Sofitel Bora Bora Private Island (Currently Closed) 5 stars

Sofitel is closed and falling a part sooo sad to see it in such disrepair. Hope someone with $$ comes in and fixes them up. We stayed at the Royal Bora Bora wonderful place beautiful beaches great food and super people working there. Great on a budget

Stayed here in november 2019. The welcome was great, with coconut, music and perceft view. Staff was really helpful and friendly, loved them all. Room in the "treehouse" was perfect. We had our private cabin. It was a bit outdated but really comfortable, clean and well equiped, water, coffee, tea, beer and soft drink included. Terrace was amazing with a stunning view. Bathroom was very good too. Housekeeping was everyday and perfect. This resort is on private island with an amazing viewpoint, with many possibilities to sit and enjoying the stunning view on the ocean, Bora Bora island, lagoons... Boat can bring you to the main island and back with no charge. The only thing we missed was a real beach :( Of course you have possibility to swim, but no breathtaking place with white sand and palmtrees. But you can visit Matira beach.. Wifi was free, but strong only in some places, in our room it was really weak and many times no signal. From airport is it about 40 mins with a boat. I definitely recommend this hotel for your holiday in paradise.

The staff was polite and responsive, the hotel breakfast was very bad. The the scenery was superb, especially from the rooms. Our rooms had unbelievable view from the balcony. Also, the wifi network signal was not always good. Overall it’s very satisfactory.

This hotel is moderately priced compared to other hotels in Bora Bora. We have also stayed at the Conrad here before, which is very expensive, and the Sofitel Private Island resort is our favorite now based on cost/reward. At the airport, the staff was welcoming with a lei, and carried our luggage to the shuttle boat. Upon arrival to the hotel property, we were greeted with someone playing a ukulele and coconut drinks. The concierge were knowledgeable and friendly and had a chilled bottle of champagne waiting for us in our bungalow. The bungalows seemed “authentic” compared to others we have seen (natural wood look, tiki hut feel, etc.). The bed is super soft and comfortable. Room service came daily to refill complimentary drinks, including juice, soda, and local beer. There was also Nespresso machine. The towels were soft and big, and room service replenished four of them daily (which they get kudos for because I like lots of towels). There are canoes and paddle boards you can take for free, and are not restricted to certain areas as is the case at other hotels. The Coral Gardens are within swimming distance from this property (see picture of map below) and we took the paddle boards and canoe over there. Drinks at the bar are reasonably well priced at this resort compared to other properties. We got the breakfast-included option when we booked, and it was a decent breakfast buffet with selection of local foods, along with your staples of eggs, bacon, sausage, etc. We ate dinner twice at the restaurant. There are many options on the menu, but we unfortunately picked a night where they were having only duck, and we do not like that at all! The other night we had risotto and white fish; it was decent. We decided to spend most dinners at the main island restaurants. There is only this one restaurant on this private island property and no pool, however, all guests have access to the Sofitel main island resort on Bora Bora with more restaurants, a pool, and bar. Unfortunately, the main island resort has been shut down for a year for remodeling... and the staff told us it’s going to be at least another year. Shuttle service to the main island resort is free, which is a great bonus if you wanted to go explore the town. We booked massages at the spa, and they were great. The spa is a bungalow halfway over the water, so you can hear the waves crashing and it was very relaxing. The other property is kept up nicely, with lots of tropical foliage and decor. There must be a black tip shark nursery close by, because daily we saw baby black tips!!! That was my favorite part :) All in all, we cannot WAIT to go back and will definitely book this property in the future.

We celebrated our honeymoon in Moorea and Bora Bora. We came to the Sofitel after the heavy monsoon-like rain that was over Moorea/French Polynesia. Needless to say, we were ready for a change of scenery and some sun! The Sofitel staff treated us like royalty as soon as we arrived - greeting us with coconut drinks, lei's, music, and a site tour. They took any MINOR inconvenience very seriously - even if we were not upset by it. The grounds are gorgeous - between the bungalows, the bar/restaurant hut, the hilltop view, and of course the clear blue water. We only ate at the restaurant for breakfast and one dinner meal - we didn't really like the preset dinner menus and wanted a bit more flexibility with pricing/meal options. We ate at the bar a couple times and food was good - the drinks there were SO good. They gave us a free cocktail at check-in, which was an exciting surprise! They came by our bungalows with refill waters frequently, which was much needed with all that swimming and sun! The delivered small desserts every night, which was a nice added touch. Snorkeling there was incredible. You could snorkel right by your bungalows and see so much sealife - octopus, fish, sharks, crabs, etc. Or you could swim a short distance to The Aquarium which was beautiful and had so many fish (it is also visited by excursions)! The boat shuttle to the main island runs pretty frequently, so we didn't have any issues there - we would time our dinner reservations with the boat schedule. We loved the seclusion and privacy of this resort - no kids running around, not overly crowded with people. It felt like it belonged to us (for a few days)! My only complaints (if you truly can complain at all in paradise) were: 1. The resort is a bit out-dated (however they are working on renovating!) 2. We paid $100 for late checkout, and they wouldn't refill our water bottles that last day. I understood that the staff believed we were leaving, but they should have been notified by management that we paid to stay longer (until 5p). I called to request more water and explained the situation. The staff member said she would follow-up and have it delivered, but they never did. 3. Room service was an extra $15 on top of regular menu prices. We felt that was a bit ridiculous for one sandwich so we opted out. We had such an incredible experience here though and would highly recommend this resort! Maybe we will come back for a future anniversary!