#62640 - 04/26/07 09:11 AM
LeTaha'a review 4/15-18
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jchip
Member
Registered: 12/20/06
Posts: 98
Loc: Michigan
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Hello all! What follows is not a full trip review (I may attempt that soon), but I wanted to get some notes in front of all you folks who have been contemplating a visit to either of these resorts. Please keep in mind, this is only one traveler’s opinion, and admittedly that of an FP travel newbie.. but hopefully my comments will be helpful to some degree. Sorry it's so long, and may contain some typos as it's a c&p piece from MS Word..
Let me start by cautioning anyone who has already decided against a stay at Le Taha'a.. you may not want to read on, as you're likely not going to like what I have to say.. which is, that this resort is truly heaven on earth! My fiancé and I have tried hard to find something we didn't love about our 3.5 days there, but to no avail.. it was pure perfection! From the moment we stepped off our flight on Raitaia and were greeted by name (no cheesy name placard being blandly waved at the rush of new arrivals here) for our scenic boat ride to Taha'a, to our personalized escort to the helipad for our (reluctant) midweek departure to Bora (more on that later), we enjoyed the utmost in customer service and traditional island charm.
One huge reason for this is the Le Taha'a staff.. from the very friendly and outgoing housekeeping and food services staff (most of whom are local residents who nonetheless speak wonderful English with ease), to the top management, most notably Patrick (Front Desk Mgr.), George (Restaurant Mgr.) Eric (Concierge) and Francois (Resort Mgr.), we were consistently impressed with everyone's ability and readiness to call us by name, teach us their native language and customs, anticipate our needs, and make us feel that they genuinely appreciated our having chosen their resort to visit. I suspect this may be partly attributed to the Disney background some of them possess.. they certainly seem to have been expertly trained in customer service at some point, and they display it with a pride and style I seldom find in US resorts anymore (including Disney!).
Our OWB, #9 (end of the Bora-view pontoon), could not have been more perfect! While it admittedly has no direct view of Bora (as it faces away from the pass in the motu), we did enjoy a beautiful view of Taha'a, and were extremely comfortable with the size and layout of the space. Our unit was very clean and nicely appointed, with an extremely comfy bed, and was well-stocked with bottled water, toiletries and spa treats. The welcome of fragrant flowers decorating the bed and filling the bathtub was blissful. We especially enjoyed the fully covered breakfast nook on the large private deck, where we took all of our room service meals, and sought some shady relief from the midday sun to read a book and enjoy the soft breezes. Another huge plus was the convenience of stepping off our private deck into the pristine lagoon waters, which at only 3-4 feet deep allowed for lazy dips without the need to tread water or use a float. We were greeted on arrival day by a pod of dolphins frolicking just 50 feet from our deck, and had daily visits from a large eagle ray and a variety of fish. The bottom was mostly white sand with a sprinkling of brown, smooth and devoid of coral.. not great for snorkeling, but perfect for playing in without the need for reef shoes. We spotted only one or two sea cucumbers plus the occasional floating coconut.. otherwise, the water was a crystal clear liquid gem throughout our entire visit, even after a few storms with heavy rain and high winds had blown (quickly) through.
Regarding the bugs.. we really lucked out here, as there simply were none! We had come prepared with plenty of vanilla-scented, Deet-based BuggSpray, but aside from the occasional common housefly, the few bugs we encountered were during our private motu picnic on the beach, resulting in a single mosquito bite. We did spray our feet and legs while dining at the restaurant (given its location among the treetops) as a precaution, but never actually felt or even saw any skeeters, and never needed to use it while at our bungalow. We enjoyed several outdoor meals both at our room and near the pool, and none were disturbed by flying or crawling critters.
The grounds were immaculately kept, although we did comment to mgmt. that they could do a better job of clearing the few pieces of trash that washed up on the beach overnight.. often some could still be seen in the water during the day, even though the nearby beach sand had been cleaned and raked. The pool and spa, albeit both on the small side, were very comfortable and uncrowded.. in fact, the entire resort seemed fairly empty while we were there, lending a quiet and peaceful ambiance to the property.. everyone, staff and guests alike, moved about unhurriedly and spoke in hushed tones, in seeming reverence for the prevailing calm of the surroundings. It all made for a very tranquil and restful holiday.. so if you are looking for more of the wild side of FP, best to look elsewhere!
We only did one excursion while there, the private motu picnic (with Dave's Tours, which included a pearl farm visit and snorkeling), but it was great fun and well worth the money. We also really enjoyed the canoe breakfast, Tahitian buffet & dance show, spa massage and helicopter transport to Bora.
Now for our impressions of the IC Thalasso on Bora.. I wish I could say we saved the best for last, but frankly, within 12 hours of our arrival there, we were pining for Le Taha'a and regretting our decision to split the week (we had originally planned all 6 days at LeT). Not that it's not a great property, because it can be.. but as we had been forewarned, except for the great lagoon and views of Bora, it just didn't feel very traditional "Tahitian" there.. I commented to my fiancé that it felt more like a "Tahiti-like" exhibit at Epcot.
Our OWB (Diamond #211) was very spacious (separate living room, bedroom and bath with walk-in closet and huge shower) and mostly well-appointed, but missed the little island touches of decor and extras that had made LeT so charming. The deck was smallish, and offered little cover from wind-blown rain, so the chair and chaise cushions were always wet. The ladder from our deck into the water was covered in slime, making for some slippery climbs, and the water was very deep, requiring swimming or a float. Our "king" bed was actually two twins held together with a wide Velcro strip along the full length of the mattress tops and covered only by the bottom sheet, which proved a bit noisy and uncomfortable.. but we were informed every room was similarly equipped, and no mattress pads or toppers were available. The living room and bedroom had separate AC controls, but the compressor fan in the LR emitted an annoying constant high-pitched chirping noise (like a cricket with attitude) when it ran. A call to maintenance brought no relief, so we just got used to closing the curtain between the rooms, which dampened the noise a bit. The ceiling fans had only one speed, forcing a choice between lots of moving air and accompanying fan noise, or nothing at all.
Most of our discontent there had less to do with the environment, as the grounds are beautiful and the water pristine, but with the staff. No one, not even the receptionist upon our arrival or departure, made us feel overly welcome or appreciated as guests. More troubling, when problems did arise (and there were several, although minor), not a single apology was offered.. our polite complaints were handled very matter-of-factly, almost as if they were expected or commonplace. Unlike at LeT, none of the staff members made an effort to engage in friendly chatter with us.. perhaps because of the language barrier. Most staff barely acknowledged us, as they regularly sped past in their service carts. (Note: watch out for these here.. they are everywhere on the shared walkways, they speed even around blind corners, and they have no warning horn.. we much preferred the quaint bicycle carts used by staff at LeT) It's not like they were extremely busy, as the resort was sparsely occupied that week. In fact, we were almost made to feel that our questions were an intrusion into whatever else they seemed to be doing at the time, which at the reception desk, was mostly staring at PC screens and chatting with each other in French. We are NOT language snobs, and realize we were visitors to a French territory where English is not the primary tongue, and the onus was on us to have learned a bit of French to get by.. but unlike at LeT (which also employed a fair number of bilingual French-national staffers), many of the Thalasso staff seemed to either struggle with or disdain communicating in English. Most of our calls to the front desk or room service were a comedy of miscommunication and repeated requests.. a mild inconvenience typical of “island pace”, but again, something that LeT seems to have overcome. As a result, the Thalasso atmosphere at times felt more like a posh and somewhat stuffy French countryside inn, than a warm, friendly and accommodating Polynesian island hideaway.
Despite these and other service gaffs (i.e, they failed to bring our bags from our room to the boat dock for our departure, even with 2 hours notice from us, and I had to go track them down while fiancé held up the boat.. again, no apology was offered), once we settled in and accepted that "we're not at LeT anymore, Toto", we enjoyed our time there. The food is great, the spa is massive and has great facilities, the pool is wonderful, and our one excursion - a half-day of shark/ray feeding, reef snorkeling and lagoonarium tour - was spectacular. All in all, though, we came away loving LeT and vowing to return.. and feeling that Thalasso would not be part of our future plans (anyone have a good recommendation for our next time on Bora?). Again, it’s a great resort with top-notch amenities, but it just didn’t provide us with the same immersion into FP island culture that we had felt everyday at LeT.
As always, I welcome comment and questions. Always good to be home, but as with so many of you, with this single exposure we are forever infected with FP fever.. ;-)
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#62651 - 04/26/07 06:06 PM
Re: LeTaha'a review 4/15-18
[Re: jchip]
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holte
Expert Advisor
Registered: 11/19/04
Posts: 2365
Loc: Duluth, Minnesota
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Great report! Now you know why some of us are addicted to FP. Nothing helps-not even repeat trips. The addiction just grows stronger and stronger.
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#62653 - 04/26/07 07:06 PM
Re: LeTaha'a review 4/15-18
[Re: holte]
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Gary & Cath
Expert Advisor
Registered: 04/01/06
Posts: 1243
Loc: Wollongong, Australia
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Great report, jchip. We were at Le Taha'a last June and it sounds as if your stay was identical to ours - perfect! Just wondering, Diamond 211 at Thalasso. Is that the pick of the rooms? Does it look directly at Mt Otemanu? We were thinking of requesting that particular room.
_________________________
Is there anything better than a sipping a Tahitian Mai Tai on an Overwater Bungalow in FP?
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#62660 - 04/27/07 07:09 AM
Re: LeTaha'a review 4/15-18
[Re: Gary & Cath]
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jchip
Member
Registered: 12/20/06
Posts: 98
Loc: Michigan
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G'day, Gary! D211 is on the outside row of bungalows, with its windows and deck facing south, and only have a partial view of Mt. O unless you lean over the deck railing or go down to the lower deck platform.. and no direct sunrise/set views. But the mtn. is very close, and pretty awesome. Most of the direct view is of open lagoon and the distant reef. The better direct views of Mt. O would be from the units on the inside of the "wishbones" formed by the pontoons.. but they would also be less private, as they would also look onto (and be in sight line of) other units, unless you were at the far end. Hope this helps!
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#62869 - 05/03/07 11:23 AM
Re: LeTaha'a review 4/15-18
[Re: jchip]
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jells
Expert Advisor
Registered: 05/18/03
Posts: 1024
Loc: Buckeye, AZ
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jchip- I'm SO glad you enjoyed your stay in Taha'a! I absolutely LOVE everything about that resort. I went through the same thing after we left Le Taha'a and went to Bora Bora. I just pined to go back :)
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#62875 - 05/03/07 01:03 PM
Re: LeTaha'a review 4/15-18
[Re: jells]
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Travcarib
Member
Registered: 03/13/07
Posts: 119
Loc: Washington DC
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jchip-did they have a room ready for you when you go there (early check in) not sure what time you got there but was just curious. Did they allow late checkout?
i know they say they have the day rooms but we would love to just have our room when we get there. Chances are slim though I assume since it is high season.
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#62876 - 05/03/07 01:04 PM
Re: LeTaha'a review 4/15-18
[Re: Travcarib]
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Travcarib
Member
Registered: 03/13/07
Posts: 119
Loc: Washington DC
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One more ?- how were the restaurants on tahaa? did you go to Chez Louise?
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#63001 - 05/08/07 06:33 AM
Re: LeTaha'a review 4/15-18
[Re: Travcarib]
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jchip
Member
Registered: 12/20/06
Posts: 98
Loc: Michigan
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Hey TC - Sorry for the delayed response.. I'm back in the land of reality at work.. Arghh! Yes, our room was ready when we arrived at LeT, but then, it was about 3:00 anyway. We were allowed late check-out, perhaps because the resort was not that full. We only ate at the Vanille and the pool-side restaurant on site, as I had not packed long pants (required in Ohiri). Most of our meals were room service - we loved our OWB that much - so we never ventured to ChezL. We also attended the Polynesian buffet/dance show on Tue night. All the food was great.. especially breakfast!
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#63010 - 05/08/07 11:57 AM
Re: LeTaha'a review 4/15-18
[Re: jchip]
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Zoe
Senior Advisor
Registered: 12/14/03
Posts: 801
Loc: Walnut Creek, CA
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Did you do any of the excursions offered thru the resort, such as the lagoon cruise?
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#63057 - 05/10/07 12:35 PM
Re: LeTaha'a review 4/15-18
[Re: Zoe]
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jchip
Member
Registered: 12/20/06
Posts: 98
Loc: Michigan
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Hi Zoe - we only did one excursion at each resort (LeT and IC Bora), and both were great.. see my report above in this thread.. both were arranged through the resort's concierge, but I believe both were privately owned/operated.
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