Sofitel Moorea Ia Ora Beach Resort

The hotel doesn’t nearly live up to its ‘5 star’ rating, and it doesn’t come close. Me and my partner stayed at this hotel in July 2025 for 6 nights, after 5 nights on Tahiti. The hotel is only good for a small handful of things: - Great view of Tahiti - Snorkelling is good here, and you get free snorkelling equipment as well as free access to paddle boards and kayaks. There are a few other things you can hire out at a fairly reasonable price for water activities. - The garden is beautiful, as are the Mountain View’s of Moorea behind the hotel. - Mini bar offers a small selection of complementary drinks and gets topped up every morning. Good touch. - The shows they put on Wednesdays and Saturdays have really good food. By far the best food they do, but it’s a shame that’s only for 2 of 7 nights, and it is pricey. The show itself is OK, it’s good to see some tradition but it’s not the best. - 5 minute drive from the ferry terminal in one direction, and short drive to the airport in the other direction. - Torea was great - he’s a credit to the team. Very polite, efficient and excellent at his job. He truly shines above everyone else. Unfortunately, that’s all the positives. - Most of the food is shockingly bad, and falls way below the expectations of a 5 star resort. Very poor selection of food and poor quality. - Breakfast buffet was very limited and zero variation. - Everything is stupidly overpriced considering the quality you get, you wouldn’t mind paying if you know you’re going to get the quality that you expect. But you never do. - Staff are OK. Other 5 star resorts I’ve stayed at, the staff are a lot more friendly and accommodating. Some staff members in the restaurant came across a little rude. - Your experience will not be personalised whatsoever. I chose this resort to propose to my now fiancé, due to the beautiful beach, view of Tahiti and mountain landscape. The hotel did absolutely nothing to help us celebrate this, despite me reaching out to them months in advance to let them know and ask for support. No congratulations, no acknowledgement or anything. Literally nothing! You’d think if you celebrate something so massive and choose to do it at their resort, they’d at least leave a note etc in your room since they knew the exact date and time we were doing this. This was probably the most disappointing part of the trip. For example I stayed at the St Regis Goa for a separate celebration, pretty much every member of staff was aware and almost everyday we were left with congratulation notes and personalised touches to show they go above and beyond. Considering they’re both 5 star resorts, you expect a reasonably similar level of service. - On check out, at no point were we asked how our stay was etc. Just basic customer service skills. - The team who clean rooms are quite lazy and do less than the bare minimum. They frequently left rubbish in the room, it seems they just make the beds and leave. - Be prepared for ants in your room. Around the sink and shower. - The bungalows are really tired looking and the place in general is definitely in need of renovating. - Since the resort isn’t near any shops or restaurants, unless you have a hire car, you’re pretty much forced to eat their below subpar food and pay their stupidly excessive prices. - Service is slow when dining and at the bars. Overall - the views and island are beyond 5 stars - Moorea is an extremely beautiful, amazing place to stay and I couldn’t recommend it more. If you expect value for money - I wouldn’t recommend Sofitel whatsoever, though you do get some stunning views and the snorkelling is great. I’m very disappointed with my stay, and to be honest I find it a little embarrassing that this establishment calls itself 5 star. It carries a heavy reputation that it fails to live up to in many different ways. I hope these things change, but with the lack of other ‘5 star’ resorts nearby, it simply doesn’t have to change as there is no real competition unless you stay a little bit further into the island. It’s clear the general manager and everybody else cares very little about providing a quality and personalised genuine 5 star stay.

The grounds are nice and it is clean. However, there were many issues. The food was WAY overpriced for what it was, the service was slow, and communication issues abound. On day 3 of 4, We were so tired of eating their mediocre food for 120 per adult with wine ($30 kids meals, $7 for a can of coke, $33 for a plain bowl of pasta with marinara, $19 crème brule). Yet there were not any restaurants nearby. The shower did not have anywhere to put your or their shampoo bottles and there was no dispenser on the wall. Check in and check out took forever when most places you just walk out these days.

We had an amazing time at the Sofitel. The service was outstanding and the resort was beautiful. It is very private and not overcrowded. It is so clean and well taken care of and the beds were very comfortable. The daily brunch was exceptional and all the amenities were on point. The concierge was so helpful arranging tours and transportation for us. We really appreciated being able to rent a car by the hour to tour the island. The snorkeling in the bay was amazing and some of the best on the island. We hope to be back again someday!

Beach is lovely. Loved our over water bungalow. Absolutely worth it! Snorkeling was good. Liked that we could use kayaks, SUP and snorkeling gear.

While rooms were nice and beach (water clarity) was stunning, the hotel is certainly not luxury in any shape or form, it would be considered barely 3 star hotel in most places. This hotel, which I never experienced anywhere else in the world (and I do travel quite extensively) doesn’t even have enough towels to provide to guests at the beach, gym, changing rooms, you name it. Every day. Not a one off, I’ve never seen that before. Yet they charge $800-$1,600 per night? Truly, I’ve never seen that anywhere before, In terms of service, only restaurant staff was great. Front desk staff not so much. Housekeeping was just ok and no turndown service is provided. There was no beach service provided at all. You have to go get your towels (if you’re lucky to find any) and then go to the bar if you need anything. Finally, food at breakfast was pretty good but the rest was awful (fish/chicken/beef grossly overcooked) but that’s unfortunately true for most of French Polynesia. It is their reputation, and they lived up to it, unfortunately, I think this could be a much better hotel if it was properly managed, given they have some good staff, great location and pretty decent facilities. They do benefit from the fact that there are really no luxury properties in Moorea so I guess they don’t care that much and it shows.