Le Méridien Tahiti: Good Enough

The Le Méridien Tahiti Hotel Review is part of the Tahiti Triumph Trip Report. It covers the following cities:

• NYC JFK
• Dubai, UAE
• Shanghai, China
• Papeete, Tahiti
• Bora Bora, Tahiti
• Moorea, Tahiti
• Auckland, New Zealand
• Hong Kong Island
• Tokyo, Japan
• Dallas, Texas

See the Picture Preview here and see how this $60,000 trip cost $1999 here. Be sure to check out TPOL’s Map, the best feature of the blog.

Getting There: It costs $40 for a taxi transfer at night and $25 during the day. This is something to consider if you are only staying for one night in Tahiti.

Welcome to Tahiti everyone. Specifically, welcome to the big island of French Polynesia and Le Méridien. Don’t bother unpacking your stuff as most of you will only be staying here for one night or two depending on when you arrived to Papeete and when you depart for one of the other islands.

I stayed at The Le Méridien for two nights but my first night doesn’t count since I arrived quite late and wasn’t able to do or see anything besides my hotel room. And that’s where this review begins.

The Room 

The room was nothing special. I had a view of the courtyard and could sort of see the ocean. This wasn’t a big deal because I was saving my postcard photos for my bungalow experiences in Moorea and Bora Bora.

The Welcome Amenity 

Everyone knows that everything in Tahiti is overpriced. That’s why I savored every last crumb of the yummy cookies that were provided as a Platinum amenity.

The Breakfast

This may be the worst breakfast buffet at an upscale hotel. Scraping for the last bit of eggs, shooing away bugs while reminiscing about the best hotel breakfast in the world was not what I expected.

The Beach 

It was a perfect sunny day in Tahiti. I drank a delicious piña colada and watched a commercial being filmed of models running on the beach.

The Pool 

The pool was decent for a quick soak and wasn’t very crowded.

The Bungalows 

There are bungalows at this resort but I wouldn’t recommend spending money for an upgrade if you are going to be headed to other islands.

The Service 

Out of the four hotels that I visited in French Polynesia which include both IC’s in Bora Bora and the Hilton Moorea, this was the one with the best service. It was warm and genuine.

The Hotel Itself 

For some reason the hotel is painted an ugly red. This jarring hue is incongruent with the beauty of its surroundings.

Overall

The hotel reminded me of the Oasis spring break hotel in Cancun. It’s well past its prime and in need of a remodel. I would be really disappointed if I came all the way to Tahiti and this was where I stayed the whole time. It did serve its purpose for the two nights I was there. If I ever return to Tahiti, I think I would stay at an airport hotel across the street and save money on transport and the points and cash for the hotel.

If you found this review to be too harsh then you will be appalled by my critiques of the following three.

Off to Bora Bora!