We are behind with our blog post from our trip! Island Miler is definitely showing up the Jeffsetters!

In the fall of 2015, we stayed at the Intercontinental Moorea on our second trip to French Polynesia.

This is a tour and a review of our stay.

Intercontinental Moorea Review

This was my least favorite hotel of all the hotels of the trip.

Allow me to level set, I really wanted to stay here. On our first trip to French Polynesia, I visited this hotel on a diving trip. We were staying at the Hilton, and I booked a dive trip that left the Intercontinental.

I loved my dive trip, and I was telling Mr. J about how nice the Intercontinental was even though we loved our overwater bungalow at the Hilton. (Hilton had the best snorkeling by far.)

So I think I had high expectations… which… I did not manage. Plus, we came here after staying at the Thalasso, which is an entirely different category and not a fair comparison.

Something to think about as you are planning your travels, stay at the nicest hotels last if possible!

Check-in

At the time Mr. J had his Ambassador status, so we got the special treatment at check-in aka reserved area with welcome beverages.

However, that is where our status benefits stopped.

We were not given a room upgrade because we were told benefits are not honored with points reservation. This is completely at the discretion of management. Understandable, right.

However after being in overwater bungalows for all of our other stays the Lanai room was, well a disappointment. I know I am comparing apples to oranges.

I guess my advice to you is to try to stay in the nicest rooms last!

The Room

The room felt a tad dated and basic. However, the room was clean and the linens felt new. There was a little island must smell, but that is pretty typical of all islands and humid areas. Nothing an open door couldn’t cure.

The Bedroom

We were on the ground floor.

It’s fine, nothing special just a run of the mill room. It was very hard not to compare this to our stay at the Thalasso and Intercontinental Tahiti.

The Patio

We had a small outdoor patio that exited to the lawn next to the beach. The patio was very nice to have. However, we were the first room next to the walkway into the building. Sometimes the noise of people heading back to their rooms was a bit much.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was recently updated, but it felt like it was done with dated materials.

The bath products are nice and tropical. However, no aloe was provided, unlike the Intercontinental Tahiti and Le Moana.

The Resort

The resort is as beautiful as I remember it. However, it was starting to look rough around the edges e.g., frayed towels and worn lounge chairs.

The overwater bungalows are in a lagoon area and the snorkeling is quite shallow.

As always, the sunsets are spectacular in Moorea.

The Turtle Care Center

One of my favorite parts of the Intercontinental Moorea is the turtle care center.

These guys are adorable.

Dolphin Center and Experience

Different interactive programmes are available to learn about the care and rehabilitation of bottlenose dolphins. We did not do any of the experiences. However, we did watch the dolphins play around in the center for a while.

Traditional Polynesian Dinner

Typically, the hotel will host a traditional Polynesian dinner at least one night during your stay. Reservations are strongly recommended, and the tables do fill up.

The dinner includes a traditional earth barbeque and Polynesia dancing.

Mr. J loves his barbeque, so we enjoyed watching them dig up the cooked pig and vegetables for the feast.

Recommendation

Moorea is a beautiful island. I preferred the Hilton Moorea rooms to the Intercontinental.

The snorkeling isn’t as good at the Intercontinental as the lagoon was quite shallow when we were there.

That being said the staff (aside from the lack of member recognition) was friendly and helpful. The resort is large with many activities.

Also, you can hire a bike and ride them to a small shopping area and a few restaurants if you would like to get out of the resort for a while.