Le Bora Bora By Pearl Resorts

A highly recommended destination. Bora Bora is an idyllic destination and one of the unique pearls of the Pacific. La Bora Bora by Pearl Resorts is the perfect-match resort to take advantage of this uniquely beautiful setting.

What a stunning property. The over the water cabins were beautifully decorated and maintained. The fish viewing windows were a lovely addition. The staff were friendly and helpful. The food in the restaurants was great. The surrounding lagoon had lots of fishes to see and was so safe for all levels of snorkeling. I could happily have lived there forever!

You're going to Bora Bora for the snorkeling, right? We were in an over-the-water bungalow. There were a few pieces of coral strategically placed below the window at the foot of the bed. There was coral growing on the pilings. There was a coral garden a few hundred feet away. There were fish (and the occasional sharks) all over the place. Literally steps from the door. We took a lagoon tour... sharks and stingrays and reef fish oh my! Great experience. Highly recommended. On the other hand... you're not real close to anything outside the resort. The village of Vaitape, where all the shopping is, is a boat ride and a $25.00 taxi ride away (each way). The resort has three restaurants. One, Poerava, is excellent if you want a gourmet dinner... except for Sunday and Monday when it's closed. And of course, it's not cheap... $150+ a person. Another, Miki Miki, is okay... the service is pretty good and some of the food is decent. I forget what my wife ordered, but she said she could make better at home, and she's not a chef. Otemanu is the biggest of the three. It serves a breakfast buffet every morning. The scrambled eggs are undercooked. The French toast is inedible... like someone half-dipped a piece of bread in egg and threw it on a hot griddle very briefly. For dinner, there's a Polynesian buffet on Monday and Friday, which we didn't pay for... the food closely resembles the Miki Miki otherwise. I will say, the ice cream is very good. Two scoops served in a chilled dish for 1,000 XPF (roughly $10). There is a small but nice beach, a large pool, a very small fitness center. So, great snorkeling, a great gourmet dining option, and okay otherwise. Oh, and they make a big deal about sustainability. They run solar-powered shuttle boats to/from the airport. They have refillable carafes in the rooms instead of bottled water. But, the hourly shuttle to the main island is by conventional boats with outboard motors, and the water they serve in the restaurants comes in glass bottles all the way from Italy. So, maybe the sustainability is really greenwashing? I will say, on our last day someone called in the morning to say the airline had delayed our late afternoon flight by an hour, so we should take the later shuttle. Then, an hour before we were scheduled to leave for the airport, we and another couple discovered there had been another change... we were suddenly on an earlier flight! This was at 16:10... and the flight was at 16:50! The next scheduled shuttle wasn't until 17:00, so they put us on a smaller boat which left as soon as we were on board, and ran at pretty much full throttle to get us there in time. Also, if you speak only English? Don't worry. We encountered two people who spoke very limited English, the porter who dropped our luggage off and one of the people at the hut where you borrow snorkeling gear and stuff.

A beautiful hotel – we had a fantastic time. Absolutely dreamy. Everything was perfect, nothing was lacking. I can wholeheartedly recommend it.

We only stayed for three nights, not nearly enough. We found the staff to be welcoming, friendly, and attentive to our needs. Our over the water bungalow was wonderful, exactly as advertised. I couldn't get enough of relaxing on the beanbag on the hammock. Overall the experience was exceptioinal. We will definitely be back for a longer stay.