St Regis Bora Bora Review (With Kids)

Bora Bora is a bucket list destination for many. I didn’t think it was a kid friendly location but it definitely is at the St. Regis Bora Bora.

I am obviously in Bora Bora withdrawal so thought it would be nice to review our stay at St Regis Bora Bora. I was blown away by the beauty of the St Regis Bora Bora resort and Mt Otemanu. Bora Bora is something else. It was very well curated and well, just perfect looking.

We have travelled to both the Maldives and Bora Bora and were blown away by both. Here’s how we did Bora Bora on a budget.

Booking St Regis Bora Bora

For 5 nights we stayed at St Regis Bora Bora (yes, the movie Couples Retreat was filmed there) and paid $30 USD (3000XPF is roughly $30 USD) in taxes… for a stay that would have cost $29,604 CAD. When you book 4 nights using your Marriott Bonvoy points you get a 5th night free. I highly recommend that you book at least 5 nights here.

From the reef side villa (the cheapest option available), we were upgraded to the 2 Bedroom Reefside Royal Garden Villa and then an Overwater Bungalow (I have never stayed in an overwater bungalow before) for a few nights. I’m not sure I can go back now to non-overwater bungalow accommodations. The layout was so well designed.

Check-In Experience

Once you arrive at BOB airport (Bora Bora Airport), you have to take a boat to transfer to the Motu of St Regis Bora Bora. This boat transfer has to be pre-booked and costs 16,800 XPF for an adult and 8400 XPF for a child (about $625 CAD for four of us). It is about 20 minutes to get to St Regis.

Upon check-in, you are greeted by your butler with a welcome drink and water.

For Platinum status, they gave us champagne, juice, and snacks which was very much appreciated.

You may be also eligible for a room upgrade with Platinum status but this is not guaranteed as it is based on availability.

Reefside Royal Garden Villa 2 Bedroom

The Reefside Royal Garden Villa has two bedrooms and it is over 3500 square feet. It is normally quite expensive ($6370 CAD/night). It has two bedrooms that are adjoined by the living room area. Our kids were scared to sleep by themselves in the other bedroom and it is a bit dark, however the outdoor space includes a plunge pool and a huge outdoor area to run around.

The reef side area of St Regis Bora Bora is recommended if you like to watch the sunrise, some people venture out to the helipad area to watch the sunrise in the morning. It is also very private. However, the reef side villas are viewed as the least desirable (you can’t swim out there as there are powerful waves).

Here’s one of the bedrooms:

Here’s the living room area:

This is the very large bathroom that walks out to the outdoor shower (if bathing in a soaker tub or the indoor shower is not enough):

Here is the large walk in closet with robes, life jackets, and slippers:

This is the massive outdoor area of the two bedroom reef side villa:

The plunge pool is quite deep (I think about 4 or 5 feet) and it is an infinity pool:

Overwater Superior Villa One Bedroom

After a few nights at the Two Bedroom Reefside Villa, we were moved to the one bedroom Overwater Bungalow. I think if you can get an overwater bungalow for the duration of your stay, I would recommend it.

The one bedroom villa is very well designed even though it is smaller than the two bedroom. There are wooden venetian blinds beside the shower and you can open it up. The bathroom opens up to the bedroom (see below).

A welcome amenity is the St Regis Bora Bora beach bag.

The bedroom patio opens to the large deck.

In the living room, there is a window in the floor where you can look for fish (a strategically placed coral is there to entice the tropical fish but fish sightings were not very frequent).

The patio/deck area is large and you can jump out into the lagoon. For kids, apparently they can put a net out there so your children are safer. They do provide life jackets which we made our kids wear when they were jumping off the deck.

We saw a sea turtle, sting ray, and reef tip sharks. The sightings were not very frequent though.

Dining

There are a lot of dining options available at St Regis Bora Bora, however, we didn’t partake in the fancier dining options because our kids tend to be loud during meals.

Wednesday Night Polynesian Show

Every Wednesday there is a Polynesian show that starts at 7:30PM. There is a buffet that you can participate in for the Polynesian Show. It is 14,300 XPF for adults (and children under 12 is 50% off that price). Alternatively you can dine at the Aparima Bar a la carte and you can still see the show. If you want to really save money, you can pull up a chair and watch the show without any dining, lol (which a lot of people seemed to be doing).

APARIMA BAR

The Aparima Bar has regular fare like caesar salads, fish and chips, and burgers. The food was decent but I would not say it was amazing. We ate here instead of partaking in the buffet for Polynesian Night.

727 Bar

727 Bar was a great option for sunset. It is located outside and there are absolutely stunning views of the Mt Otemanu sunset. My husband ordered the most expensive cocktail he has ever ordered (it was like $28 USD) but it was delicious. My kids ordered $9 USD soft drinks and the snacks were complimentary. They had loud music on the speakers so my kids didn’t have to be quiet.

Te Pahu Breakfast

The breakfast at Te Pahu is complimentary for two adults if you have Marriott Bonvoy Platinum status or higher. Children can have complimentary breakfast if they are staying in the same villa as their parents.

The buffet options are extensive, noodles, eggs to order (benedict with smoked tuna), extensive coffee options, pastries, fruit, cheese, yogurts, etc.

The tuna sashimi was probably the best tuna sashimi I have had in my life. I think it is a yellow fin tuna. They have this delicious sauce that they serve with it. I think it is a sesame soy honey sauce (apparently it is a secret sauce).

St Regis Bora Bora Complimentary Activities

In addition to the main outdoor pool and the beach area, there are lots of other free activities that are geared towards kids. There is also an adults only pool near the overwater bungalows but we didn’t partake in this.

Sabering

If you’ve never seen a champagne bottle cut with a sword you are in for a treat. They also served some delicious juice for our kids and gave a complimentary glass of champagne for guests that attended the sabering.

Lagoonarium

The Lagoonarium is an enclosed snorkelling experience. It’s like a big aquarium in St Regis Bora Bora, there are no waves so it feels very safe (though there are few waves anyway in the lagoon). There are many different fish to see.

St Regis Bora Bora provides the life jackets and the snorkelling masks and fins are complimentary too. The masks are located across the Bike Doctor booth.

We bought $20 USD fish food to feed the fish at the Lagnoonarium (worth it) and the big Napolean Wrasse named Moana (it is about the size of my 6 year old) came to say hi too when we were feeding the fish. The $20 USD fish food is worth it.

Non-motorized Sports

Renting a kayak and a stand-up paddle board are complimentary. It is fun to kayak to your overwater bungalow and not too strenuous because the Bora Bora lagoon is like a big warm bathtub with minimal waves.

Boat Transfer to Main Island

There is a complimentary shuttle (it comprises of a 5 minute boat ride and 25 minute private shuttle ride) into the main ‘downtown’ of Bora Bora which is called Vaitape. This operates every day except Sundays and public holidays. It starts at 10:30AM and you return at 2:00pm.

At Vaitape there’s two grocery stores, a pharmacy, overpriced souvenir shops, and places where you can buy Tahiti pearls. You can also buy preserved Tahitian vanilla for $50 USD for 5 vanilla pods, which I accidentally almost did thinking it was $1 USD each vanilla pod. It takes about 15 minutes to walk from one end to another of downtown Vaitape.

Tennis and Fitness

Tennis is complimentary, you can borrow rackets and balls from the front desk. There is a hefty charge if you lose a ball or a racket (I think if you lose one ball it was something like $15 USD).

You can’t wear flip flops on the tennis court.

The fitness centre is open 24 hours. It’s a small room but has all the equipment you would need.

BIKING

St Regis provides bicycles that are geared towards your kids ages already to go outside of your villa. It was biking to breakfast and to various activities around the resort. The villa number is labelled on your bike ready to go.

If there are issues with your bicycles, you can take it to the Bike Doctor booth and the friendly staff will help you.

Our kids said one of their favourite activities at Bora Bora was biking around. It’s very safe there are no cars only the golf carts that the staff use.

Bookable Activities: Cooking Class, Flower Crown Making

Our butler would give us a call and tell us about the classes available. They are by reservation but they are complimentary.

We learned how to make Poisson Cru (like a tuna ceviche) and got to have a taste test.

We also learned how to make a flower crown (it is somewhat easier than it looks). It’s a quiet activity in the pavilion so might not be super easy with kids.

St Regis Bora Bora for Kids

St Regis is very kid friendly. My 6 year old wants to go back just to visit our butler.

They do a lot of thoughtful touches for the kids, including providing child size robes and child size slippers.

Before April 1, 2025 there was a free Kids Club during the day (that would have blown away our Bora Bora experience and we would have been able to dine at the fine establishments more I think) and children aged 0-6 got to eat free. However this has changed and now children aged 0 to 4 can eat and drink non-alcoholic beverages free of charge (off the kids menu only).

At the St Regis Bora Bora kids age 5-12 get 50% off adult menu (excluding alcoholic beverages) and they also have an ice cream passport where they can get complimentary smoothies, ice cream, sorbets whenever they please (just not at breakfast). They also have a kids menu but that is not discounted with the 50%.

Laundry service is complimentary for children under 12 years old when you spend 5 nights minimum.

There is also baby sitting for a fee available (for daytime babysitting it is 3500 XPF per hour and for evening baby sitting it is 4500 XPF per hour) for an extra child it is an additional 1000 XPF per hour. Or about $61 CAD and $43 USD per child in the evening per hour.

st Regis Bora Bora Service

I have never stayed at a St Regis before so was a bit startled with the butler service. We found it slightly overwhelming, the level of attention and service. For example, when you arrive, the butler offers to give you a golf cart tour, and also tell you that all your dinners have been booked at the restaurants ahead of time.

We chose to cancel the reservations because we weren’t planning to eat at the restaurants anyways because they are quiet and our children are not.

They also seemed to show up on their golf cart where you are throughout the day to say hello and greet you. My husband joked that they were stalking us.

There was a level of formality that was a bit much, like having to book things ahead of time, such as the shuttle to Vaitape, cooking classes etc.

Nonetheless, it was quite amazing-the service-and you were always greeted with a smile.

What are your thoughts on St Regis Bora Bora?