We are staying at Le Tahaa for 3 nights. Should we try beach barbecues and Polynesian and seafood buffets? How often they are?
What are other dining options while staying at Le Tahaa resort? Is there anything outside the resort? How do we get there?

Your very limited on food choices at Le Tahaa. The only good restaurant outside of the hotel is Louise's. She will pick you up from the transport dock and take you back. The food is kind of a you get what we have but it is excellent. Beyond that not much available, your stuck at the hotel and the food is not cheap. Figure about $200 to $300 per couple per day for food.

We were there for 5 nights and only one night was the Polynesian buffet. Also, when they had the buffet, the main Vanilla Restaurant was closed, so it's either go to the gourmet restaurant (name is escaping me), get room service, do the buffet, or try for Louise. I can't remember which day the buffet was on, but I'm thinking Tuesday or Wednesday. I do not remember the seafood buffet, and I definitely would have remembered that since I HATE seafood!
So, basically, you have the Vanilla Restaurant for breakfast or dinner, the gourmet restaurant for dinner (VERY expensive), and the pool grill for lunch. If you don't take those, it's room service or Louise.

Order room service, it's virtually the same price as eating in the restaurant. Nothing beats eating in the privacy of your beautiful bungalow. We had lunch and dinner via room service one day, don't think it cost more than $150 for the two of us.

I thought the seafood buffet was excellent but I don't remember which night it was. We also had a great time sitting in the bar after dinner listing to the music and talking with other guests.

I couldn't agree more with wcclee about ordering room service. Sitting on the deck of our OWB eating a meal; it just didn't get any better

I thought the pool side restaurant had a great ambience to it as well, and the place was almost always empty.

I'm happy to say we never had a bad meal at this hotel.

Are there any grocery stores nearby? We loved being able to buy fresh french bread in Bora Bora.

There is a shuttle to the main island at least once a day as I remember. Just across the street from the dock was a very small grocery where we bought fresh bread. I think there was also processed type cheese, peanut butter, snacks, drink mixers, basic stuff. There are a couple other groceries around the island but you would have to rent a car. We also bought papayas and bananas from a little stand in front of someones house (had to search for the people). We bring instant soups, tuna, etc. and ate a few meals in our room but that's just us. I'm sure room service would be great. Late lunches at the poolside restaurant were very nice.

Thanks for the response. Once a day doesn't sound like much. The hotel doesn't provide transportation? Or just once a day?

They actually have about four or five per day. Its when the staff comes in and out and the supplies as well as a regular schedule. Its not that big of a deal the only problem is you may be sitting around waiting for the boat. The store does have limited supplies but enough to make the cost of food a little less at Le Tahaa. Also go and visit the house to the left as you walk off the boat on the main road. Its a small store run by a Tahitian women who does not speak any english. She is great and the prices are very cheap but the experience with this women is worth millions. A great women and the reason I love Tahiti.

I just double checked my trip report and the seafood buffet with dancing show was Sunday at Le Taha'a for us. I'm a seafood lover, and this was actually VERY impressive! They had amazing selections of crab, lobster, prawns, oysters, etc. They were also grilling to order some other fish (looked like mahi mahi, tuna, and salmon) and the desserts were to die for! We actually liked this buffet better than the normal food at Restaraunt Vanilla (though that was darn good too!) Room service at Taha'a is truly about the same price as food at the restaraunt and it's quick, too!

Thanks for the heads up Timmy. We really loved the Softil Motu because we could catch a ride to the main island whenever we wanted. I just like to make sure I can get my fill of fresh french bread. Oh and of course Tahiti drink for my husband. He just loved the stuff. Did anyone else try it?

Glad to hear of the little store and the local woman and about Louise's.
Where do the local people eat? Are there any roulettes?
Couldn't you rent bikes and ride into Patio for other meals?

I have a carton of Tahiti Drink from Moorea sitting in my refrigerator at home just waiting for this weekend to arrive. Too bad they don't sell it in the US yet.

Does anyone know if you can get Room Service instead of eating at the restaurant if you have pre-paid half board (breakfast and dinner)?

I'm sure you can, but you'll have to pay a surcharge for it. We did that at the Nui- breakfast was part of the package, so they just charged us for delivery.

How much did they charge for the delivery, jells?

hmmm I don't recall. It's been two years! I don't think I have the receipts either. Maybe someone who has recently been can look that up on their invoice? It wasn't terribly expensive in the grand scheme of things from what I can recall. Maybe a few dollars.

Thanks for that, jells. From the look of the rooms, I'd say we'll probably go the room service on the non-theme nights.

For anyone that's interested, we received a reply yesterday from Pearl about room service. They said that Pearl BB incurs a fee for delivery of about US$30 per meal but Taha'a is free. Looks like we'll be using Room Service at Taha'a, but not Bora Bora.

Wow! That's super high for BB but awesome for Le Taha'a! I'm now considering going back to Le Taha'a next year and will definitely be doing the room service breakfast!

The Nui no longer includes breakfast with their rooms, and there is a delivery charge for room service- $10 per person.

Hey Jells- we might be at Tahaa with u then. Tentatively, at least.

I just can't shake Le Taha'a! I always go back to it when planning my trips. I would have loved to have gone this past time, but we really wanted to do an all-atoll trip.

We're looking at Moorea, Manihi and LeTahaa in April (of course). We'll keep u posted when it gets closer. Your comments about Le Tahaa intrigued us!

If you have any questions about it, let me know. Of course, there is a ton of awesome info on here! I can also send you my pics if you want, although they are not nearly as nice as yours from this last trip!

Depending on how much time I can get, we're looking at doing Moorea, Huahine, Bora Bora and Taha'a. If I can't get more time, I'll need to decide on Bora Bora vs Le Taha'a and
Bora may win because I REALLY want to stay at the new St. Regis!

Huahine was beautiful.Can't say enough about the natural beauty of the island and the low key FP feel of the place. We'll probably skip BOB this time around although if we were going, we would do the St Regis too. Not with points though- we assume it will be like the Nui for point value: 40K per night- just not worth it. We'd love pics of Le Tahaa when you get around to it. We have an itinerary planned out already but have to wait till Sept for the 2007 rates.

Yeah, I'm not planning on doing the St. Regis with points either. WAY too much, IMO. I'd rather save them for Greece or Hawaii or something

Here is the link to my pics from 2004. I can e-mail it to you if you want- just let me know!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/Slideshow.jsp?mode=fromshare&Uc=ihwy9ap.72rnifgh&Uy=-uqw61n&Ux=1

Thanks for the pics Jells. The Beach bungalow looks really nice - I think that is what we will stay in next year.

Great pictures...I'm honeymooning at Le Taha'a in December...I can't wait! We're staying in a beach villa too!

Are reservations in advance necessary for Chez Louis?

We dined at Chez Louise last week with a party of 8. We arrived via boat at her dock ~ 3PMto confirm reservatonas and then observed her son speeding off in his boat to buy fresh food for our dinner. So, yes, I would definitely make reservation as this is not a high volume restaurant. The seafood was very good, the setting is quaint but lovely and Louise is a hoot. A bit of an actress I believe! We also dined at Taravano Yacht Club twice for lunch. It is on the southern end of Tahaa. The food was excellent and the setting is beautiful. It is a bit of a hike for dinner but if you are touring the island it is a must for lunch. The sashimi was to die for.

Thanks Sendlimes, how do you go about making reservations. Is there a phone number or email for Chez Louise or can I reserve through my hotel?

Chez Louise's cell phone # is 71 23 06. This is a new number and is not listed in many of the guide books. I think you can wait until you arrive to make the reservations, no need for an expensive phone call from the US. There is a language barrier here but when you call ask if they speak english and they will try to find someone who speaks marginal english. Have fun!

We can't wait to visit Chez Louise. When you say a hike to Taravano, do they pick up for dinner?

My wife and I are spending 5 nights at Le Taha'a in late September (our first Tahiti trip) and I was reading about MAP and AP (full board and half board), could someone give me quick explanation of what those entail and if anyone has any personal experience with them at Le Taha'a if they are worth it or not?

Thanks alot!

Brossy,
My husband and I just returned from Le Taha'a (and 2 other resorts) and had several conversations about whether the meal plan is worth it. The MAP is breakfast and dinner. Full board is 3 meals a day.
Breakfast is a huge buffet with an amazing selection each day (and if you go to breakfast on the late side and are creative a little cheese, fruit and bread in the room goes a long way toward a light lunch!
Dinners are generally 3 courses on the meal plan but if you don't eat that much, it might be less expensive for you to order a la carte off the menu. You can look at the Le Taha'a website for menus (and I think prices for items if you order a la carte) at their restaurants. Additionally, the meal plan prices are listed on the price list.
One thing I will say about the meal plan, if you prepay (we did this for 1/2 of the days we were there--you don't have to take the meal plan every day), it is taxed at a lower rate than other services. Also, you can always decide to add the meal plan once you arrive.
Additionally, at Ohiri (the upscale restaurant) they charge you a supplement on top of the meal plan of $60 CFP. So the bottom line is for you to think about how large of a meal do you usually eat, especially at dinner where 3 courses are included in the meal plan. Hope this is helpful.

Thank you VERY much tahitibitten! Thats the exact information I was looking for. I will check their website out and look at the menu's.

We are spending 1 night in Tahiti (at the Intercontinental) 3 nights in Bora Bora (Bora Bora Nui) and 5 nights at Le Taha'a and I am really looking forward to relaxing at Le Taha'a and my wife is looking forward to the Spa!

Brossy,
One more thing I forgot to mention RE: meal plan at Le Taha'a, if you want to go to dinner there on a buffet/show night, it is less expensive to take the meal plan for that day than paying for the buffet individually.
Your wife will love the spa. We had his/hers massages, two masseurs, two tables in an open room overlooking the lagoon. It was wonderful. Have a great time (you can't do anything but have a great time...)