A trip to Bora Bora is an absolute dream experience and is high on millions of travelers’ bucket lists. It was certainly at the top of mine! I was so happy when Kevin and I agreed to go on our “second” honeymoon in French Polynesia (we went on 2…he picked one and I picked one). I knew Bora Bora was a luxury destination with a luxury price point, but if we were going all that way I thought we had better go when we were able. It’s a good thing we did, too, because shortly after we returned home the Coronavirus shut down the world.
After researching all the beautiful resorts that Bora Bora has to offer, we settled on the Conrad Bora Bora Nui. There are a few reasons we chose the Conrad: I have a friend who generously extends me her employee Hilton friends & family rates, I have Hilton Gold Status which means I get free breakfast, and according to the reviews, it’s more updated than its competitors.
This site may contain affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links, at no cost to you
Arrival
All of the large resorts on Bora Bora are located on outlying motus (small islands surrounding the main Bora Bora island). The Conrad is no different, although unlike the other resorts it is ocean-facing rather than mountain-facing. The only way to arrive is by boat transfer, and the resort provides this service for a fee. You can either take the boat directly from the airport to the resort for XPF13900 per person round trip (around $130USD), or you can take the free Air Tahiti boat to the main island, and then take the Conrad boat from there. This second option is less convenient but it’ll only cost XPF1500 per person round trip, which saves around $110 per person!! We chose the second option and are SO GLAD we saved that money.
The transfer from Vaitape (the main town) to the Conrad Bora Bora Nui resort departs on a schedule, which is posted where the free airport ferry drops you off. The resort boat didn’t depart from the same dock however, so we had to haul our luggage on a 5-minute walk to the dock behind the Robert Wan jewelry store. There’s a little phone on the dock that connects directly to the resort in case you’re unsure about timing or need to contact them for any reason. I e-mailed the resort ahead of time to let them know what time we would be taking the boat, just to make sure they knew we were coming
The boat departed just about on time and the ride was a scenic 15 or so minutes. When we arrived, our luggage was whisked away and we were given an ice-cold towel and hibiscus-infused water. We filled out the normal paperwork, along with giving them our departing flight info and our plan to take the “cheap” way back to the airport. They wanted to know our plan so they could schedule us on the appropriate boat. After all that Kevin, myself, and two other ladies boarded a golf cart so the concierge could give us a quick welcome tour.
Our Room
The concierge then dropped the two ladies off at the pool bar and drove Kevin and me to our room. Although we booked a King Garden View Suite (basically a large hotel room, the lowest category they have), we were upgraded to a King Deluxe Overwater Villa for our entire stay. I never found out why exactly we were upgraded, but I was over the moon! An overwater bungalow in Bora Bora?? I pretty much felt like the coolest person ever and was just waiting for Beyoncé to call me to hang out. It was THAT cool.
The concierge gave us a very detailed tour of our villa, showing us where all the important switches were and how to use everything. I tried to stay cool but I probably looked as excited as if Chris Hemsworth had just proposed to me!! The 1,249 square foot room was divided between a large bedroom, huge bathroom, a dressing room, and a large two-tiered deck for outdoor living space. The deck featured two large hammocks suspended over the water, a ladder for entering & exiting the ocean, and a freshwater shower to rinse off (and irritate your husband by spraying him constantly).
As I said, the bathroom was very large and featured a circular bathtub that could probably fit three people (I said probably…I didn’t try that theory out). One side had a large mirror, sink, lots of counter space, and a walk-in shower with a large rainfall shower head. This was mirrored on the other side, with a toilet room instead of a shower. The toiletries were Mandarin Tea brand. All the plugs throughout the villa were universal, so we didn’t need converters. The little dressing room beside the bathroom had a small desk, closet space, a safe, and robes and slippers for when we felt bougie (so all the time).
The mini bar was extensive, with all manners of snacks, beer, wine, liquor, and non-alcoholic drinks. The menu showed the prices, and it was all very expensive (true Bora Bora style). There was also an espresso machine and an electric kettle for our ramen tea. My favorite part of the room was the Bluetooth sound system. You could pair your phone to the system and play music outside on the deck, in the room, and even in the bathroom, although I didn’t use that one.
Check out the King Deluxe Overwater Villa tour!
The Resort Grounds
The grounds of the resort are extensive and cover a large area on the backside of a hilly motu. It faces the ocean and reef. There are a few parts of the resort where there is a view of the iconic Mount Otemanu, but most of the property has sea views. Since the resort is so big, they provide you with free bicycles to get around the property. They were kind of just strewn around for the taking, although they were in varying states of disrepair. Some were rusty, others had broken chains, and still others had flat tires. It was an adventure each time we rode, but it was still better than walking.
There are 4 restaurants on property, as well as pool service and room service. There is a French restaurant, a Chinese restaurant, a sushi lounge, and a beach grill (closed for dinner). Of all those, we only ate dinner at the sushi lounge. We had room service twice and indulged in the Polynesian dinner one night. We visited the resort in February, which is the low season. The resort was undergoing renovations while we were there, and the sushi lounge closed the day after we arrived. This meant there were only 2 dinner restaurants available, or room service.
As we were trying to keep our spending under wraps, we didn’t get to try each restaurant. The food at the sushi lounge was pretty tasty, but two rolls, a large water, and an order of edamame came out to $88 USD, so we tried to limit restaurant spending. The room service was pretty much the menu from the beach grill, with casual fare like pizzas and burgers, with an upcharge of $14 to bring it to your villa. We were too comfy in our room to go out and we thought it might save us some money to order in, despite the service charge. The other restaurants were a little too upscale for our budget, although I do wish we could have tried the food.
Conrad Bora Bora Nui Breakfast
Breakfast is served in the Iriatai French restaurant. It is buffet-style although they did have an ala carte menu if you wanted to supplement with made-to-order eggs or other items. I found the breakfast to be extraordinary, and were the best meals we had at the Conrad Bora Bora Nui. The buffet was extensive, with sections upon sections of food. There were tons of pastries, hot options (with American and International selections), lots of fruit, cereal, and basically anything else you could want. The food was delicious and we stole food for later ate enough to not be too hungry for lunch later in the day.
One of my credit cards affords me Hilton Gold Status, which means that breakfasts for Kevin and me are complimentary at Hilton properties. As the charge is around $50USD per person, this saved us a whopping $400!! I highly recommend you get $95 annual fee Hilton Aspire credit card if you’ll be visiting the Conrad, click here to apply and we’ll both get a bonus!
The Pool
The Conrad Bora Bora Nui has one of the best resort pools I’ve ever visited. It’s a huge 2-tiered infinity pool, complete with cabanas and semi-submerged loungers. The cabanas are first-come first-served, and since we were there in the off-season we didn’t have any trouble snagging one.
The Tarava Pool Bar is swim-up on one side, and you can also order drinks and food to your lounger or cabana. The alcoholic drinks are very pricey (around $30 USD each!!) but there is a “Golden Hour”, where four of their signature cocktails are ~$15USD at the swim-up bar. Still not cheap, but the drinks are large and tasty so we felt it was worth it to indulge once or twice.
One of the most useful parts of the pool is the “Beach Boys” shack. This was our base for all of our on-property activities. You can check out snorkel gear, paddleboards, and kayaks free of charge. They even have a schedule of activities happening throughout the week at the resort, some of which are free and some require a charge.
The best part about this shack is the tan boys sunscreen! The resort provides free mineral (reef-safe) sunscreen in huge containers with pumps. They offer SPF 30, 50, and also aloe vera if you still end up getting burnt. We brought several tubes of sunscreen but we’re so religious about applying it that we would have run out if we didn’t have the free stuff available. They got to know me pretty well because I was over there reapplying so much!
Conrad Bora Bora Nui Polynesian Dinner Show
On Tuesdays, Conrad Bora Bora Nui puts on a Polynesian dinner show on the beach at the Tamare Beach Grill. For XPF 12000 (~$115 USD) per person, you get a huge buffet dinner to eat with your toes in the sand as you watch the show. No drinks are included, but I splurged on a glass of wine for $10, which I didn’t think too expensive.
The dancers sing and dance to traditional Polynesian music while you dine, and there’s even a fire dance portion! It was a fun part of the evening, and a nice change from the other nights. If you’re on a budget, I would suggest skipping the show as it’s a little pricey per person. We were lucky enough to be guests of the marketing team, who arranged for us to enjoy the show and dinner in exchange for a few social media shout-outs.
Service
Most of the service we received was very good. The staff lived on the motu so we always saw them coming and going, and every person smiled and said “ia orana” (hello) when we walked or rode by. The concierge and beach boys were always incredibly helpful, and although we didn’t eat much in the restaurants, the food and beverage staff was always very helpful and friendly.
The service got a bit spotty when it came to housekeeping. They were supposed to come twice a day, once to make up the room and once for a turn down service. We were in the room a couple of times when they came to make it up around lunchtime, so we just stepped out on the deck and let them do their thing.
The turn down was inconsistent, however. It may not have been a big deal except for the fact that one of my Gold perks is to receive two bottles of water every day. Since we were sweating like crazy every day and water was expensive to buy, we really looked forward to those bottles of water. We even had to call a couple of the nights to make sure they were even coming to to the turn-down service. Even then, the service was half-hearted and seemed incomplete. This was really our only complaint about the resort or the service we encountered.
Other Conrad Bora Bora Nui Amenities
There are plenty of other amenities for those guests with a larger budget. You can schedule lots of romantic activities, such as lunch on a private island, a champagne dinner with a view of the mountain, or breakfast delivered by canoe to your villa. All of these types of services are for a fee.
The Hina Spa enjoys a commanding location at the top of the hill, with gorgeous views in all directions. Kevin and I did not indulge in any treatments, unfortunately. Next time it might be worth it just for the location! The spa treatments are but it didn’t seem like there was too much of an upcharge considering your location. The relaxation comes a little easier in paradise.
Overall Impressions
Overall I highly recommend the Conrad Bora Bora Nui for a romantic getaway. Bora Bora is an expensive location and the Conrad was no exception. Don’t expect to be able to go to this resort and do it on much of a budget.
Although the service was a little spotty, the resort itself was spotless and very updated. We had heard a few of the other resorts were a little dated, so we made the right decision. It was unfortunate to not always have a view of the famous mountain. The hilly motu made for lovely scenery, however, and we hardly experienced any wind on our side of the resort.
Definitely consider Conrad Bora Bora Nui for your dream Bora Bora vacation!
Click here to check out our travel vlogs from Mo’orea and Bora Bora!
Like this post? Make sure to Pin it!
Our Photo Gear
