Best Luxury Hotels in French Polynesia

It’s exactly how you imagine paradise: staying in an over-water thatched villa on stilts, with the blue, fish-filled ocean visible via glass panels, 24-hour butler service, spa treatments and your own pool. Guests have access to the resort’s main pool with a sociable swim-up bar, a fitness centre and four restaurants. Lagoon Restaurant by Jean-Georges is the resort’s exclusive signature venue and the food is hard to beat anywhere on the island. Like many of the villas, it sits over the water, serving fish caught from the local area. If you’re in the mood for some fine Italian cuisine, eat at Far Niente Ristorante, or there’s Bam Boo with classic wok cuisine, teppanyaki and sushi.

Featuring 100 stunning over-water bungalows, the Four Seasons is a 13-year-old resort that oozes luxury. The site is expansive, with landscaped gardens, a plethora of onsite activities, its own boutiques and multiple dining choices. As such, you’ll need to like walking or grab a lift on one of its many golf buggies to get around. It’s not all about lying back and sunning yourself (although doing that on one of the poolside teak loungers is a pleasure). Here you can take part in a workshop with the hotel’s own marine biologist, learn a paddle sport, or practise yoga. The opulent Kahai Spa is quite something — it has treatments incorporating 24-carat gold.

Choose from villas that lie next to the beach, or over the water, at Le Moana Bora Bora. There are 64 suites in total – all leading out to furnished balconies or patio spaces – and two restaurants. It has its own private beach, arguably one of the most beautiful on the island and you can swim in the sea, the saltwater lagoon, or the hotel’s infinity pool. Le Moana is located at Matira Point and takes on a traditional Polynesian feel. While there isn’t a spa onsite, a boat shuttle can transfer you to the InterContinental Bora Bora Resort & Thalasso Spa where guests can use the facilities including the Deep Ocean Spa.

This Relais and Chateaux property is operated by Pearl Resorts and has been designed in authentic Polynesian style. Like the Sofitel, it’s situated on its own private islet and is right beside a coral garden for prime snorkelling opportunities (snorkels and SUP hire is free and the hotel has its own scuba dive centre). Guests can book one of 45 overwater bungalows with wrap-around decks providing direct water access, or one of 12 beach villas each with a plunge pool, walled tropical gardens and thatched roof cabanas. There are three dining venues: La Plage, Le Vanille and the gourmet restaurant, L’Ohiri, serving five-course banquets crafted from sustainable ingredients. It also has a spa and a floodlit tennis court.

Get the full paradise experience by staying in a thatched overwater bungalow on the lagoon. Fans of the Real Housewives Of Orange County may recognise the resort from an episode aired in 2015, set on what is arguably the best beach on the island, close to Tootea Lookout. Sofitel Kia Ora accommodates 113 luxurious bungalows (some over the protected lagoon, others on the beach or immersed in tropical gardens). There are two restaurants — K by Marc Lintanf and Pure, with an outdoor terrace and dance shows — a bar, an outdoor swimming pool and a day spa.