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Pitch Your Hotel: Nicolas Orget of Le Meridien Tahiti and Bora Bora

March 7, 2008 at 1:32 PM | by | Comments (0)

Hotelier. The word is so romantic, so eccentric, so...French. However, run-of-the-mill real world hoteliers don't always live up to the etymology.

Always looking to bring you the most pertinent information on the worldwide hotel scene, we figured when we found hoteliers that were worthy of the French pronunciation of the word, we would let them speak to you directly. Besides, before you dropped a bunch of cash to stay at someone's house, wouldn't you want to get to know the owner a bit? Exactly. We, always oh so full of ourselves, are calling this series Hoteliers That Matter and we are sitting down with these hoteliers and letting them tell you, straight from their mouths to web ears, what you need to know about their hotels.

Having to work for Le Meridien Hotels in French Polynesia is not a bad gig at all. Nicolas Orget (a real live Frenchman!) is the Director of Sales and Marketing for the two Le Meridien Hotels in Tahiti and Bora Bora. Granted, he's not a hotelier of his own brand of hotels but he does need to pitch these places as part of his job. And we imagine this is not a hard sell.

Nicolas: "Come to Tahiti!"

Us: "Um...Ok!"

But alas, we couldn't go to Tahiti to meet Nicolas. Instead we caught some afternoon snacks with him at the Westin LAX airport lounge, a sister brand in the Starwood family.

After the jump, Nicolas explains which Le Meridien in Tahiti is right for you.

The Starwood presence in French Polynesia includes six hotels--Two Le Meridiens (Tahiti and Bora Bora), two Sheratons (Bora Bora and Morea), and a Luxury Collection and a St. Regis on Bora Bora as well.

Nicolas only reps the Le Meridien hotels and while he's fairly new to the properties (about five months), he's worked for the Le Meridien Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro.

Le Meridien Bora Bora

The Le Meridien Bora Bora property is the more exotic of the two, set on a six mile long "motu" islet and only accessible by boat. It's exactly what you think of when you think of an exotic getaway where you do nothing but lay on the beach, drink tropical-infused cocktails and lose all sense of time.

If you need more convincing, Nicolas says the two best things about Le Meridien Bora Bora are its overwater bungalows with glass-bottom floors (so you can spy on the fish below) and its Turtle Sanctuary.

The Turtle Sanctuary has been at the hotel for almost five years now, a joint effort between the hotel and the island's environmental ministry to protect the hawksbill, leatherback and green sea turtles.

Every day there is a 10:30am feeding and lecture and during the nesting season from October to February, guests can help the hotel with combing the beach for turtle eggs. These eggs are then taken to a private beach for safekeeping and once they hatch are kept in the resort's nursery for one year so they can mature away from harm.

It's the perfect kind of activity to do that doesn't require much effort but at the end of the day you can still say, "We saw some turtles today."

However, the Turtle Sanctuary does lend itself to children. "We even pick up the children in golf carts in the mornings and take them over to the Sanctuary," Nicholas says. So if you want a child-free experience, you may want to skip this.

And for those who might be freaked out about fish swimming beneath their feet, the hotel also has beach bungalows which are located along the private lagoon and come equipped with hammocks.

Le Meridien Tahiti

For those looking for a bit more of an adventure, the Le Meridien Tahiti offers a less isolated hotel stay. Indeed, it's only 20 minutes from the Faa'a International Airport and does not require a boat to get to.

The lodgings are more traditional with 138 garden-view and lagoon-view suites, but there are 12 overwater bungalows for the days when you feel like being mellow.

On other days, this hotel has a bit more to do. The hotel offers hikes, safari adventures, golf, guided tours of nearby islands, boat trips, and half-day excursions into Papeete.

Not that the hotel itself has nothing of note. Aside from two restaurants and two bars (one with live music), it actually has the largest swimming pool in the South Pacific and sand-bottomed at that.

But what Nicolas stressed the most at this hotel was the brand-wide "Unlock Art" program--activities for the guest to indulge in their creative side. The hotel already has a L'atelier for budding artists in which guests can participate in art workshops with Artists in Residence, and can even paint on an easel from the comfort of their own room.

As part of the hotel's 10th anniversary, the hotel will begin "L'atelier du Chef" where guests learn to cook with the hotel's chef. These types of programs, Nicholas says, gives the guests the chance "to create an experience of their own as well as bring home a reminder of their trip."

Rates
Room rates at Le Meridien Bora Bora start at $600 while at Le Meridien the rates start around $200. Both places take SPG points--Bora Bora is a Category 7 and Tahiti is a Category 4.

Have you stayed at either the Le Meridien Bora Bora or the Le Meridien Tahiti? Offer us your candid opinion in comments below.

Hotels mentioned in this story

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