#61146 - 03/17/07 01:56 PM
A Little Worried about Le Taha'a
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Travcarib
Member
Registered: 03/13/07
Posts: 119
Loc: Washington DC
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We are booked for 2 nights in a Taha'a OWB and I have to admit I am a little worried about our stay. It seems like many people recently have had complaints with service and attitude of employees. We have been to Tahiti and many islands of the Caribbean so we know what to expect from an island resort but I am nervous reading about the lack of attention at all to guests and also of the numerous bugs all over the resort. I do want to go somewhere where people are at least cordial to you and willing to help.
We are staying at the Thalasso for 5 nights prior to going to Taha'a and would hate to take a step down at the end of our trip. We were thinking we would not need many activities etc, we just want to relax on our deck and take in the views, read etc. Maybe get a spa treatment (the massage in the blue lagoon sounds really neat.)
I have also read from some people that the beach smells and that there is seaweed and other gunk that comes up. Is the water pretty or is it not so nice? we want to be able to jump in the water with our floats and lounge around without seeing nasty stuff in the water.
Any help from anyone that has gone recently would be great. We are wondering if we should just stay in BB the whole time if Le Taha'a is having these types of problems?
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#61148 - 03/17/07 02:44 PM
Re: A Little Worried about Le Taha'a
[Re: Travcarib]
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Patti.
Expert Advisor
Registered: 03/28/04
Posts: 2376
Loc: Las Vegas, NV
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If I were you, I wouldn't worry.
I personally have not been to Le Taha'a, but....I will say the complaints you are talking about (from Trip Advisor I presume) seem to be quite consistant with complaints I have heard/read in the past few years about many of the resorts in FP. It seems SOME people expect, for the high dollars they are spending, to get 5 star quality service, and to see absolutely no bugs at all. FP is VERY expensive. But you can not try to equate the cost to the quality of service here. If you do, you will probably come away disappointed. And....you are in the tropics, there ARE bugs. And...if a storm or heavy rain or something just came through...stuff will wash up on the beach.
This does not apply to just Taha'a, but to all the islands here. Kick back, relax, slow down, enjoy the beautiful islands and water and don't sweat the small stuff. You need to have a good attitude and a good sense of humor, and you will have a good time.
Also, take everything you read on Trip Advisor with a grain of salt. It's a great source of information, but sometimes a persons disappointment has more to do with their attitude or unrealistic expectations than an actual problem with the resort.
I have stayed at many places that have been reviewed there and after reading some reviews, I have to ask myself....Did they stay at the same place I did????
Edited by Patti. (03/17/07 02:45 PM)
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#61156 - 03/17/07 06:20 PM
Re: A Little Worried about Le Taha'a
[Re: Patti.]
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Zoe
Senior Advisor
Registered: 12/14/03
Posts: 801
Loc: Walnut Creek, CA
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Truly, the TA postings run along the lines that Patti mentioned. I think part of the problem with the French Polynesia postings there are that so few of the "regulars" (who seem to frequent this board) post there as well AND you have few posters there, so the bad reviews there are weighted more heavily. With the Mexican resorts I've followed there, there are generally four "it was heaven on earth!" reviews for every one "it was hell on earth" review. And, frankly, half the awful reviews for any resort appear to center on how it just wasn't worth the $$$ the reviewer paid. You pay-- and through the nose, by American standards-- for the Tahitian resorts. We've found that you get stunning scenery, unbelievable snorkelling, and peace/quiet/exclusivity (to mention a few assets) that you just don't get elsewhere. For us, it's worth it.
I've been following the Tahaa reviews there as well (we're headed there in July) and I haven't seen a pattern that raises red flags for me. Some people don't want any bugs at all (I've spent too many summers in Vermont by the lake to be put off by one or two mosquitos) or absolutely panic at the sight of a cockroach (one summer in Moscow-- and a nightmarish trip on a train where they were literally falling frfrom the roof of our private car-- put that in perspective for me!). Service... we've never encountered a rude hotel staff member in six trips. Ones with the occasional fit of the giggles, odd sense of humor, or absent-minded manner, yes. But most actually seemed more concerned that we were going to turn into raving, ranting Americans at having to wait for this that or the other thing (we still think the manager at the Manihi Pearl was afraid we were going to have conniptions at being locked out of our room for an hour due to a lock misfunction--he seemed ready to melt through the floor in relief when all we were like was "huh, can we wait in the bar?").
Just relax, have an obvious sense of humor, and go with the flow-- it all seems to mysteriously work itself out in Tahiti. Mayhap that's why we North American travellers get so weirded out-- it's the first place we've been where you do NOT have to fight for transfers, acceptable rooms, and "what you paid for." The system may be completely incomprehensible at times (we've always wondered if the terms "increased productivity" or "multi-tasking" mean anything there), but it has always worked out for us ;)
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#61161 - 03/17/07 08:43 PM
Re: A Little Worried about Le Taha'a
[Re: Zoe]
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holte
Expert Advisor
Registered: 11/19/04
Posts: 2365
Loc: Duluth, Minnesota
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Hm. Having never been to Tahaa either and having no right to say anything on the topic, I see not many are responding.So, we stay in Huahine, and since I can see Raitea from Huahine, I am only guessing that it must be similar in characteristics. I have never seen seaweed in FP and I think that I would seeing it as we go in Feb, which is their summer ,which I would think would be seaweed season. I don't ever see anything floating in the FP water except for some sticks and coconuts. There were quite a few mosqitoes in the evening when we were in Huahine in Feb, but they stayed off of me when I put on the light creamy Off! Botanicals. Being from Northern MN, I am not lying when we say that our state bird is the mosquito, and I find the FP mosquitoes far less annoying than our MN ones. There are no icky bugs that I see in FP. FP is spotless, especially when you compare it to the Caribbean. I don't mean to be sarcastic, but the reason that FP is the most breathtaking place on Earth, in my eyes is because of nature. And with nature comes-nature. But FP has the least of issues of any place I've been with things that can be terrifying such as scorpions or brown recluse spiders-neither of which are in FP or snakes, either. You can't go wrong going to FP espcially if you like the Caribbean. The Caribbean has lost all of it's appeal since I've been to FP.
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#61172 - 03/18/07 06:49 AM
Re: A Little Worried about Le Taha'a
[Re: holte]
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Travcarib
Member
Registered: 03/13/07
Posts: 119
Loc: Washington DC
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Thank you all so much for your feedback. I really appreciate it.
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#61173 - 03/18/07 06:49 AM
Re: A Little Worried about Le Taha'a
[Re: holte]
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Travcarib
Member
Registered: 03/13/07
Posts: 119
Loc: Washington DC
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Thank you all so much for your feedback. I really appreciate it.
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#61175 - 03/18/07 08:02 AM
Re: A Little Worried about Le Taha'a
[Re: Travcarib]
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Travcarib
Member
Registered: 03/13/07
Posts: 119
Loc: Washington DC
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Is the water in the lagoon rougher at Le Taha'a then in Bora Bora?
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#61229 - 03/19/07 12:39 PM
Re: A Little Worried about Le Taha'a
[Re: Travcarib]
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NYCchic
Member
Registered: 01/28/06
Posts: 209
Loc: New York, NY, USA
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Travcarib....I got your email and will get back to you as soon as I can.
Sorry that I scared you so much about Le Taha'a. I think you may have misunderstood something about the service....no one was rude or unfriendly or had poor attitudes. We just felt that the service was really lacking for a place that costs so much money. Again we were just there the 2nd week after they re-opened so maybe it was just a bad time. Some people don't mind bugs....I don't usually but they were everywhere at Le Taha'a this past week. I had to fight with them over my lunch every day. And as you know I saw a rat run up the stone column at dinner at Vanilla restaurant. Some people may not be bothered by that but I was. I didn't complain b/c it is an outdoor restaurant and really what could they do?
We didn't hate our stay there - was just unimpressed by it. Was expecting SO much more from all the rave reviews it receives on this board and other places. And to hear it be called THE most luxurious resort in all of FP after we came from the brand new Bora Bora Thalasso...we were just surprised. I guess we just had such high standards from everything we've read here...maybe we had too high expectations for it so we were definitely a little let down. It was not at all what we expected. Service was just lacking really. We had to hunt someone down if we needed something where at Thalasso someone was doting on us and right there whenever we needed something.
I really think had we gone to Tahaa first and then Thalasso...we would have been better off. We definitely feel...and spoke to many others at Le Taha'a who felt the same way as us...that we took a step down coming from Thalasso to there. We also just couldn't get over the absolutely ridiculous prices at their restaurants. There is expensive and then there is just plain ridiculous. $17 for 3 scoops of ice cream at dessert, $24 for a salad. Most appetizers were in the $30 range for like the smallest salad I'd ever seen. It was a joke. I've never felt more ripped off when it comes to food prices.
But with all that said - it is pretty. Just not what we had expected.
And we did have some rain here and there and yes the water was filthy. We did not see 1 person in the lagoon while we were at Le Taha'a. I guess it's not seaweed - maybe algae or something but there were lots of large slimy looking things floating in the water. And the ground in the water was all black and slimy looking. Bora Bora was beautiful white sandy bottom - I wasn't expecting the water to be so dirty looking at Tahaa. They definitely must have photo shopped that cover of Islands Magazine that's for sure!
But everyone has different tastes and experiences - we just felt for what you pay to stay there...it was not worth it. I wouldn't go back and I probably wouldn't recommend it to a friend. I'm just being honest. And I am not a hotel snob by any means. These were the nicest and most expensive hotels we've ever stayed in!
Good luck to you.
If I were you I would def. stay all 7 days at Thalasso...we were there 5 nights and were miserable to leave. We could stay a full 2 weeks there it is that amazing!
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#61231 - 03/19/07 01:00 PM
Re: A Little Worried about Le Taha'a
[Re: NYCchic]
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Carol S
Member
Registered: 02/03/04
Posts: 458
Loc: La Cañada, CA USA
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Our travel agent just told us that Le Tahaa and Te Tiare have both been bought out by Outrigger--anyone know about this? If you experienced poor service at either of these, I would guess that it was because the staff really didn't know where they stood and even whether they would keep their job.
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#61235 - 03/19/07 01:51 PM
Re: A Little Worried about Le Taha'a
[Re: Travcarib]
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carrieg
Member
Registered: 04/10/06
Posts: 147
Loc: Los Angeles
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We went to Le Taha'a for our honeymoon in May of 2005, and it was amazing. The water was crystal clear below the OWBs, and I don't remember bugs ever being a problem. I've booked another trip for 2008 already, and am a little worried to hear about the possible change in water clarity and the bug situation. I guess I'll just have to continue to check the comments over the next several months to determine whether we should go back to Le Taha'a or try somewhere new.
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