We booked this through Pacific for Less to celebrate my husband's 50th. They were amazing! For a trip like this, you have to use a Travel Agent. So many transfers and things we didn't even realize they put together for you. They made this trip a dream come true. The hotel was amazing and we couldn't have been happier with our over the water bungalow facing Mount Otemanu. The staff was amazing The food was delicious. La Villa Mahana was the best meal we had in Bora Bora. I highly recommend going there.

As many reviewers have noted, the location of this resort can't be beat. Seamless boat transfer. The views of Mt. Otemanu are superb and the beach water is ultra calm. Other reviewers have commented that the overwater bungalows seem very old / worn. We did not find this to be the case and were happy with our accommodations, including excellent housekeeping with nice turndown service we came to really appreciate. The beds were very comfortable and unlike other reviewers, we had absolutely no insects or other critters in our room. It was lovely to take a hot bath at the end of a long beach day while gazing out the window at our gorgeous view. The staff here is very friendly and warm, overall. The beach guys are helpful and sweet although one place for improvement could be the food/bev beach service as it was pretty spotty/inconsistent. We knew ahead of time that we would not find great snorkeling on the premises as other reviewers warned so we made sure to book enough excursions to get our fill. This worked out really well for us as we simply accepted we wouldn't be snorkeling off of our bungalow (we read that theConrad is one of those properties with great snorkeling so if you have your heart set on that this property might be skipped). I can confirm what other reviewers say about the food in Bora Bora, in general: it's mostly mediocre. We did have a few dishes that were better such as a few pasta dishes at Le Te Av. The buffet breakfast at Le Tipanie has lots to choose from and is filling enough to render a true lunch unnecessary for us on most days. We learned that many guests were there on an all inclusive package (all meals included) and I imagine that that would offer tremendous value but we used cash/points so this was not an option for us. We brought floats with rope to secure to our bungalow as other trip advisor reviewers suggested, however, we never once used them! This hotel is family-friendly but most guests are indeed couples. The turtle sanctuary is a lovely feature where injured/diseased turtles receive rehabilitation. You can visit their morning feeding and observe the turtles close up.

We stopped here on our honeymoon before continuing on west. We used points built up from our business travel as I think many do because of the price tag. But places like this are generally why people put up with business travel :-)

The Ups:

-Resort is tastefully designed and laid out well. A nice mix of French and Polynesian touches.
-The bungalows are just terrific. We barely left ours some days. Keep an eye on the sun reflecting off the water though!
-The turtle sanctuary was actually pretty fun to visit - I bet if you had kids they'd love it. Great amenities in general - the beach crew guys are top notch.
-Polynesian people are really nice. I'm sure this is true at other resorts as well.

The Downs:
-We weren't blown away by the food options. The Polynesian Buffet night was mediocre unless you really like fish. The breakfasts were solid though (incl with our room) - I'd recommend going onto the main island for dinners if you're up for that. There are a few terrific restaurants in town. I'm sure it's tough logistically to do food on a motu like that, but for the price tag, I hoped for a little better.

-If you make any reservations for activities outside the resort, make sure you double check. The concierge had us on a different tour than we thought we booked and that was a major bummer.

Other Stuff:
-We came during the "wet" season, so it was humid and hotter at times. The room AC unit struggled to keep up, but we were always able to sleep despite being from cold climates. However....the upside of this was the resort was around 30% occupancy. I could see it being a little crowded at 80%+ so we had plenty of privacy and use of amenities. I think it was a little cheaper - I know it rained for a few days before we were there, but we only had 20 minutes of rain in 7 days.

-We (as well as others) also made runs onto the main island for snacks and drinks that we then ate out at the bungalow

-There were some pretty slick drinks served at breakfast if you ask, but it wasn't really advertised.