Sofitel Kia Ora Moorea Beach Resort

We chose the Sofitel for its location and stayed for 3 nights at the end of our honeymoon (the middle part of which was a 10 day cruise with Windstar, beginning and ending with stays in Papeete and San Francisco). Overall it was a suitable end to our special holiday with just a few shortcomings as noted below. Good points: + Beautiful location on an attractive lagoon with easterly views towards Tahiti (so no sunsets!) + Welcoming, attentive and professional staff + Our superior ocean view bungalow was a good size and had a better view than many of the overwater bungalows, plus it adjoined the waterfront with the greatest number & variety of fish + Long beach within the hotel and plenty of shady spots if you preferred to stay out of the sun + Changing space and showers available for use before and after check out + Within short taxi rides from the ferry terminal and the airport Not so good points: - Very expensive room rates, which do distort your expectations! - The food menus did not vary during our stay (for the restaurant and both of the bars), some variety / daily specials would have been welcome - While our bungalow was a good size, there was a lack of storage in our bedroom which meant we couldn't unpack properly, we just had a small wardrobe with two drawers between us - It was necessary to queue and wait when checking in / out and booking activities / taxis We had started our Polynesian visit with a stay at the Intercontinental on Tahiti and the Sofitel was head and shoulders above that in almost all respects, but then it should be given the price difference!

They say Moorea is paradise. And when you see it from the air, that's what it looks like. A real jewel box, shimmering in the Pacific. We booked the Sofitel because it had the name, the brand, the promise of that old-school luxury. The kind of place where they know your name, where the details matter, where the beauty outside is matched by the soul inside. We were looking for paradise. What we found was the end of the line. The minute you walk in, you can feel it. The gloss is gone. The rooms, once probably the height of style, are now just tired. Scuffs on the walls, furniture that's seen one too many honeymoons, a lingering sense of being forgotten. The spectacular view from the bungalow is still there, of course. The mountain doesn't change and the water doesn't fade. But it feels like a beautiful oil painting hanging in a dusty, neglected hall. And the service... forget about it. In the old days, a place like this would have run like a Swiss watch. A quiet word here, an anticipated need met there. It was an art. Here, there's no art. There’s no host. There's only a void. Trying to get a simple question answered is a journey into the abyss. Emails go unanswered, calls ring out. You feel like you're bothering them by simply existing. There's no care, no sense that you're a treasured guest. Let’s not even talk about the bizarre towel situation, a card which I never got, fighting for one skimpy, tired towel, had to start hoarding them. You're just the next number in the queue. Don't even get me started on the food. It was soulless, mass-produced fare served at prices that would make a Michelin-star chef blush. It wasn't cuisine; it was product. Shoveled out to the masses who don't know any better, or are too captive to go anywhere else. It’s food designed to be forgotten, served in a place that’s supposed to be unforgettable. The lobster and chicken so over cooked you can bounce it off the table. After a while, I finally figured it out. I had it all wrong. This wasn't a luxury resort anymore. It had been taken over by the bean counters, the corporations. They squeezed the soul out of it and turned it into something else. It’s an airport. That's all it is. A beautiful, tropical airport terminal. The view is the flashy duty-free shop that gets you in the door. We're all just passengers on a layover. They process you in, take your money, and process you out. There's no hospitality, just logistics. It’s a turnstile. We're coming and going, another planeload tomorrow, another set of faces next week. They don't have to care, because we're all leaving anyway. The paradise we were promised is gone. The town will never be the same. They replaced it with a checkout time. And in the end, that's all this Sofitel is now... a beautiful place to leave.

Disappointing. Hotel bills itself as a 5-star but it’s really a 3-star. This does not compare to true 5, or even 4, star in either hard or soft product. Outside of a few hours in an airport hotel I haven’t stayed at a worse hotel out of the 17 others I’ve stayed at the first half of this year. Some weren’t even trying to be 5-star but were significantly nicer. The rooms are depressing and the service is terrible (for example, asked to make dinner reservations a few weeks out with the concierge, told we don’t need any, upon arriving they wouldn’t seat us without any!) The only high point was the gentleman who makes the breakfast eggs - he was fantastic and should be running the place.

We really enjoyed our overwater bungalow experience. Snorkeling was amazing. Paid for the luxury bungalow which was very private. Thoroughly enjoyed our experience there. Would have appreciated some wine, not just sodas & beer in the included mini bar. Appreciated the bottle of champagne even though the note was addressed to some other guest. We found the restaurant food mediocre, staff friendly. Disappointed to witness a bar staff employee using the washroom and exiting without washing her hands! Yikes. Perhaps management should consider a hygiene meeting? Overall, not inexpensive but a mostly wonderful experience.

Always been a big fan of Sofitel Hotels, but this was a massive disappointment. There were a few positives, generally the staff were friendly, and the bed was amazing. The location was also great, on a lovely stretch of beach. However... The rooms are in no way luxury. Tired furniture, mouldy shower - not just underwhelming but really not acceptable for a room costing £750 a night The beach could be amazing, but is unloved. Overflowing bins and ashtrays, broken sun loungers. And the beach bar serving low quality drinks. The rest of the grounds are ok, but pretty chewed up by the hoardes of electric buggies flying around. The one nice restaurant only opens 2 nights a week and was fully booked days ahead, leaving the only option being the main restaurant, which itself has a polynesian night twice a week with no option but to eat from the £70 a head buffet. We ended up eating in the bar from a very small snack menu. The food was not bad at least. The toilets in the bar / restaurant area were quite simply disgusting, and the hotel should be ashamed. There was very little entertainment, except where they were trying to sell you pearls from the on site shop. On the Friday night there was some hope from a DJ playing some chilled out tunes, but he finished at 9.30 leaving the bar in silence. In summary, not a luxury Sofitel experience, quite the opposite. I hear they are closing to renovate next year, shame there was no warning of this or a reflection in the price. Take your business elsewhere!