The surrounding beauty blends effortlessly with the hotel’s contemporary take on French-Polynesian design, but always retains a sense of place. Take the positioning of the beds for instance, at the center of each room to maximize on those vast floor-to-ceiling views of the Pacific.
Of the 114 rooms, guests can choose from the 28 tropical garden and beach villas or 86 overwater bungalows. Extra-special trips should be booked into the Presidential Villas, the only two-story overwater villas in the South Pacific, with top-floor sunning decks and indoor saunas.
Sauna or no sauna, guests will want to scope out the hilltop Hina Spa for full-body treatments ‘en plein air’, with a bird’s-eye view of the lagoon below. If that all sounds a little too virtuous, order cocktails at the infinity pool’s swim-up bar. The restaurant offering is equally spoiling, and a tricky choice between traditional Chinese cuisine at the Banyan Chinese restaurant, classic French gastronomy at the Iriatai French Restaurant, or knock-out views at the Upa Upa Lounge Bar, where you can glimpse the coral reef below through the glass-floor deck.
Whatever you do, take the short boat ride to Conrad’s exclusive islet, Motu Tapu, for a candlelit dinner. Back on Motu To’opua, discover the ‘mana’ of the Tahitian islands: a belief in a life force passed down through generations. Immerse yourself in this historical tradition, with ukulele lessons from local musicians and lessons in the history of black-pearl cultivation at the Maison Robert Wan.
