Room Review: Conrad Bora Bora Deluxe Overwater Villa with Pool

Have you ever seen Hilton’s marketing material with the gorgeous pier of overwater bungalows shooting out over clear water from a pristine beach with lush forest behind it? Nearly every time I go to Hilton.com, in one way or another, these pictures of the Conrad Bora Bora Nui show up.

To me, staying in one of these overwater bungalows was the dream in the points and miles world, so I made it a goal to eventually stay in one. Luckily for me, on a recent trip to French Polynesia, the room I had booked using Hilton points was upgraded to a Deluxe Overwater with Pool.

While this trip report includes a comprehensive review of the Conrad Bora Bora Nui resort as a whole, including the standard room, a Lagoon View Suite, which is bookable with points, this post is exclusively dedicated to the overwater villa. 

This article is part of my Trip Report: Winter Holidays in French Polynesia that includes:

• Lounge Review: Delta’s New LAX SkyClub
• Inaugural Flight Celebrations on Delta LAX to Tahiti
• Flight Review: Delta Economy LAX-PPT
• Hotel Review: Hilton Tahiti Resort
• Room Review: Hilton Tahiti King Residence Suite
• Flight Review: Air Tahiti PPT-BOB 
• Hotel Review: St Regis Bora Bora Resort
• Hotel Transfer: Chartering a Private Boat in Bora Bora!
• Hotel Review: Conrad Bora Bora Nui Resort
• Room Review: Conrad Bora Bora Nui Deluxe Overwater Villa with Pool
• Day of Departure in Moorea: My Thoughts

The Location

At check-in we were assigned room 123, a Deluxe Overwater Villa with Pool on the pier closest to the check-in dock. Excited, it was only a short golf cart ride to the room before we got to see one of my favorite hotel rooms to date.

The room was definitely a sizable walk from some things on the property and was at the opposite end from the world-famous presidential villas that the Kardashian family stayed in. 

The Room

Upon entering the room there was a small foyer area with a mirror and table. The room opens up to the left and the massive glass doors allow you to see straight out to the gorgeous waters beyond. 

On the  left side of the bungalow there is a large couch and coffee table below a window and air conditioner. They left a welcome gift on the table including chocolate, candies and some water, which was a nice touch. 

In the center of the room there was a king bed facing out towards the water. The bed was very comfortable and upon arrival, flower petals were left on the bed. The bed console has two nightstands, one on either side, that are appointed with light switches as well as lamps. 

Left on one of the nightstands was a remote control, that with the click of a button, raised the TV up from the foot of the bed. The TV could also swivel to be seen on the couch. 

On the far side of the room was a minibar and a small table area. The minibar had all the typical, pricey inclusions of snacks as well as a complementary Nespresso coffee. They also left complimentary bottled water for us. On the table was a beautiful arrangement of fresh flowers.

Behind the bed, in the back of the room, were two sliding doors that opened to a gorgeous bathroom with a center focus on a large, circular soaking tub (just note that using the tub will pretty much use up all of your hot water).

On either side of the bathroom were vanities and mirrors. Further back on the right was a toilet room and the left was a large shower room. The shower was equipped with refillable toiletry products. 

To the left of the entrance of the bathroom was a good-sized walk-in closet. With plenty of space, which helped to store our bags and luggage while still keeping the room in relatively pristine condition. It also contained a desk and safe. Upon arrival, there was also a brown tote bag with the Conrad logo waiting for us. 

The Back Deck

While the inside of the room was gorgeous, the true highlight and reason people select this room is for the outside and back deck. Nearly the entire back wall of the bungalow consists of two sliding glass doors that open out to a large deck with a pool. 

The primary platform had two lounge chairs with a small table on one side, as well as a covered area on the other side with a table that had two chairs. 

Further out on the platform was a large plunge pool that had an infinity edge overlooking the ocean and other villas. To the left of the pool was a large hammock net, perfect for relaxing in the Polynesian sun. 

On the right side of the pool are stairs down to a lower platform which was perfect for jumping off into the pristine waters below. That platform also had a detachable shower handle as well as a ladder down to the water for getting back up into the overwater bungalow. 

The outdoor area also had built-in bluetooth speakers that once connected to your phone, were perfect for listening to your favorite tunes while relaxing outside. 

Booking

About one month before my trip to French Polynesia, I saw 5 nights of standard availability appear for the Conrad. Compared to the pricey rate I had booked at the Hilton Moorea, this was a no brainer.

The standard room was bookable for 120,000 Hilton Honors points per night with a fifth night free. This meant that for our stay, the total came to about 480,000 Hilton points. 

However, this only booked us into a standard Lagoon View Suite. Luckily, a few days prior to arrival I saw in the Hilton app that they had upgraded us to the Deluxe Overwater Villa with Pool, due to our Hilton Diamond elite status

Not only was this an incredibly good upgrade in a program in which I have seen fewer and fewer upgrades, but it was during peak festive season dates, making it even more valuable. On top of this, Hilton has no fees or resort fees on award bookings, which means the stay was truly free for the room (transfers and food still ended up being expensive). 

The going rate for our overwater villa for our dates hovered around the $2,500-$3,000 a night range, meaning that we got around a ~$14,000 stay for $0 out of pocket, not bad at all. 

About a week prior to arrival, the reservations team reached out and offered us an upgrade fee of about ~$500 a night to upgrade to a standard overwater villa, one that did not include a pool. This meant that the realistic value of the upgrade would be at least around $2,500+ for our stay, but likely more. 

The Last Point

Although the comprehensive review of the service and property at the Conrad Bora Bora Nui will be written in a separate review, staying in this overwater bungalow was a magical experience. 

While not as spacious as our overwater villa at the St. Regis, the magic of this type of villa will never wear away. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here and would for sure recommend staying here, especially if you think your Hilton Diamond status will clear such an amazing upgrade.