Slowly but surely I am finding time (and motivation) to blog our two week trip to Tahiti and New Zealand back in August. If you are interested in catching up on the content so far, check out vlog #1, vlog #2, vlog #3, vlog #4 and my Mudbrick Winery travel review. In today’s post, I am so excited to share my thoughts from our stay at the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa. While in Tahiti, we stayed the first three nights at the Intercontinental on Papeete, followed by two nights at the Hilton Moorea in an overwater bungalow (I’ll refer to it as an OWB in this post), and a final night back on Papeete at the Tahiti Hilton Airport hotel before our early morning flight to Auckland. I’ll be transparent, OWB are pricey, and we knew we didn’t want to break the bank staying in one the entire trip. We decided to spice up our overall stay in Tahiti and save money by using Lisa’s Dream Destinations for our IHG and Hilton stays, and credit card points the final night on the Hilton. If you are thinking about traveling to the French Polynesia, I definitely recommend breaking up your stay and visiting different parts of the territory. There are also plenty of beautiful properties to explore that are way more cost effective than staying in an OWB the entire time. We even met quite a few people who used Airbnb or VRBO to rent properties.
Hilton Moorea first impression
The island of Moorea is a 45 minute ferry ride from Papeete followed by a 30 minute taxi ride to the resort from the terminal. Fair warning, taxis seemed scarce so if you don’t want to risk a wait, you can schedule private transfers. However, there are ferries consistently throughout the day so even if a taxi is available when you get off, I anticipate it is a 5-10 minute wait. Even though we were one of the last passengers to grab our luggage from the unloading zone, we were able too snag one of the few taxis. The ride to the hotel was scenic and upon arrival, we were greeted with fresh juice. After a brief check-in, we hung out at the Hilton pool for about an hour until our OWB was ready. Right away we noticed how small and peaceful the resort is. We were the only ones at the pool mid-day, with a majority of people hanging out on the beach or the nearby restaurant. It was so nice being able to walk up to the pool and pick wherever we wanted to sit.
Our OWB
Our bungalow faced the main island, which was still beautiful even though we would have preferred a complete ocean view. The one downside to our particular bungalow was during the specific time of the year (late July), our deck only got sun a few hours mid-day. Also, in case by looking at the pictures you are worried about the proximity to neighboring bungalows, even though they are relatively close together, it still felt like we had privacy.
The room itself is on the smaller side, but I think that is expected when you are staying in a room over the ocean. It is important to note that the bathroom has zero privacy. This is a PSA in case you are a new couple and/or haven’t experienced living in close quarters like this 😉 The sink area overlooks the bedroom/living room and the shower does not have a door on it. While there is a door to where the toilet is located, don’t be fooled thinking you are in an enclosed and soundproof private room. The door is only about 6 feet tall and basically just hides you from sitting on the toilet. Paul and I noticed a few families and sets of couples sharing one bungalow. We kept talking about how weird of bathroom situation that would be.
We spent a lot of time outside enjoying the sunshine (when it wasn’t cloudy and/or raining). Unfortunately, our stay in Moorea was very cloudy with a handful of rain showers each day. On our last day, it poured until we left for the ferry, which was a bummer because we were hoping to swim and hang out in the sunshine before heading back to Papeete.
When it was nice out (and even during some rain storms) we hung out on the upper deck, where there was a table and chairs and two lounge chairs. On the lower deck we had a ladder into the ocean and shower. Snorkel gear is available for free from the resort, so we swam and checked out all the beautiful fish. On the creepier side, we saw a moray eel hiding in between rocks underneath our bungalow and in the early evenings a few sharks made their rounds.
Food & drinks:
We were surprised to find the price of food and drinks were a bit cheaper than the IHG on Papeete. Still expect higher price tags than what you would find back home, but everything was pretty reasonable. Hilton also gave us a free bottle of champagne and macaroons upon our arrival because we were celebrating my birthday.
Overall the food was pretty good, but there aren’t a lot of options. If you are planning on staying more than 3 nights, I recommend venturing off property to check out some of the local restaurants. We ended up ordering room service both nights because we wanted to make the most of our time in the OWB. On the second evening, we headed over to the crepe restaurant after dinner for dessert. Breakfast was included in our booking and was buffet style at the main restaurant. We really enjoyed all the options, but if it wasn’t included in our booking, we probably wouldn’t have paid the daily breakfast fee.
Overall thoughts
We are fortunate to have stayed in an OWB in St. Lucia two years ago, so we were excited to reflect on the two experiences. Overall, we loved the atmosphere and scenery at the Hilton Moorea. Just look how blue the water was! But the all-inclusive aspect of the Sandals St. Lucia OWB stay was one of a kind and even came with a butler. Our St. Lucia OWB was also a tad bigger and the deck area was more conducive of lounging with a hammock, plenty of lounge chairs, and even an outdoor tub. The Moorea OWB deck was quite a bit smaller, but still very serene. Despite the little differences, we had an amazing time and I was so fortunate to celebrate my birthday in an OWB in the middle of the French Polynesia!
Feel free to reach out if you have any specific questions about our experience. I am happy to give any recommendations and/or answer questions.
Our travel agent Lisa (also my mom) organized our Tahiti and New Zealand vacation and ensured our trip was 10/10. If you’re thinking about booking a vacation, reach out to Lisa with Lisa’s Dream Destinations. Working with a Professional Travel Agent can save you both time and money and in turn, reduce stress that comes along with travel planning. Contact Lisa today and let her know you were referred by Miss Olivia. Says: Destinationsbylisa@gmail.com.
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xoxo Olivia
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