband off our bungalow. That was of course for us, as well as many others, the point of even getting an overwater bungalow. Good luck with your travels!

Has it ever occurred to you that you are somewhere for holidays and wanna do nothing but stay in the hotel????? This is St Regis!! It's so perfect that you want to spend your entire time there! This was our first stop in our honeymoon and we spent there 5 great nights (we also went to rangiroa). I have been investigating for over a year all the resorts in bora bora and other places in French Polynesia before we selected St Regis and we haven't regretted it at all. It was worth every single penny. Of course I also read the negative reviews on Trip Advisor but I wasn't worried at all. My compliments go first of all to the staff for their manners. Especially the local staff (polynesians), there're so genuine and friendly. Everyone, from the battler, to the room service, maintenance etc etc. were always at our disposal. Of course, it's normal that you might come across 1 or two people that are not as professional or friendly as the others but this is normal I think; but the ratio is 1 to 10. You will say, I paid a few thousands of $$ to go there so I expect the royal treatment. Well, for us it was indeed the royal treatment, so I'm afraid I have nothing negative to say about the resort!! They even gave us a honeymoon gift, a 50 min couple's massage at their Spa which was an amazing experience. I'd also like to point out that Bora Bora is a resort destination. Don't expect to go "downtown" playing the tourist. "Downtown" simply does not exist!! The central village, Vaitape has a couple of shops but nothing more than that. There's also no nightlife. Expect to go to bed by 9.30 pm!!! Which is great actually!! The only night activities are going to the restaurant. We tried the Bloody Mary and the restaurants of the resort (Te Pahy and Lagoon) and all were really great. We would definitely go back there!!!

We went to Tahiti for our honeymoon and I must stay that the St Regis Bora Bora offered the best service, the best food, and the best overall experience that we've ever experienced before.
Even before we arrived, I was researching the hotel and activities and I was very impressed with the way that the responses were quickly replied and the detail regarding the activities and things we’ve inquired.
When we arrived, we felt we were welcomed into Paradise.
All employees were always smiling and made us feel very welcomed during our entire stay.
The hotel grounds are very well taken care of. There are flowers blooming everywhere...
One of the greatest highlights of St Regis Bora Bora is the fact that everywhere you go: the pool, the Spa, even out for an activity, they provide Evian Water so you feel hydrated. This was very important for us since we are big water drinkers and this was a great feature that none of the other hotels offered during our hotel researching process.
The activities were well planned and we were able to enjoy each one of them to its fullest (Snuba, Jet Ski, Jeep Safari, Bora Bora island Tour, etc).
The resort has a beautiful lagoon where we spent most of our days snorkeling with the native fauna.
We had total privacy during our stay. Since we were there for our honeymoon, we wanted to make sure we would spend quality time that would create memories for the rest of our lives.
We experienced divine cooking at the Lagoon Restaurant for four nights. The staff at the restaurant is very well trained, attentive and made us feel so welcomed.
We also watched a dinner show one night at the main restaurant at the hotel to experience the Tahitian dance, songs, and culture.
We are looking forward to go back to St Regis Bora Bora one day to celebrate an anniversary and experience Paradise all over again.

My husband and I stayed here for a week during our 3 week honeymoon. I can't even begin to tell you how excited we were to stay her, the St. Regis in San Francisco is EXCELLENT.

From the moment we got there we were SO disappointed with the staff. Yes, the rooms are great, but all the hotels in Bora Bora have over-water villas. The staff was SO rude. They acted like we were infringing on their vacation whenever we requested something. We were paying $1500/night and stayed for 7 days. I could not BELIEVE how rude they were. I signed up for TripAdvisor JUST to write this review and PLEAD with you not to go here. If you are going to Bora Bora, the Four Seasons is opening a resort (that will be open Fall '08) go there instead!

Just a couple of examples: there is a japanese restaurant at the hotel, it only has 5 tables. There were 2 staff members of the hotel dining at the restaurant, and we saw them turn away TEN different couples because they were full. THE STAFF should NOT be taking a table in such a small restaurant with high demand. We waited 1 1/2 hours for them to get our bags when leaving. We finally carried them ourselves to the lobby and they were like OH we are so sorry, we were just busy. We asked to talk to the manager but she was hiding in the back office and would not come and speak to us, they said she was busy but I SAW her peek out!! Unbelievable.

It wasn't just us either, we spoke to 3 different couples at the airport. All are well traveled and stay at nice hotels. They were APPALLED by the staff. One woman complained so much she received a 50% refund on her room. And they were only there 2 nights!!!