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OH. MY. GAWWWWWWWWWD! 
My heart can’t handle any more of this pounding. I knew we were being adventurous with our $$$ to go to Bora Bora, but I’m in a total sticker shock … mostly because of my own fault. I’m in love with a resort by the name of Thalasso.
Another option is the Le Moana Resort
I just got off the phone with Costco and I am in total wah sahs WOW weee weeee.
Help a girl out??? Anybody out there that’s researching for the same destination or have travelled there? What are your tips? Where have you stayed - how did you enjoy it?
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I love Thalasso! We’re getting married at an InterContinental Hotel (the one in LA) and they give us a certain amount of money to go towards a honeymoon at any InterContinental around the world. But even with the amount they gave us, we couldn’t afford to stay at Thalasso for any decent amount of time. I really wish it had worked out though–it looks SO beautiful!
I went to Bora Bora about six years ago; we stayed at the Pearl Beach Resort, in one of those utterly ridiculous over-the-water bungalows. Mad, mad expensive. But of course, stunningly beautiful. Are you looking to go in May, directly after the wedding? Also - we booked our air through an LA company called Fiji Travel. They’re a consolidator, and we got a much better deal on airfare through them…maybe try that route?
Hi!
We’re going to Bora Bora for our honeymoon in July! We’re staying at the Sofitel in Moorea, the Pearl in BB, and then a catamaran cruise for the last 3 days. I looked at the Thalasso too, but the ones we ended up choosing are a teensy bit less expensive. Trip Advisor was a big help for me. Good luck!
Thanks gals! I should have also asked …. WHERE ARE YOU GALS BOOKING YOUR VACATIONS?
We’re going to Hawaii! Very excited as I’ve never been.
we used a fabulous travel agent (I contacted 4 different ones once we decided on the itinerary and she had the best price) - let me know if you’d like her info!
Miss Jasmine - That is awesome - have so much fun. BTW - I received your lovely ty card sweetums!
We stayed at Pearl Beach Resort and Spa in an overwater bungalow last July. It’s one of the older resorts but the bungalows were in great condition. They had excellent service! The staff was very friendly and always greeted you with a smile. We used many of their amenities. We went to their Manea Spa for a couple’s massage. It was so relaxing. We also ate at their restaurants. They also had 1/2 price drinks during happy hour during the week. Although the trip was expensive, it was completely worth it. We wish we could go back! We did take a boat tour past the Thalasso and it looked really nice also. We booked thru http://www.gotahiti.com. Not sure how the prices compare with Costco. We also stayed one night in Tahiti, then went to Moorea, then onto Bora Bora.
Miss Cherry Blossom:
It’s Janelle with easy escapes travel- she came highly recommended on the knot boards and as I said, we loved her! She always emails back quickly (even with my one million questions!) Her email is: easyescapestraveljanelle@yahoo.com Good luck!
I actually had my honeymoon booked there for next week! But we ended up postponing the wedding so we had to cancel the trip. Make sure you mention you are honeymooners… they offered a small discount as long as we brought a copy of our marriage cert. But it was still expensive! Good luck!
We went to Bora Bora this past November and stayed at Le Meridien - both in Tahiti & in Bora Bora. The Le Meridien in Bora Bora was on one of the outer motus. The overwater bungalows were awesome, not nearly as roomy as the layout you’ve posted above but nice all the same. We opted for the package with the breakfast & dinner buffets, this saved us some money as it can be pretty pricey on the main island and as well in the hotel cafes. Service was great!
my husband and i were debating between thalasso and le moana as well. we ended up going to le moana because it sounded more convenient and we were really happy with our choice. we were able to walk to the market to buy wine and bread…. and also to the pizza place and hamburger place as well (yes! you will find yourself eating there even though breakfast and dinner are free…) anyhow, although thalasso was VERY nice, just keep in mind that you will be a bit secluded. you need to take a 15 min boat ride to the mainland. one good thing is that boat ride is free between thalasso and le moana.. . they have one going every hour or so. hope this helps!
Have you tried the Cook Islands? Very very similar to Tahiti, but the exchange rate is muuucch better. We got an extra five days in the Cooks for the same cost our Tahiti package was going to cost us. We loved it and already want to go back - and they have overwater bungalows there, as well [well worth the splurge!].
Hi! We honeymooned in Oct/Nov to French Polynesia. It was absolutely AMAZING - beyond words. We stayed at the Sofitel in Moorea for 5 days (Beach and OWB) and Taha’a Private Island and Spa (OWB) for 5 more. A dream come true! We used TripAdvisor, and I couldn’t have planned without it - definitely check that out. There is a wide range in price across the resorts. Good Luck!
We stayed at the Moorea Pearl Resort and then at the Le Meridien in Bora Bora, and had a wonderful time. You really can’t go wrong with any of the hotels in Bora Bora, I mean you’re already in Paradise! If we ever do make our way back to Bora Bora in the future though I would love to stay at the St. Regis - the pictures of the bungalows are amazing.
We also booked through Costco. A couple of our friends went to Bora Bora for their honeymoon and did tons and tons of research, but they found out that Costco was the cheapest. It saved me a lot of time with the planning, since all the research was done for me. =)
I second the pre-paid meal plans - at least get the breakfasts. It’s convenient to wake up and not have to worry about how much you’re spending on breakfast everyday as it can get pricey (about $50pp for the breakfast buffet). You get a slight discount if you pay for the meals beforehand. We found that if we loaded up on the breakfast buffet in the morning, and had little snacks throughout the day (baguettes, cheese, snack bars, etc) it held us through until dinner.
Finally, check out the airfare on AirTahiti.com before booking through Costco. We found that it was cheaper (like by a few hundred $$) to book straight through the airline rather than going through Costco.
*sigh* just thinking of all this makes me wish i were back there.
My soon to be hubby and I are going to stay there for one week of our (two week) honeymoon in May! It is my dream fantasy destination …as well as #1 on Trip Advisor. We did a honeymoon registry so hopefully a lot of the big costs will be covered.
We went there last July for our honeymoon, staying at the Pearl Beach Resort in Bora Bora and then at the Sofitel in Moorea. We absolutely LOVED the Sofitel in Moorea (we also had an overwater bungalow so that helped). Bora Bora is absolutely gorgeous–but also insanely expensive. When booking our trip, I definitely noticed a large price difference. Also, while we were there, we met many travelers who noted that Bora Bora, in general, seemed more expensive than the other islands.
One option for you is to consider booking your trip on another island other than Bora Bora to help cut costs — Moorea, Taha’a and Rangiroa are 2 islands that come to mind as other popular destinations.
They say that Moorea has a lot more interesting land activities but Bora Bora just has beautiful water.
Taha’a is small and doesn’t have a lot, but it’s equally gorgeous.
Rangiroa is a diver’s paradise.
Either way, it’ll be a memorable vacation! It was a honeymoon we’ll never forget…but man, our bank accounts are definitely still feeling it!
Ugh. This depresses me — we REALLY wanted to go to Bora Bora for our honeymoon, but it was way too much. The cheapest we could get would have been over $11,000 for 12 nights, not including food, and not including our airfare from the east coast to LA. It was just too much right now considering our $300K+ loans for medical school.
We’re going instead for 14 days to Greece for only $8500, and I should be excited… but I’m not. I feel like I have compromised everything else I want, including where I’m getting married (the city/state), where I’m going to wind up living ultimately (my fiance only wants to live in Philly and I hate philly.. no offense to anyone!), my future career so that I can live in Philly… I don’t want to have to compromise on my honeymoon! 
we went to bora bora and stayed at the bora bora pearl beach. AMAZING. we also visited all the other resorts because we wanted to see if we go the best deal. i think we had the best view, staff and “feel” on the island - well, motus!!! seriously - it is the best. will return for 25th anniv. will not return to moorea intercontinental ebachcomber. while cool - did not like the beach as much. dolphin swimming thing was OK, not worth the $. but get the best end bungalow at pearl beach. def def def the best.
also - what is weird there is that the sun sets and rises at like 5am/pm… you have 12 hour days and bora bora has no nightlife… but we did not want that… it was a honeymoon!!!
Cherry Blossom, I have been doing some research on Bora Bora for Miss Bluebear. I’ll email you some info to your wedding be addy.
read: nmkjr’s post (link below)
written by an avid traveler and business man and his princess of a wife (me)
the bora bora pearl? not that great…although it seems to get great reviews. if you aren’t that picky and have not traveled much, you might like it. i actually cried cause i was so disappointed after staying at the sofitel in moorea. (which btw is heaven on earth and a definite must if you’re gonna go to moorea) we tried to book a flight back to the sofitel in moorea as soon as we arrived in bora bora but couldn’t cause they were fully booked.
We stayed at the Sheraton in Moorea (as Bora Bora was too $$ for us). To save money, we stayed the first few nights in the Garden Bungalow and the last few nights in an OWB. In hindsight, I wish we had laid out the extra cash to stay the entire time on the OWB, as nothing can compare to being able to snorkle right outside your bedroom! We were definitely on a tight budget, but we made it work and had a great time. Some of our money-saving tips: 1) instead of the meal plan, we bought groceries at the local convenience store (anything tastes good when you’re eating on a deck overlooking the water!); 2) ordered some meals (pizza, burgers) from the bar instead of eating at the hotel restuarants, which were pretty pricey; 3) and I’m embarrassed to admit this, but we even packed instant noodles for lunch on some days.
It’s definitely an expensive trip, but we really wanted the OWB experience, so we were willing to put more money towards a nice hotel and forego the expensive restaurants. Just to give you an idea, we spent 5 days there, and the total cost was approx. $5k (includes airfare, hotel, meals, and island activities).
BTW, my friend stayed at the Intercontinental and I believe they had/have a deal whereby you sign-up for membership and they give you a free night on the OWB when you stay 2 nights. It somehow came out cheaper than if she had purchased 3 nights outright.
We were just there in Oct. We stayed at the Sheraton in Moorea and the Nui at Bora Bora. For Moorea we did the Superior Garden Bungalow for the first two nights and the OWB the next two. And for the Nui we did the Horizon Water Villa for all 4 nights. While both islands are probably some of the most beautiful places you’ll find on Earth, Bora Bora itself is on a WHOOOLLLE different class than Moorea IMO. Even more beautiful, and more luxurious. We absolutely loved the Nui. One of the most amazing places we’ve stayed.
http://www.boraboranui.com/room_images.htm
It was definitely very hard to leave to such a paradise.
Oh my gosh, seeing these pics makes my heart ache! My hubby and I were lucky enough to get to stay @ the Intercontinental Thalasso only because it was just opening when we honeymooned and the rooms were heavily discounted (but still not cheap! 
You are going to have the most amazing trip. It honestly was the most beautiful place I’ve ever been to and the hotel was unbelievable!
There is a glass coffee table in the living room; the top slides off and you can feed fish directly from the cut-out floor of your room! We did it every day and it never got old.
The spa is so luxurious; I loved it!
We went swimming w/ the stingrays (a big scary after the Crocodile Hunter incident) but it was a highlight of the trip. They are really friendly and sweet.
What else? I could go on and on…let me know if you have any specific q’s about the hotel I can answer and I’m happy to chime back in!
hey cb! so funny..we are going to tahiti too! not to bora bora though…we decided on just going to tahiti and moorea b/c of prices. but we read a lot of books and combed through reviews, and moorea is just as beautiful of an island, a lot more affordable, and in some hotels, has better service (at least based on reviews).
we looked around a lot and did price comparisons and ended up booking through “tahiti travel mate”. a woman named alison helped us…she was great! we’ll see how the honeymoon goes, but so far so good!
Ladies, thank you all so very much for all your suggestions and help. It is mucho appreciated and I am definitely digging for more options. Loves yalls!
Love bug - yes we are planning to leave a couple days after the wedding.
Daffodil - dude, HI FIVE, how many more similarities can we have?
Beanchar - you are a rockstar - thanks love for the information in the advance!
PamS - Thanks for the detailed information that you provided, can’t wait to hear mo from ya!
Emily thanks for referring your travel agent. I emailed her, just waiting to hear back!
Shanks my dahlings!
Yea, we’re staying at the Thalasso in June! So happy to hear all the positive reviews - I can’t wait!!
We stayed at the Pearl in Bora Bora and Moorea and liked both! We had a premium over-the-water bungalow in Bora Bora and the view and the water at the Pearl is so beautiful.
Highly recommend our travel agent - who not only gave us the best price but was really nice and super accomodating. Everything went very smoothly on the trip!
Omar Maxwell, Email: omar@GOWAY.com
For what it’s worth - we did Tahiti, Moorea, and Bora Bora for our honeymoon. We didn’t stay at the Thalasso but while we were there, talked to several couples that did. They complained about the fact that it was on a motu because 1) All the passing ships made their room shake, and 2 they had to take a boat to the mainland to get anywhere and it wasn’t very convenient. One couple had to wait at the dock for over an hour and half for the next boat to come take them back to the hotel.
We walked around the island and visited every hotel on the mainland to “compare” for future trips. The Moana is gorgeous, and would definitely be a runner up for best hotel. Our only issue which stopped it from winning the gold ribbon was that the OWBs are over very shallow water. The hubs likes to be able to jump off the deck and into the water. We stayed at the Sofitel Bora Bora Beach when we were there and would definitely stay again. It might be a “cheaper” hotel, but the OWBs are definitely the best on the mainland. They’re very private because of the way they face, over deep water, and each one has a man-made coral sculpture underneath which gaurantees brightly colored fish to look at 24 hours a day.
Hi! We went to Bora Bora in November and my hubby and I were deciding between Thalasso and Moana. We ended up staying at the Moana because it was a few thousands of dollars cheaper. We were glad we did! Even though Thalasso was a newer resort, the food at Moana is DEFINITELY better. We were not the only couple that thought this. MANY couples (including a random college friend I met there) agreed. You seriously can’t go wrong with the Moana!
If you are looking for something more affordable I would look into Fiji. We went to Fiji for two weeks last July and had a blast! We had originally looked in to FP but we were able to stay in Fiji for twice as long for about the same price.
We stayed at three different resorts in all three major resort areas of Fiji. We are really adventurous so we did everything from going into an underwater cave to whitewater rafting through the mountains. We also took an amazing helicopter ride through the mountains and over the islands. There also is a lot of amazing SCUBA diving and tons of great snorkeling. We’ve found that Fiji is much less commercialized and more private than FP. Oh, and it’s much less expensive.
The most expensive, luxurious place we stayed at was the Manangi Private Island Resort. There are 13 bures on the entire island and Horseshoe Bay is a must see (it’s on the 1001 places to see before you die list). Check it out: http://www.matangiisland.com/
Let me know if you have any questions and have fun wherever you decide to go!
We were looking at Fiji/Bora Bora as well and realized quickly that it probably wasn’t a good honeymoon investment. 
We went to The Rockhouse in Jamaica (it has great private bungalos!) and didn’t think twice. It was so affordable and the country and people were just amazing. The weather was gorgeous even in September (their off-season) and it’s super easy to get around.
xanga.com/SoonToBMrsB/tags/honeymoon/
If BB doesn’t pan out, I really thought we got a bang for our buck at The Rockhouse. Take a look at my posts (linked above).
We stayed there for a week for our honeymoon last year in March/April- the diamond over water bungaloo. very nice resort. very modern. they have a nice spa. but i would suggest checking out the st regis and four seasons as well. That two are even more expensive. but from what i’ve heard everything’s top-norch.
if you are going to moorea as well- definitely stay at the newly renovated sofitel!
Everyone - thank you gals so much for sharing all your wonderful advice to me and for also sharing with me your wonderful photos. Yalls rock solid now! yeah yeah!
cherry blossom…
forgive me if this is a repeat of info, there were so many posts… i skimmed a lot, but, i too will be honeymooning in Tahiti, Moorea & Bora Bora. We will be staying at the Thalasso for 4 nights… but as you know the $900 price tag is outrageous!
after scouring tripadvisor, i started to find reviews saying to sign up to become an interconti “ambassador”…. i looked into it further and have since signed up! basically you pay $150, what you get in return is priority check in, a full room category upgrade (better view since they are all OWB), resort comps (some said $400 in food vouchers), luggage tags to make yours stand out, late check out at 4pm (with the late return flights to the states that’s huge!), and last but not lease TA DA a coupon for a FREE weekend night!
all of these perks are ONLY $150, well worth it when you are just looking at $900 for a night! i just got my ambassador package in the mail the other day, it was like finding gold, opening up the package to claim the free night reward!
i hope this helps! please feel free to message me, i’ve been doing research about tahitian island for about the past 6 months, i’ve become quite the expert some of the travel agents have said. so let me know if you need help!
Blair
JoieDeVie,
Girlfriend you are a total rockstar. I did sign up for the Ambassador right after I booked our vacation. I was waiting to receive it and call in to confirm my upgrade to write a post about it but you beat me to the punch. hahaha. just kidding. you are so very awesome for sharing this helpful information with me! I really appreciate it. Congrats on booking your wonderful honeymoon, enjoy!!!!! Everyone says it’ll be an experience of a lifetime. HI FIVE girlfriend. Smoochies to you for digging through the posts to let me know.
yes, we got the upgrade too. It was $150 for the ambassader program. We got to upgrade to the diamond OWB with much better view and is further out into the lagoon. It totally worth it. For the program, you also get to use a free night next time you travel and stay in an intercontinential hotel. Also, try their spa, my husband and I had a spa day on the last day we’re there. It was fun and relaxing. You don’t have to book your treatment before you take off for the honeymoon. Just book them the moment you arrive. Usually, they will have availabity a few days out.
Also, see if you can get a meal plan at the hotel. it is much cheaper this way than paying 40 euro an entree.
[...] spending weeks researching options for our honeymoon, I turned to the readers for help, and everyone gave me the best referrals and advice ever! Smoochies to you [...]
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Mrs. Cherry Blossom, San Francisco
Age and Occupation: 27, Administrative Asst.
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, District Sales Manager
Engagement Date: December 23, 2006
Wedding Date: May 3, 2008
Venue: Zen Garden in the East Bay w/ reception in a floor-to-ceiling window Atrium with views of the Zen Garden
About Me: After 5 years of dating, we're finally ready to get hitched! I am a lovah of all things wedding, creative, crafty, and definitely DIY bc I love to add a personal touch to everything I gift or make. In my free time, I like to bake, spend time with our family, friends, and my doggies, read my guilty pleasure celebrity gossip and catch up on TV shows.
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