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# Papeete - reasonably priced hotel for two nights? Country forums / Pacific Islands & Papua New Guinea / Tahiti & French Polynesia
oregontraveler6315 08:13 UTC 15 Jan 2010 | We are spending the nights of February 12 and 13 in Papeete (before boarding the Star Flyer for the 37 day voyage to Panama City). Can anyone recommend a reasonably priced (by Tahiti standards!) hotel for our stay? We spent a couple of nights on Tahiti 4 or 5 years ago as part of our Aranui III trip -- I think it was at the Royal Tahitian. We want to be within walking distance of a market/grocery store so we can stock up before sailing. What about the Hotel Mandarin in downtown Papeete? The Trip Advisor reviews are generally okay except for the most recent one. What about the Sofitel Tahiti Resort (the cheapest one on any of the regular booking sites)? Any other suggestions? Thanks for any suggestions/comments you can provide. |
nukuhiva2 21:54 UTC 15 Jan 2010 | We stayed in the hotel next to the post office three times: Hotel Tiare. It's decent, clean, conveniently located. Noisy ocean front rooms, side rooms are better. They speak English. Mostly European guests, Aranui passengers as well. I have never seen any Americans there. We stayed at the Royal Tahitian the first time we were there. Taxi, car or Le Truck to go downtown, but quiet location with small beach and restaurant. The rooms looked like and are motel rooms unless there was a major remodel. Try to get a room on the second floor, it' brighter. I don't know how the Hotel Mandarin is since I have only seen its lobby from the outside. Hotel Tiare looked more pleasant to me. | 1
oregontraveler6315 07:22 UTC 16 Jan 2010 | Thank you, nikuhiva -- so far on the Internet Hotel Tiare does not have a room available for our date, but I'll keep trying. | 2
clancy48 00:42 UTC 20 Jan 2010 | When stayed at the Meridian while we were in Papeete in November before our Ananuii 3 trip. The hotel is a bit out of town but there is a Le Truck stop just in front of the entrance. We found the restaurant a bit pricey so ate at various restaurants outside the property. There was also a Roulette just east on the highway that set up every late afternoon, as well as a shopping centre a block away. We walked a few blocks west of the hotel to the Polynesian Cultural Centre to get a better understanding of the history of the islands, but you may have already seen this on your last trip. I believe we paid about 160 US a night which we felt was good value for French Polynesia. Nice hotel, great sandy beach pool as well a decent snorkling out front. Hope you have a great trip, hope this helps. Is your trip a repositioning cruise? | 3
alexander_vi 23:37 UTC 20 Jan 2010 | We have reservations for Mandarin for tomorrow night. At CFP 15,500, it was the most reasonably priced option we could find and we also liked the central location. I will post a review of our stay once we spend the night. | 4
alexander_vi 04:36 UTC 23 Jan 2010 | I have now stayed one night at the Hotel Mandarin and will stay one more. My conclusion is that this is a recommended place to stay in Papeete. I have looked far and wide for a good value place to stay since I have a total of tree nights on Tahiti. I have mostly been unsuccessful. The reports available online, in places such as Tripadvisor, are full of negative comments on most places out here. Thus I have concluded that Mandarin is the best choice of the lot. The hotel rooms are clean, if dull in décor. The views from the higher floors are nice. The service is passable. And it’s hard to beat the very central location it offers; it’s very convenient for your stay in Papeete for the likely errands you’ll need to be doing. Wifi is available for XPF 1800 per 2 hours. Yes I almost doubled over when I heard that one but it is in line with other online access prices I have seen here. Being online is simply very expensive in PF. The roulette at the waterfront is an excellent place to eat dinner. Hope that helps. | 5