Sofitel Kia Ora Moorea Beach Resort 5 stars

We had a great stay. We had already stayed at the Hilton in Papeete, the Intercontinental & Thalasso Spa at Bora Bora and Le Taha'a Resort before staying with you. The resort was a bit bigger, busier and louder than we had got used to, and after dinner the first night we chose to stay in our overwater bungalow and have room service. The breakfast buffet was very good and the staff friendly and helpful. Heinz was a star making chocolate crepes and omelettes. The lady who brought our room service was excellent and attentive and learnt our preferences - please thank her. We loved snorkeling off our platform and did so a couple of times a day. Might be worth providing tide tables and recommending snorkeling around low or high tide or on an incoming tide, as one day the outgoing tide nearly took my wife out to sea! The snorkeling was the hero of our stay. Our bungalow was great and our views amazing. There are some rotted timbers under the shower areas on many of the bungalows that look in need of attention.

We stayed in a stunning overwater bungalow for our honeymoon, surrounded by corals and fish of all sizes and colors - an amazing experience in and by itself! Hard to describe, strongly recommended to live at least once! The pool and the lagoon are amazing, the hotel offers standup paddling and kayaks, and we also enjoyed simpler joys like PingPong and French Boules. Another highlight is definitely the food : the three-course dinner with live music (American, French & Polynesian repertoire), mouthwatering - special kudos for the dedicated vegetarian menu with a large choice, my wife being a vegetarian this get like heaven right after the more remote islands of Rangiroa and Tikehau with less choice ! Last but not least, the hotel staff and cultural activities are a blast ! Special mention to the very attentive bar ladies, to the breakfast chef don’t n’y magic with spatulas for eggs and crepes (with spatulas in the style of ice cream rolls, really impressive) spreading his good mood, really contagious. Big thanks also to Tau and the introduction to the DIY pareo, sharing about the history of this traditional Polynesian piece of clothing (originally made from Palm trees), the natural colors on fruit basis and the different ways of folding the sheet to get different patterns : great personal souvenirs to be gifted to family back home ! We saw many of these pareos along our 3-week trip across 7 islands, but could not relate to it really and hence did not buy, now we do as we did it ourselves - thanks Tau and the entire Sofitel staff !

Other than the great snorkeling from the overwater bungalows, and the comfortable beds, our stay was very disappointing. The drinks were among the worst I’ve ever had and dinner the first night was so awful we did not eat dinner there again. The front desk staff and management was disorganized and not at all responsive or helpful like one would expect in luxury resort. In my opinion it’s nowhere close to five stars.

Hugely disappointing for the insane price of $1000/night. The location is stunning and the property itself (the bungalows, pool, beach, etc.) are well maintained and beautiful. But the service and food were so awful we would not go back, which is a shame. FOOD: The food breakfast buffet was the worst I've ever had and we've been to many tropical locations where the breakfast buffet is rarely a winner. The food was picked over, way too many choices that are poorly executed, flies everywhere. It was also challenging to even get a cup of coffee brought to the table. We also had lunch and dinner there (you are pretty much trapped at the resort due to its location). Again, poor selections (all greasy, no salads), poor preparation, and overpriced. You expect to be gouged on these types of vacations but at least make basic, good food. We did the polynesian buffet one evening bc they had a show. We went at 7, they opened at 6 and the food was all picked over. We were pulling a small amount of pork from a basically empty roasted pig, same with a picked over and driedout fish. (Almost $100/each!). The show was amatuerish and I would expect the Sofitel to book more professional talent. (We'd seen other shows on the islands so the talent is out there.) The food at the beach bar was even worse. SERVICE: This was the biggest disappointment. Getting a bucket of ice delivered to the room in the afternoon was always some kind of ordeal. (Once we were told by room service to go to the beach bar and get it and then the beach bar told us to call room service??!!) They were consistently out of towels at the pool. We were there one afternoon when there was a big tropical shower. Everyone's towels were soaked and the pool attendant scolded us for getting new towels! ("How many towels do you need? We have other guests!" like we weren't guests too?) What beach resort isn't prepared with lots of towels?) The food/drink service at the pool was non existant. We had to walk into the bar to order drinks and wait to get them. There were dirty dishes and empty cups sitting around the pool area for the better part of a day, so you had the essentially bus your area before you sat down. I wish I could say one nice thing about the food or service, but it was consistently a bummer. If all you care about is location, then for sure they are the best, but plan to buy your own booze and food and make use of your mini frig if you don't want to be set up for frustration. Or take a cab to find local places to eat.

Sofitel Kia Ora Moorea is the best location on Moorea. Beautiful sunrises and view of Tahiti and ferries. The resort is just big enough and service is cheerful and welcoming. The resort is well maintained and updated. I would recommend to travelers.