Post cruise stay: Intercontinental OR Sheraton

[Mai Tai Guy]

We are planning a post cruise stay in Moorea after our October 8 cruise on Tahitian Princess and we're trying to decide between a beach bungalow at the Intercontinental or a room at the Sheraton. We've read complete opposite reviews of both on trip advisor website and were wondering if anyone has stayed at either recently. Thanks for your input.

[Princess-of-Quite-alot]

We're going for the OWB at the Sheraton..looking forward to the great snorkeling!

[cruisernurse]

If you are doing 1 day post cruise only you may want to consider the Intercontinental in Tahiti. The check-out in Moorea is around 11 and then you have a day room you can use, but you would have to catch the ferry back to Tahiti to catch your flight. We did a 1 day in Moorea and it was a lot of work for just 1 night. This time we did 1 post in tahiti and it was much easier. If you have several days you need to make sure that Moorea Sheraton doesn't try to mess you over like they did our group last week. The current under the OWB was so strong you couldn't stand up. We had read that there wasn't a current at the OWB, wow, were they wrong. It was so strong that it was almost impossible to try to swim back to your bungalow. I am a strong swimmer and I thought I might drown. Many in our group couldn't even enjoy the water at the OWB due to the current and depth of the water.

We thought it would be about chest level. Most places were over our head.

 

cruisernurse

[southwestgal]

My husband and I stayed pre-cruise at the Intercontinental in Tahiti in January 2006. We had a Jr. Suite OWB. After the cruise, we splurged for a room while waiting for our Air New Zealand flight which left the next day at 2:30 am. Both times our stay was spectacular! We loved the convenience of the resort - it's only about 7 miles from the dock. The property is beautiful and kept in wonderful condition. Both times, the rooms were clean and nicely furnished with flowers strewn around the bed and bathroom. They have two pools. One has a waterfall and is next to the lagoonarium (sp?) where you can go snorkeling. The other pool, where we spent all our time, is a sand bottom pool with a knife/infinity edge. It has a spectacular view of Moorea. This pool also has a swim up bar if you are interested in that. I have to say that they did make the best mai tais! The rooms were not cheap, however we did join the Ambassador Club. For $150 you get a certificate for a free weekend night. You just show the certificate at check-in and they take care of crediting you the night on the bill. You have to stay at least two weekend nights (with one of them free) and the certificate had to be used within a certain amount of time after joining the Ambassador Club. I believe it was 6 or 8 months - you should check the Ambassador Club fine print before joining. We waiting about 7 months to join the Club so that the certificate would be valid when we were traveling. The Club also entitles you to a free gift when staying (we received a poster of the hotel and a pareo) and upgrades when available. We booked over a year out and got a great rate on the OWB. At the last minute, we booked the room at the end of the cruise and they gave us another great rate on that. It probably helped that we went in January which is low season, but it looked like most of the OWB's were booked. The food is bit pricey, but if you order a la carte and don't do the buffets then it really isn't any more than a big city in the US. The buffets are pretty good though. Our OWB rate included the full breakfast buffet.

 

We had a wonderful time and highly recommend the hotel. Sorry, I can't compare it to the Sheraton.

[voyages]

Hi, we just got back from Tahiti yesterday, This time we stayed at the Sheraton in Moorea. Two years ago we stayed at the Intercontinental. The Sheraton is by far the best of the two. The beach at the Intercontinental is artificial but the one at the Sheraton is a beautiful beach and snorkeling is great right from the beach. The staff was much friendlier at the Sheraton. As for the rooms and food they were both comparable. The scenery at the Sheraton is beautiful any which way you look. If you are to stay in a garden bungalow, ask for numbers anywhere over 20 if you don,t want to be near the streel. Beach view ask for 46 or 47, and overwater anyone except for 52-54-55. The are over water but on the edge. When tide is low, all you will see is sand from anyone of these 3 bungalows. Wish we where still there.

By the way never take the buffet breakfast, it is much more expensive than having breakfast from the menu.

Denis

[jmike]

I just returned from the 4/19 TP sailing. We stayed 2 nites at the Sheraton Moorea and were very supprised to find that the water was about 12 - 16" higher at the same OWB where we stayed 2 years ago. I looked at pictures that were taken 2 years ago at the same time of day and you could see a real difference in water level. We also experienced a very stong current this time and 2 years ago there was no current. I don't know? The water level rise was either due to the storm activity around Australia or maybe due to global warming.

 

Mike

[jan54]

jmike voyages We are also staying at the Sheraton for three pre-cruise days in August. Can you tell me some of the things you did while staying there, where you ate, did you walk anywhere? Jan

[jmike]

Jan, we never left the hotel. It is a long walk to the nearest store. We ate at the beach snack bar and also at the hotel dinning room several times. The food is very good and is expensive like other hotels. Sandwiches at the beach snack are excellent and are large enough to share. We spent most of our time in the water snorkeling. We also had fun with the kayaks and saw several people taking the waverunner tour. We also saw several tour companies picking up and dropping off at the hotel dock.

 

Albert tours provided our transportation and told us that if we wanted to go to the grocery store while at the Sheraton just to call and they would transport us for free. You can also rent cars at the hotel and thru Alberts.

 

Mike

[jan54]

jmike Thanks for the info. That helps quite a bit. We plan to spend most of our time in the water too and just relaxing. We were thinking of renting a car for a day but if Albert will take us to the market that would be great. Jan