It’s hard not to sound hyperbolic about a trip to Bora Bora. But it’s the location that makes a resort special, and the Conrad Bora Bora Nui embraces it with warm service, beautiful grounds, and incredible villas – both on land and perched over the ocean.
It’s one of the ultimate bucket-list properties for Hilton aficionados – and one of the hardest to actually book using points, to boot. So when availability to book the Conrad Bora Bora opened up last year, I jumped on it as soon as I could, piecing it into a trip with my wife throughout Oceania last month.
Read on for the entire review of our stay – and why I think it deserves a place in the conversation for one of the best Hilton properties in the world.
Booking the Conrad Bora Bora Nui
Even if you’re a millionaire – in cash or in points – booking the Conrad Bora Bora Nui is not for the faint of heart.
This resort in French Polynesian paradise regularly charges $900 to $1,200 a night or more for a standard room … and the going rate to book an overwater villa here is typically closer to $2,000 a night.
That makes it a fantastic way to use Hilton Honors points, Hilton free night certificates, or both. But that hinges on standard award availability to actually book this pricey property with points: 120,000 of them per night, to be exact.
That can be easier said than done, as you’re far more likely to see this property going for nearly 1 million points. But we’ve found and flagged widespread standard award availability at the Conrad Bora Bora a few times in the last year, making it much easier to book with your points.
Thrifty Tip: Book at least a five-night stay at this Conrad and get your fifth-night free on award stays – a benefit available to anyone with Hilton status. That brings the cost for a five-night stay down to just 480,000 Hilton Honors points, or 96,000 points per night.
Sadly, a five-night stay wasn’t in the cards for us as I wanted to use a combination of points and Hilton free night certificates. That’s just what I did, booking our first two nights with 240,000 points and the second couple of nights using two free night certificates. A Hilton agent gladly combined the two reservations so there was no need to worry about checking out and back in mid-stay.
Not bad for a five-star stay that would normally cost more than $5,000, right?
At Thrifty Traveler, we don’t accept freebies. We use our own points, miles, or cash to pay for every single flight or hotel you see reviewed here – including this one!
Within hours of booking our stay, an agent from the Conrad Bora Bora Nui emailed to welcome us and arrange our boat transfer from the Bora Bora (BOB). At 18,000 XPF (about $165 USD) per adult – or 9,000 XPF for children seven to 12 and free for those under seven – it’s not exactly cheap. But the right Hilton card can take the sting out of it.
We consider the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire Card the single-best hotel credit card on the market, but a $550-a-year credit card isn’t for everyone. If you’re heading for the Conrad in Bora Bora, though, having it in your wallet is practically essential. It gets you…
Automatic (and top-tier) Hilton Diamond status, giving you a great shot at a complimentary upgrade – keep reading to see my experience!
That Diamond status also unlocks free daily breakfast, which saves you a whopping $100 a day for two guests
Twice-a-year resort credits of $200, which automatically kicks in for any food, beverage, spa, boat transfers, and other charges to your room when you pay with the Aspire Card at checkout
Earn 14x Hilton Honors points on your bill at checkout
All information about the Hilton Honors Aspire Card has been collected independently by Thrifty Traveler and has not been reviewed by the issuer.
Apply Here for the Hilton Honors Aspire Card (for full disclosure, this is our personal referral link)
My Aspire Card paid dividends on this trip, easily outweighing the cost of keeping it for a year … and then some. I pre-paid our boat transfer fees to use up resort credits before they lapsed at the end of 2023, used the first set of new resort credits for 2024 to cover $200 of our bill at checkout, and we loved breakfast each morning – especially since it was free.
Even after covering the cost of our room with points and free night certificates, our stay at the Conrad Bora Bora could have been a real budget-buster. The Aspire Card single-handedly made it – you guessed it – thrifty.
Read more: How the Hilton Aspire Card Saved Me $866 in Bora Bora
About 10 days before our arrival, I got another email with an upgrade offer: Would we like to pay $550 a night to secure a spot in one of the Conrad’s overwater villas? Compared the normal, $1,700-a-night cost of these signature villas, that was a reasonable cost … but one we were unwilling to pay. We decided to roll the dice on a complimentary upgrade upon arrival instead.
It paid off.
Location, Getting There & Checking In
Getting to the Conrad Bora Bora Nui is no easy feat, either. At a minimum, it’ll take a few flights and a boat ride to reach the resort.
First things first, you’ll need to get to Tahiti (PPT), French Polynesia’s only international gateway. From there, you’ll need to hop on the short-yet-expensive 40-minute flight to Bora Bora (BOB) itself, operated by either Air Tahiti or Air Moana. Expect to pay at least $350 apiece.
We used the $300 annual travel credit from the *venture x* to book a pair of $372 roundtrip flights on Air Tahiti to reach Bora Bora, then covered the remainder with Capital One Venture miles . That’s the beauty of Capital One Venture miles: Where other credit card points fall short, Capital One can cover the cost of … well, pretty much anything.
No, the travel isn’t done yet. Like many resorts in Bora Bora, the Conrad Bora Bora Nui isn’t on the main island itself but on its own small islet (called a motu ). And while many of the top-end properties are located on the east side of the main island, the Conrad is located on the southwest side.
That means you have to hop on a boat to get to and from the resort.
The Conrad and many other high-end Bora Bora resorts operate their own boats transfers, with a row of small kiosks to check in and get ready for departure soon after deplaning.
After a warm greeting from a Conrad employee (leis included) and waiting no more than five minutes for luggage at the charmingly small Bora Bora airport, we handed off our bags and headed to the Conrad boat just steps away from the terminal. A handful of other travelers bound for the Conrad joined us onboard.
After a gorgeous and smooth 20-minute ride with jaw-dropping views of Bora Bora’s towering Mount Otemanu in the background, we pulled past the overwater villas of the Conrad Bora Bora Nui and into the main dock.
A trio of Conrad employees were waving and waiting at the dock, ready to escort us to a couch nearby to handle check in. Another employee brought over some delicious verbena iced tea and cold towels.
Talk about a beautiful check-in area!
Our helpful check-in agent, Lawrence, helped us take care of the paperwork and let us know that we’d been upgraded from the standard King Lagoon View suite to a Tropical Pool Villa. I had noticed that upgrade in my Hilton app a few days before arrival, but excellent! We asked about the possibility of getting upgraded again to an overwater villa, but no luck … at least not at first.
He also showed us a map of the expansive property. Take a look for yourself.
After wrapping up the and getting our keys – the Conrad Bora Bora Nui uses digital wristbands instead of plastic key cards – it was time to hop in a golf cart for a quick tour around the place before bringing us to the door of our villa.
A Slight Hiccup During Check-In
The check-in process was smooth … with one slight issue. And it seems like I’m not alone.
While it’s different in the states now , all Hilton Gold and Diamond members are supposed to get complimentary breakfast daily at almost every Hilton property abroad. Those are the rules, and they apply to the Conrad whether you’re in Tulum, Dublin, Singapore, or here in Bora Bora. Here it is, straight from Hilton Honors’ terms and conditions .
Yet when we checked in, we were given a choice:
We could stick with the complimentary continental breakfast for two
Or we could instead get a 7,000 XPF ($63 USD) daily credit to use on any drinks or dining across the property. That’s one credit per room, not per guest.
On paper, breakfast was an easy pick: Considering the breakfast buffet costs 5,700 XPF (about $52) per person, the value of that benefit for two easily outweighed the daily credit option. But having the choice, while a tad strange, isn’t a bad thing. Surely, some travelers would much rather skip breakfast and use the on-property credits throughout their stay.
Unfortunately, it seems the resort is no longer giving travelers that choice. In just the few weeks since our stay, Award Wallet reported that the Conrad Bora Bora Nui is only offering Hilton Honors members that (less valuable) daily property credit – no more free breakfast, violating the hotel chain’s terms.
Here’s hoping the Conrad Bora Bora Nui backtracks and resumes following the rules. If not, watch for games … and prepare for a bit of an argument to ensure you get what you’re owed.
Rooms at the Conrad Bora Bora: A Pool Villa & Overwater Villa, Too
We had the pleasure of staying in two different villas during the course of our four nights thanks to not one but two room upgrades – including one big surprise.
While it might seem annoying to shift rooms midway through a fairly brief stay, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Conrad Bora Bora Nui Tropical Pool Villa
No matter how many points you use or what status you’ve got, you can’t count on an upgrade all the way up to an overwater villa. As far as consolation prizes, the tropical pool villa at the Conrad Bora Bora was about as good as it gets.
The entire wing of Garden Pool Villas is located on the east side of the resort, just off the walkway for the hike up to spa, a small chapel, and the Mount Otemanu viewpoint – there are just a pair of even more exclusive “Beach Pool Villas” on the other end of the property.
At over 1,000 square feet with a massive outdoor area, these are an enormous upgrade over the standard rooms you typically get when booking with Hilton points. You step into a nicely designed welcome area, complete with a small coffee bar with a Nespresso machine – which is free and was refilled daily – and a minibar, which was definitely not free.
Fortunately, there was always complimentary water here. And hotel staff restocked our villa with free water once, if not twice, daily.
From there, the villa opens up into a spacious and warm living room, complete with a ludicrously comfortable sofa, a few chairs, and a table facing one of two large flatscreen TVs.
I loved the design throughout the villa: Deep, earthy wood with black accents and a burlap-like fabric on doors for some texture. The vaulted ceilings with beams made it feel even more spacious.
There were also some thoughtful welcome amenities waiting for us on the table: A few additional bottles of water, some sour gummy candy, chocolate truffles, and a nice note from the manager.
Behind a small divider wall – which you could fully close with two sliding pocket doors on either side – you’ll find the bedroom, anchored by an even more outrageously comfortable king bed.
There were small nightstands on either side of the bed, with international power sockets in reach of both.
This is also where you’ll find a small desk, should you need to get some work done, along with a sizable closet, which also had a small safe inside.
But inside the villa, the bathroom is the star of the show. Look at this.
It’s big and it’s gorgeous, with wwo large vanities facing one another on either side with a massive bath tub right in the middle. I loved how much storage the bathroom had, too, with plenty of shelving to store toiletries.
Here’s a look from another angle.
The bathroom is even bigger than it looks, too. On one side, it opens up into a smaller room with the toilet.
And on the other side, there was a large (and tall) walk-in shower with a rainfall showerhead. A tad more water pressure would have been nice, but I can’t complain about this setup.
In the shower and throughout the bathroom, there were bulk bottles of spendy Byredo toiletries … aside from the shower gel, which was from the brand Crabtree & Evelyn – a Hilton standard. Supply chain issues, maybe?
While the bathroom might have been the star inside, the true star of the entire pool villa was the outdoor space, which might have doubled the square footage.
The two sun loungers were incredibly well padded and comfortable, a perfect spot to cozy up with a book in the sun. When you got too hot, the plunge pool was great for a dip to cool off.
But there was also an entire covered seating area, a nice spot to eat room service outdoors or take cover from the occasional Bora Bora shower.
One of my favorite features of this villa – and every villa, for that matter – was a built-in Bluetooth audio system you could use to play music indoors and outdoors.
Really, I’ve only got two knocks against these tropical pool villas:
Keeping the grounds in immaculate condition is hard work, so it was hard to escape the constant buzz of weed whackers and hedge trimmers on the lawns below these villas during the day.
Thanks to their location at the foot of a large hill leading up to the viewpoint of Mount Otemanu, the pathways to and from these villas were often covered in water from rain runoff, making for a messy (and sometimes slightly treacherous) walk.
Really, though, these villas are fantastic. In fact, I’d gladly argue that they’re better on paper than the resort’s many iconic overwater villas: far more spacious, laid out smarter, and in better condition with fewer scuffs and other signs of wear and tear.
But this is Bora Bora. And in practice, nothing beats a villa perched right over the water. After two nights, we were happy sticking put in our pool villa … only to receive a text message from Conrad staff that they’d gladly upgrade us to a King Deluxe overwater villa for the second half of our stay.
How could we say no?
Deluxe King Overwater Villa
Overwater villas dominate the landscape at the Conrad Bora Bora Nui.
There are dozens of them spread across three main piers: One toward the far east side, one near the middle, and the final (and largest) block of villas on the west end.
After packing up our things and saying goodbye to our beloved pool villa, a friendly employee picked us up and drove us out near the far end of that final dock of villas. We were assigned villa 324, facing west for sunset and located just a few doors down from the resort’s two presidential villas.
The only difference, I believe, between overwater villas and deluxe overwater villas comes down to the location and view. There are also 30 or so overwater pool villas and a few other, even fancier overwater options.
But you won’t find me complaining about this deluxe view. Not for a millisecond.
Or the watercolor-like sunset over our neighbors.
Nor this one, an unforgettable moment when a stingray swam right in front of our deck, no more than five feet away.
So yes, let’s set’s start with the outdoor space – because that’s what you’re here for, isn’t it? It’s what makes these villas special.
The outdoor space at each overwater villa has two levels: A place to sit and relax, with a small staircase down to a lower level platform with a ladder down into the water. Some villas are in water deep enough to jump right in with ease, though ours was in about five feet of water at most with coral all around.
There’s also a small hose with a sprayer to the left of the staircase you can use to rinse off after jumping in or snorkeling. A tap of the button with your foot gives you a good 10 seconds or so of water.
Up on the main platform there are two incredibly sturdy hammocks built over the water, which, though made of plastic, were quite comfortable. This was a great place to spend the afternoon reading along with the two sun lounge chairs.
Fortunately, there’s also a covered pergola built over one end of the deck, because the sun out here can get punishingly hot. The occasional break for shade is a must. With a table and chairs, it’s also a choice spot to set up for breakfast or dinner via room service.
These outdoor decks have some privacy fencing on each side, but the reality is you’re quite exposed to all your neighbors. And when kids are out playing or adults are jumping into the water, the sound carries far and well. No matter: It just adds to the joy of the place.
While certainly on the smaller side – at least compared to the accommodations on land – the interior of the villa is no slouch.
It’s designed with the same rich, earthy woodgrains and black accents as other villas throughout the property. In this overwater villa, though, there were far more signs of wear and tear: Nothing major, but more scuffs in the furniture, gouges in the flooring, and marks on the walls.
The villa opens into a small entryway with a shelf, some nice artwork, and a full-length mirror.
