I recently got back from my fourth visit to Bora Bora, where I decided to split my time between Bora Bora’s two Marriott properties — The Westin Bora Bora Resort & Spa and The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort.
This was my second time staying at The St. Regis Bora Bora (my first visit was in December 2022) and below is a review of my latest stay.
The basics
I need to get this out of the way at the beginning of my review — I absolutely love this resort. I’ve visited over 60 countries and try to focus on staying in luxury properties whenever I can, and The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort is easily one of my favorite hotels in the world.
The resort has only 90 villas and is spread across 44 acres, making it one of the most intimate luxury properties in Bora Bora (more on that below). Guests who stay at the property also receive complimentary butler service, making your stay feel extra special.
My overwater villa
The St. Regis Bora Bora features the largest overwater villas in French Polynesia and the South Pacific, with a base room starting at 1,550 square feet. I was in an Overwater Superior Villa (room 319) and it was massive — larger than my condo in Los Angeles.
Overwater Superior Villas have four main areas: the bedroom, a separate living area, a (very large) bathroom area with separate shower and bathtub, and an outdoor deck. Throughout the villa, there are glass panels so you can see down into the ocean.
Something I really appreciate about The St. Regis Bora Bora that sets it apart from The Westin Bora Bora and the Conrad Bora Bora Nui is that every villa gets its own dedicated bikes, making it much easier (and more fun) to get around the property. For contrast, at both the Conrad Bora Bora Nui and The Westin Bora Bora, guests need to get lucky and find an available bike, which can be difficult. Having access to your own bike — with your villa number attached to the front — is a very nice touch.
Given that the villa is more the size of an apartment or small house instead of a hotel room, I actually felt more “at home” at The St. Regis Bora Bora than I’ve felt at any other property.
The St. Regis Bora Bora butler service
All villas at The St. Regis Bora Bora come with dedicated butler service, and my butler greeted me at the pier when I arrived at the resort. She offered to either take me straight to check in or to explore the property first, and I asked for an overview of the property — even though I stayed at the property before, I thought it’d be helpful for my friend I was traveling with to get an overview of the resort.
Your butler is never difficult to reach, as you can simply dial “9” on any phone and reach the butler service (each private bungalow at the adult pool includes a phone so you can reach your butler to order food, drinks, or plan an activity for later while you relax poolside).
What I love most about the butler service at The St. Regis Bora Bora is that when you check in, you can let your butler know what type of coffee or tea you like in the morning and when you wake up, you can call your butler and they’ll deliver and setup your morning drinks in the outdoor area of your bungalow (or inside, if you prefer), which is a fantastic way to start each day.
Your butler can also help you with making dinner reservations, packing and unpacking your bags, and planning activities around the island.
The St. Regis Spa Bora Bora
Although I previously stayed at The St. Regis Bora Bora, this was my first time getting a spa treatment there and I’m so glad that I did.
If you’re booked for a massage, you’ll get picked up at your villa 30 minutes prior to the massage so you have time to enjoy the facilities, which include a sauna, hot tub, and a gorgeous beach area.
Note that all guests can access the spa facilities regardless of whether they’re getting a treatment, and I absolutely recommend spending time at the beach here (though it is a “calm area,” so you should only go if you’re okay sitting and enjoying the view mostly in silence).
I opted for a 90-minute relaxation massage, which cost about $290 USD and was well worth it. By that point, I was pretty sunburnt and my masseuse suggested an oil that helped soothe my skin and was able to avoid some of the more sensitive areas on my body.
After the massage, I was given a glass of champagne on the beach and I decided to stay there for the rest of the day, having my friend join and bring our snorkel gear so we could enjoy swimming with the fish in the lagoon in front of the spa.
The pool and beach areas
There are two pools at The St. Regis Bora Bora — the main pool and the adults-only pool, with both offering views of Mount Otemanu.
While the main pool offers a swim-up bar and is right across from the ocean, I spent all my pool time at the adults-only pool, which was more secluded and relaxing — at the adults-only pool, guests can find private bungalows that lead to their own private pool (with the private pool being connected to a larger pool).
Throughout both of my stays at The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort, the bungalows at the adults-only pool were at capacity only once and, other than that one time, I was always able to find an open bungalow. The water temperature was perfect, so I would switch between tanning in the pool and laying down in the bungalow when I needed shade, which was a very nice routine.
I split my time pretty evenly between spending time at the pool and the beach, as The St. Regis Bora has a gorgeous beach area with one of my favorite features in all of French Polynesia: a hammock in the middle of the water.
A lot of people like to take pictures of themselves in the hammock for social media (and it’s easy to see why — it’s a wonderful way to make your friends jealous!), so I would plant myself in the hammock, occasionally getting out to allow people to get their pictures, and then hop back in when they were done.
While the main beach area has crystal-clear blue water and views of Mount Otenamu, there aren’t really any reefs or fish nearby. Instead, if you want to snorkel you’ll need to head to the hotel’s Lagoonarium, which is full of reefs and fish.
While you’re free to explore the Lagoonarium alone, the resort also offers activities there including allowing guests to help feed the fish and a coral cutting activity, where you can learn more about the ecosystem and plant coral.
Food
There are a number of dining options at The St. Regis Bora Bora:
- Lagoon (featuring an innovative menu and a striking view of Mount Otenamu)
- Bamboo (Asian cuisine)
- Te Pahu (international cuisine)
- Farniente Ristorante (Italian cuisine)
- Aparina Bar (international cuisine)
- In-room dining
Before dinner on my first night at the hotel, there was a complimentary sunset champagne sabering at the beach, which was a great way to start the evening. After having some champagne and meeting some new friends, I had dinner at Aparina Bar where they were having an Indian-food night and it was delicious.
For dinner on my second night, I went to Farniente for Italian food and was equally impressed.
Each morning, a breakfast buffet is served at Te Pahu and I really enjoyed the spread, including lots of delicious pastries, juices, pancakes, and hash browns. If you want to order an egg dish, you have to order it from your waiter and I recommend ordering it right when you sit down so that you can get your eggs as soon as you get back with your food from the buffet.
After we got back from dinner one night, there was champagne, chocolate cake, and a candle in our room, with a note thanking me for my Marriott elite status. I thought that was a very nice tough.
The St. Regis Bora Bora is arguably the most intimate property on Bora Bora
Okay, I wanted to get back to how intimate The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort is compared to other properties in Bora Bora.
The mathematician in me loves crunching numbers, so I developed an intimacy ranking (with the score being the number of acres the hotel sits on divided by the number of rooms).
| Intimacy Ranking | Rooms | Acres | Score | |
| The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort | 1 | 90 | 44 | 0.489 |
| Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora | 2 | 115 | 54 | 0.469 |
| InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa | 3 | 88 | 30 | 0.341 |
| Le Bora Bora by Pearl Resorts | 4 | 108 | 16 | 0.148 |
| Conrad Bora Bora Nui | 5 | 114 | 16 | 0.14 |
| The Westin Bora Bora Resort & Spa | 6 | 142 | 17 | 0.12 |
A few things to note about my ranking:
- I spent about almost an hour trying to find the most accurate room count and acres listed for each property above, although it’s possible the numbers above could be slightly off.
- I wasn’t able to find out how large the InterContinental Bora Bora Le Moana Resort is, so I kept the hotel off the list (that said, I don’t believe it’s a huge property).
- Just because a resort is lower on the list doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily feel packed at the resort — for instance, I was very surprised that the Conrad Bora Bora Nui ranked 5th on this list, as I’ve been there twice (including once with a completely full resort) and it still felt quite intimate.
Even with all those caveats, it’s clear that The St. Regis Bora Bora offers a more intimate setting than almost any other resort on Bora Bora, which is one of my favorite features of the hotel.
Bottom line
I absolutely loved my stay at The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort, especially the spacious overwater villas, the beach in front of the spa, the butler service, the adults-only pool, and the hammock at the main beach. Even though I’ve already stayed at this resort twice, I already can’t wait to come back again.
