I was a little worried about this hotel after reading some of the reviews but I have to say that I was more then satisfied with this hotel and did not find a lot the negative reviews to be true. My wife and I stayed on the private island and thought it was amazing. We stayed in bungalow 129 which was on the end looking directly at Mt. Otemanu. This might be one of the best bungalows because of how private it is. I can't imagine having to spend twice as much for the St. Regis or Four Season. I am sure they have some real nice amenities and bigger rooms but I didn't find the Sofitel Motu was lacking anything I needed to make my trip enjoyable. I was looking for a secluded quiet place that had amazing views along with respectable room accommodations and this place delivered.
Greeting - The Sofitel has a greeter at the the airport to give you a lai and direct you to the boat transfer. Our luggage was lost either by American Airlines or Air Tahiti and was still left in LAX but the greeter assured us that she would look for it and deliver it to us when it arrived which we got the next day. The boat took us directly to the private island were we were greeted again by one of the staff for check-in. They also had one of the local gentlemen playing island music on a ukulele.
Boat Transfer - The hotel offers free boat transfer service between the Sofitel Private Island and Marara Beach. We thought it was actually nice to be able to hop on a boat for a few minutes a few times a day. You never have to wait too long for the boat but at times you wished it was right there when you got the the dock. The service runs until about 10pm in the evening. We would take the boat either to get lunch, go to the Marara pool, or go out for dinner.
The Room - I found the room to be rather nice and did not find the mattress to be terrible as others stated. I found the bedding pretty comfortable. We did not discover any bugs/coach roaches in our room however we did find a gecko in our room one night which we find to be funny and were not bothered at all. After all you are on an island in the middle of the pacific staying in a bungalow. The windows do not have screens. They have shutters that you can close or keep open. They had a nice rain shower which was great. We had one of the decks in the shallow area of the water so it was nice to go off the deck and just hang out in the water or walk over to the hotel and grab the kayak. One other couple we met had a bungalow on the opposite end with deep water where we would do jumps off the deck into the water. The room also has an empty fridge to use for food/drinks from the local grocery store. Our room also had a glass bottom area under the coffee table for viewing fish.
Food - I would say that the food on Bora Bora in general is just average. At the private island you can have a breakfast buffet every day but only dinner a couple days a week. I am not certain when as we never ate dinner there. We had breakfast a few times and find it to be pretty decent however very expensive. You have to kind of expect that in Bora Bora for everything though. You can get better deals if you go off the hotel but most places are not open for breakfast. There is a local grocery store about a 3-5 minute walk from Hotel Marara. We would stock up on fruit, cheese, fresh baked bread, crackers, snacks, water, and beer. THERE IS AN EMPTY FRIDGE TO USE in the room which is great. We ate at the Hotel Marara for lunch and dinner a couple times and found it just to be ok. Nothing special. It was more expensive and not as good as the local restaurants so we decided to go out for dinner most of the time. There are a a few restaurants within walking distance(La Bounty, Pizza and Crepes, and Fare Manuia). However other places that are a little farther away like Bloody Mary's and Kaina Hut will come and pick you up if you make a reservation earlier in the day. I also heard from a guest at the Four Seasons that their food was marginal at best as well.
Activities - Reading on the deck overlooking the blue lagoon and Mt. Otemanu. Walking off the deck to snorkel or kayak. The hotel provides free snorkel gear. Taking a dip in the pool over at Hotel Marara. Bike rentals are right outside the hotel if you want to ride to the town of Vaitape. I think it was about a 40 minute bike ride to town. The bike ride itself is more exciting then the town. We also did a swim with the sharks/stingray tour done through the Sofitel. It was a great trip. Make sure to bring the suntan lotion. In the evenings you can go up to the top of the private island for beautiful sunsets and a panoramic view of the island.
Internet - The wireless interenet in the room did not work very well however they had computers in each of the reception areas of the private island and Marara which worked fine. It was pretty expensive.
Staff - Most of the staff were pleasant and accommodating. There is of course the one or two that were not as enjoyable.
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