Tahiti Pre-cruise Hotel

I have been to Tahiti twice (once on the Wind Song and the second time on the PG). Both times my precruise stay was at the Beachcomber which I really liked. Although the food was exspensive, the room and service were just great. The location was ez access to down town via letruck. For my late 2007 cruise on the PG, I have selected the Radisson Hotel for a 2 night pre-cruise stay. The last time the hotel was not open in time.

I would like to hear comments about the Radisson hotel......and a comparison for those that have done both the Radisson and the Beachcomber. The cost as a single was substantial (the Radisson much cheaper).

One last question.....I figure the first day at the hotel is part of the travel day...so the second day I want to take an excursion out into the Island. Hiking, off road or anything physical. Can anyone suggest a tour operator that can either be booked in advance or through the hotel.

Thanks for your help in advance.

TP cruisers usually recommend Patrick in Tahiti I think its called Patrick Aventure. He has full and half day trips.

I will be on the PG over new year and I hear that we will be at the Rad on the way back. So I shall be able to give you a comparison between the two ( we were at the Beachcomber the other two times.

Miriam

We stayed at the Radisson before our 02/06 cruise. While it's location is not particularly convenient and it doesn't have OWB's, it is a very nice new hotel. They do have a shuttle to town. The rooms at the Radisson are very nice. We had a room ending in 02, i.e., 7202, which is in the 7th building on the second floor. I think the 02’are all large with Jacuzzi’s and separate showers. For our day room after the cruise we were in 5206 (5th building on the second floor); I think all 06s are huge suites with a separate bedroom and a bath and a half, but no Jacuzzi although it had a large free-standing tub and separate shower and twin sinks. As I said, the rooms are very nice.

The days at the Radisson actually exceeded our expectations. Food was better than expected—not great, but okay. Yes, it was expensive, but I didn’t think outrageous. A chicken Caesar salad for lunch was about $16-18. There was a special Valentine’s Day dinner, which was $75 per person, including a glass of champagne. Service at that special dinner was okay for us, but had less good service. (Note, the restaurant is open-air, but covered, and informal—I wore nice shorts and a polo one evening for dinner.)

There is also a nice, black sand beach one day the seas were calm, on another they were fairly rough. We stuck to the pool, which was also quite nice. Feel free to ask me other questions: dreps@comcast.net.

We just got back from the PG. Stayed overnight at the Radisson after arriving in Papeete on our way to Tikehau and had a day room there when we debarked from the PG before getting the red eye to LAX. I can't compare it to the Intercontinental but it was definitely a step up from the Le Meridien at Papeete. It is quite a way out side the city. So it wouldn't be particular convenient to shopping. The rooms are large and comfortable. One negative, we had a bit of a time with the AC. The day room, actually a suite, was hot because we could not get the AC to stay on. If we were going to stay over night we would have asked for some help with that problem. We only ate breakfast, it was preety good as island buffet breakfasts go.

We just got back from the PG. Stayed overnight at the Radisson after arriving in Papeete on our way to Tikehau and had a day room there when we debarked from the PG before getting the red eye to LAX. I can't compare it to the Intercontinental but it was definitely a step up from the Le Meridien at Papeete. It is quite a way out side the city. So it wouldn't be particular convenient to shopping. The rooms are large and comfortable. One negative, we had a bit of a time with the AC. The day room, actually a suite, was hot because we could not get the AC to stay on. If we were going to stay over night we would have asked for some help with that problem. We only ate breakfast, it was preety good as island buffet breakfasts go.

We have only stayed at the Radisson. It was very, very nice. Everything the other posters said is true. The pool is a very large horizon pool, so you can float in it, look toward sea and only see beautiful blue water. We were upgraded to a lovely suite with a huge balcony. There is a concierge desk where excursions can be booked. When we were there in September 2005 there was a 2 for 1 happy hour in the bar, which is upstairs. You can watch the sun set over Moorea.

I prefer the Beachcomber. I love the sand pool and swim up bar. The Raddison is a nice hotel, but it took forever to get there from the ship and when we were there last year, the pool was so busy you couldn't move around. Did I mention I love the sand pool and swim up bar at the Beachcomber?

Dan

We've stayed at both hotels, albeit only a day-room at the Beachcomber. I am one of the few people who prefer the Radisson. I find the Beachcomber a typical plastic resort hotel, not very typical of FP. I think I was spoiled because our first hotel there was the Manihi Pearl, which is very laid back--after that, all the Papeete hotels seem pretty resorty. Yes, the trip to the Rad is long, but the rooms a sensational, the view of the beach, the sound of the waves, the sunset--priceless.

I'm with you. I think the Radisson is excellent, though I haven't stayed at the Beachcomber. It has very beautiful rooms and decent (and not outrageous) food. Also, Regent usually has extremely reasonable packages pre- and post-cruise at the Radisson.

We are staying for two nights pre cruise at moorea pearl resort in a garden suite with pool , anyone here any opinions/ advice on this choice.

We are staying for two nights pre cruise at moorea pearl resort in a garden suite with pool , anyone here any opinions/ advice on this choice.

We stayed at the Moorea Pearl in a garden suite with pool for 3 nights, post cruise, in October. After staying precruise at the Tahiti Sheraton (NOT a great place to stay, IMHO) we were worried about this second hotel. Were we ever surprised at what we got! A HUGE room, great air conditioning, and a very nice (and very private) pool off of our deck. The deck has 2 chairs and a small table on the upper deck and 2 lounge chairs and a small table on the lower section near the pool. The pool measures roughly 6'x7' and is probably 4.5' deep with a seat on one side so that you can just sit there and stay cool. Not large, but way cool and (again) private. There was quite a delay in getting into our room, but once there, it was worth it. The room has a safe and a fridge. Although the fridge was pre-stocked with "mini-bar items", we removed the stuff and filled it with some groceries that we'd bought like water, fruit juice (to mix with the leftover rum we had from the PG), Hinano beer, cheeses, etc. The bathroom is quite nice...double sinks and a shower big enough for 2 AND snorkel equipment. Word of warning.... there's no glass in the bathroom windows, so the toilet area door was kept closed by housekeeping. Boy, could it get hot in there!

There's a small "town" to the right as you leave the hotel grounds. Some shops, a cafe (we ate there for each breakfast, as the prices were "reasonable"), and a market. It was about a 5 minute walk to the market.

The resort itself was nice. A big pool, complimentary snorkel equipment (fair to good snorkeling including an eel, lots of fish, and an octopus outside of the outer OWB's...which WAY cuts down on their privacy), a bar (where you need to go to fill up your ice bucket), and 2 restaurants. We ate at each. Hated the pretentious "French" restaurant, and were lukewarm about the other. There's a concierage who will help you arrange day trips and make recommendations as to where to eat. He also called a restaurant for us and they came and picked us up one night.

Across the street and down just a little towards "town", there's a shop which we skipped until the last day, but found pretty good prices at when we finally went there. In front of this is "Alberts car rental", a shack. If you want to rent a car for the day, we were told that this was the way to go (after we rented from a chain, that is).

I would gladly stay at the Pearl again....in the same rooms. There was mixed reaction to some of the other rooms....we met some folks who had a "beach bungelow" and woke to find a bird sleeping between them on their pillows and crabs invading their room.

If interested, I can e-mail you some pics of the room and pool. Let me know.

Karen

:) Thx for that, you covered all the info required. We will be hiring a car and basically checking out the island. The over the top prices for the OW bungalows had us looking for an alternative that still had an island feel. We will no doubt be eating out etc and have done some research to that end. Your view on in house dining coincides with what we have picked up elsewhere.

Sounds like a good prequel to the main event---- Paul G

Nevian

Looks like I will keep my servation with the Radisson hotel and not switch to the Beachcomber (which I have enjoyed in the past).

Since I plan to do some sort of excursion/ tour the full day at the hotel...maybe a group 4x4 into the heart of the Island, I wonder if you can schedule that through the hotel in advance. To arrive in the evening and ask to join a group the next morning might not work. From other posters "Patricks tours" sound like the way to go. Any suggestions on other tour operators on the island of Tahiti or how far in advance to book a tour ?

I have read so much about how Tahiti itself isn't so great...yet I have seen pictures of the interior of the island that looks great. So exploring I must go. If I am going to sit by the hotel pool, let it be after I have been chased by wild pigs and swam around a tropical waterfall. Yes I read there are wild pigs out in the center of the island.....how kool!