Here’s why it gets a 5 star. For a property out in the middle of nowhere, exposed to the Pacific Ocean and at least 10 years old, this place is awesome. I’ve done Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora for years and never been to Tikehau. Totally worth the trip and would consider not going to Bora Bora to spend more time here next trip. The rooms are great, well maintained and managed to get a sunset view. The show stopper here is the staff. The gentlemen that checked us in, Ray, was an absolute delight. He was very attentive and made our trip extra special.

After spending time in the Society Islands we made the decision to visit the Tuamotus and Tikehau was our destinations. As there are not of options on this atoll, we decided to stay at the Tikehau Pearl Beach Resort and we were absolutely thrilled with our decision and really enjoyed this leg of our journey.

The plane landed at the Tikehau “airport” and I say this with a lot of affection as it truly is a hut which warmly introduced us to the charm of this atoll. After our greeting from the TPBR staff, e retrieved our luggage and we were off in a van to the pier. We boarded a boat for our fifteen minute ride to the resort and were greeted by Faye with a long blast from a conch shell. After a quick check-in, we were taken to our room.

We were very pleased to arrive at overwater suite #45 which was the perfect spot for our stay. We were the last suite on the pier which provided incredible privacy and a wonderful view looking west. We absolutely loved our room which was very spacious with a wonderful bathroom and a glass covered hole in the floor to feed the fish. You could tell they put a lot of thought into the room and the layout.

The deck provided a great experience as well. We brought an iPod with us which we were able to plug into the stereo and enjoy our favorite music in paradise. There was a covered area with a table and four chairs, another area with two padded loungers and then a lower deck with a ladder and shower to rinse off after swimming. We really enjoyed the view from our deck in the evenings with the incredible sunset views.

Because we were the furthest suite out on the pier we felt totally isolated (in a good way) as if we were the only people in this amazing paradise. It was a walk to the main part of the resort but to us that was a wonderful benefit. We had daily service to our suite and there was an ice machine halfway down the pier.

Besides the amazing room, the best part of our location was the very large coral head at the base of our suite with a lot of beautiful fish. We brought a bunch of loaves of bread with us and spent many hours feeding the fish which we really enjoyed. It is not an exaggeration when I say there were times when hundreds of fish were circling our deck (even with my husband in the water with the bread). We even got in the water with the fish as we fed them. There were many times where we also had three to four sharks circling our room as well but don’t worry if we got in the water they swam away. We thoroughly enjoyed getting in the water to snorkel right around our room.

As weird as it may seem, the water seemed clearer when it was windier above the water and less clear when the winds were calm.

We enjoyed most of our meals at the resort – surprisingly the fish offerings were not good options. The breakfast buffet was quite bland. We didn’t find out until our third morning that you could get eggs to order which was a lot nicer.

The staff was very friendly. Jimmy did a nice job serving us and also playing bartender.
There is not a lot to do at this resort, especially in the evenings. For us this was wonderful but we could see how others may find it less than desirable.

The only real negative we could say about the resort was our experience with the boat to town. The guy was about twenty minutes leaving the resort to go to town. We told him that we were just running to the store and would be right back. We were back within ten minutes and he was already gone. We had to wait about an hour and a half for the next boat. We thought this was quite rude considering he was so late on the departure and we had informed him we would be right back. There is nothing to do in town so early in the morning so after walking around for a little while we were stuck.

All too quickly it was time to leave this paradise. Check- out was quickly handled and the hotel provided a lovely send-off. We thoroughly enjoyed our experience at this resort and would highly recommend this destination as a part of your French Polynesia vacation. We hope you find this information useful – please feel free to send us a pm if you have any questions.

P.S. We actually travled in November 2010, but the trip advisor system won't let us go back that far in their drop down.

My husband and I stayed 2 nights at this resort in Oct. 2011. We were upgraded to a premier overwater bungalow from a standard overwater bungalow. Rm # 6 had the best location and a beautiful view of lagoon. The room was very clean and the staff were very nice and friendly. We really enjoyed staying there. It is located in a very isolated motu. If you are looking for relaxed vacation, this is the place to be. Everything in Tahiti was very expensive so expect the same for food at the hotel restaurant.

Our 4th time in Polynesia, but the first time in Tikehau, we probably had too many expectations!
The Hotel is small, which is nice, clean, a few places are in need of repair though. We booked a beach bungalow for 4 nights, it was comfortable and nice, the bathroom was "outdoor" (fun). The pool is extremely small and shallow, good for young kids. The lagoon is nice, a lot of fishes and sharks (black tips), especially under the "pilotis" (bungalows above the water). Swimming there is fun, a lot of life.
Activities: kayaks and snorkeling gear available, ping pong table
Dive shop on site (extra $$) - closed on Sundays

Restaurant:
Breakfast was very good and complete
Lunch (we had lunch only once and it was good)
Dinner, not great unfortunately, the same manu over and over, we had fish every night, and each time it was overcooked. The last night my wife ordered a lobster, it was a piece of rubber, it was soo cooked, we sent it back, the next one was a little bit better but tasteless!

We went to the Birds' Islands, followed by a lunch on a beach (fish BBQ and Tahitian Fish in coconut milk, very good). Worth it!

The Staff is very nice. Friday night they had their first Tahitian Show with music and danse, and the restaurant had a buffet, it was good.