Air Tahiti Nui Website

The new luxury hotel is still planning to open on May 1. They have built 2.4 km (about 1.5 miles) of pipe from the reef of the island to reach a depth of 915 meters (half mile).

The hotel indicates that it is the deepest ocean pipe in the world. The very cold deep-sea water is pumped through a titanium heat exchanger, which transfers the cold into the fresh water circuit that conveys into air conditioning for the hotel. This procedure will enable the hotel to save 90% of its electricity consumption. At the same time, the system helps to protect the eco-system and reinforces seawater recycling. Since the deep-sea water is known for its purity, it will also used for the hotel's Deep Ocean Spa, which will open on September 1, 2006 (in the meantime, the resort will offer spa services).

The resort is ready to welcome its first guests on May 1, and when all of the main services will be fully operational: the overwater villas, restaurants, bars, swimming pool, and boutique. Some minor work on the premises will continue during the opening stage and we can't wait to see the opening of the wedding chapel, and the Deep Ocean Spa in September.
Other news about the InterContinental Hotels & Resorts: InterContinental Le Moana Bora Bora is scheduled to re-open on June 1, 2006. All of the beach bungalows, the overwater bungalows on the latest extension (located on the right of the hotel map), the swimming pool, the restaurant and the bar will be completed and ready by June 1st. The 20 overwater bungalows, which are located closest to the beach (left on the map), will also be completed. However the overwater bungalows located on the most remote part of the lagoon will still be under construction.

The hotel has taken precautions to assure the safety and peaceful atmosphere for their guest despite this inconvenience. Please check with your Preferred Tour Operator for further details or directly with the InterContinental Resorts and Hotels.

Manuia to the InterContinental Hotels and Resorts!

InterContinental Le Moana Resort Bora Bora Website

InterContinental Resort & Thalassa Spa Bora Bora Website

The Haumana 17-cabin ship sailing to Rangiroa and Tikehau, has been working closely with different surfing brands including Quicksilver, Billabong and O'Neill for private surfing charters. The ship will soon accommodate a group following the worldwide surfing competition Billabong Pro held in Teahupoo on Tahiti Iti, where the ship will be anchored for the entire time of the contest. The ship will continue with another group from the surfing brand O'Neill from May 27-June 03, 2006.

Operated by Tahiti Cruises, the Haumana is positioning itself in the general leisure cruise market, rather than its former specialty as a fly-fishing cruise. With the intimacy of a small boat, the all-inclusive Haumana cruises the shallow waters of the Tuamotu Atolls. And while fly fishing is no longer the focus, equipment is still included on-board for those anglers who feel lucky.

Visit Haumana Cruises

Hotel Kia Ora has finished renovating the exterior of its overwater bungalows and restaurant. They are now beginning the second phase of renovation, refurbishing the bungalows’ interior. The hotel also reports that they are getting busier and Rangiroa has became a very popular destination. Consequently, additional flights to the 2nd largest atoll in the world may be available in the following next months.

We were recently told that Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's luxurious yacht Octopus anchored in front of the hotel a few weeks ago. The guests, reportedly business partners, arrived in Tahiti in a private jet.

Hotel Kia Ora Website

You may have noticed that the legendary Paul Gauguin luxury cruise ship seemed to have gone missing from her usual haunts in Tahiti for a few weeks in January. Why? She was just getting a little work done, dry-docked in Brisbane, Australia. She recently emerged from seclusion, looking ravishing, as if she’d been pampered at an exclusive and very expensive spa – with a total bill of $6 million.

She’s got a brand new piano bar, new casino and five additional staterooms with aft-facing private balconies, so she can take on 10 additional passengers – but no more than 330 total. Guests will notice new soft goods, seating and carpeting throughout public areas and cosmetic touches to update her appearance. Now in mint condition, the six-star Paul Gauguin has resumed her full sailing schedule in Tahiti and the South Pacific. She is managed, since 1997, by Regent Seven Seas Cruises (formerly Radisson Seven Seas Cruises) under a contract that continues through the end of 2008.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises Paul Gauguin Website

TheBigDay, the world's leading online honeymoon registry, has selected Pleasant Holidays as its exclusive provider of honeymoon travel to Hawaii, Mexico, the South Pacific and Asia. This is part of a multi-year partnership between the two companies.

The agreement involves honeymoon travel bookings made by phone with TheBigDay's in-house travel counselors, online honeymoon travel bookings powered by the Pleasant Holidays Online Partner Link booking engine, and honeymoon travel leads generated at TheBigDay. These leads are dispatched to TheBigDay's in-house travel counselors and its 100-plus retail travel agent partners nationwide.

In the same way that couples register for china and crystal, they can register for all elements of their dream honeymoon at TheBigDay. The site offers a wide variety of simple tools that enable couples to create their own unique registry of the honeymoon gifts they would like to receive, including airfare, accommodations, romantic dinners, and special activities such as spa treatments, snorkeling excursions or a sunset cruise. Wedding guests can then visit the couple's registry at TheBigDay and purchase gifts from the couple's "wish list.” The average couple receives more than $2,000 in gifts by establishing a honeymoon registry at TheBigDay and those dollars can then be applied toward the purchase of their honeymoon trip with Pleasant Holidays or with any of TheBigDay's other preferred travel suppliers.

About TheBigDay.com
TheBigDay enables honeymoon couples to design and create their perfect honeymoon experience using the company's Internet tools and personal expertise. TheBigDay is the leading resource for honeymoon travelers and provider of the best online honeymoon travel registry.

Pleasant Holidays Tahiti Website

Accor has transferred operation of its six Tahiti hotels to its Asia Pacific Region. The Sofitel Maeva Beach Tahiti, Sofitel Ia Ora Moorea, Sofitel Marara Bora Bora, Sofitel Motu Bora Bora, Novotel Bora Bora Beach Resort, and Novotel Rangiroa Beach Resort will now be managed by Thomas Van Vliet, regional general manager of Accor New Zealand & Pacific, which includes hotels in Fiji and New Caledonia.

In other news, the Sofitel Marara Bora Bora has posptoned its opening to May 4, 2006 including new garden and beach rooms, the “Latitude 16° Restaurant”, the “Hurricane Bar”, the infinity swimming pool, and a massage room and beauty treatment center. A temporary boutique will also be available. On June 8, 2006, the over-the-water and lagoon bungalows will become available as well as the “Sakura Bora Bora Restaurant”. In July, the hotel plans to open its own spa.

The confirmed reservations up to May 3rd will be honored under the same conditions at the Sofitel Motu Bora Bora, or at a hotel of equal standing with the Sofitel Marara. Any reservations from May 4th to June 7th for over-the-water and lagoon bungalows will be honored under the same conditions at the Sofitel Motu Bora Bora, or at a hotel of equal standing with the Sofitel Marara.

Visit Sofitel Marara Bora Bora Website

The Sheraton Hotel Tahiti has completed its $10 million renovation project. Specific enhancements include:

- Each of the spacious 200 rooms and suites have been completely remodeled in Island Colonial style – with mahogany & cane furnishings, coconut tree floors, plantation wooden shutters and marble bathrooms.

- A white sand beach was created along the hotel’s lagoon. The view from the beach reaches across the Sea of Moon to the velvety green peaks of the island of Moorea.

- The Sheraton Hotel Tahiti is now equipped with Wireless Internet access throughout the hotel (even poolside!), underscoring the modern features of this business/airport/leisure hotel in the capital city of an island nation!

- The hotel’s lobby now has been entirely redesigned with new floors, new retail and tour desk areas and a new reception desk crafted from hand-carved South Seas teak, making for a Tahitian arrival experience like no other. The focal point of the lobby staircase remains the one-ton, hand-made Shell Chandelier made of 8,000 mother-of-pearl shells from the famous Tahitian black pearl.

- The hotel’s meeting space -- the largest air-conditioned Banquet Rooms in Tahiti -- is now equipped with elaborate technology that includes: simultaneous translation, WiFi connection, LCD/Power Point Projection capabilities, and sound & light enhancements.

Sheraton Hotel Tahiti Website