Review: Boutique Kon Tiki Tahiti

The Kon Tiki Tahiti is great for both a quick stay and a longer visit. Even if you don’t have breakfast included, stop by the coffee shop.

View other posts in this series:

Booking the Kon Tiki Tahiti

I knew we would only be here for a quick overnight stay before heading to Bora Bora the next day. So I had to look around at the hotels in Tahiti to find one that works. While I would have liked to check out the Hilton, it would have required us to stay in two rooms (or pay way too much for a room that would fit us all). For just a one night stay, that wasn’t appealing.

Next, I debated the Tahiti Airport Motel, which is in walking distance of the airport. But it would require a walk up a relatively steep hill in the evening. I’ve heard that sometimes the path up the hill is blocked off and the alternative is a long walk around or take a taxi. And if the kids became hungry in the evening, there isn’t any food options around.

Instead I booked the Boutique Kon Tiki Tahiti with cash via Delta Stays. That earned me some extra Delta SkyMiles and MQD. We paid a room rate of $267, which was bumped up to $350 after accounting for taxes and the extra person fee. As this isn’t a chain hotel, there isn’t a way to book this hotel with points (except when redeeming as cash back).

Arrival and First Impressions of the Kon Tiki Tahiti

We landed at PPT airport around 11PM after our delayed United flight. Thankfully, it was quick to clear customs and immigration, head over to the ATM (more on that in the next post), and get a taxi. Along the way, the taxi driver wanted to teach us some Tahitian language. I was a bit tired but didn’t want to turn her down, so I picked up some knowledge for the rest of the trip.

After a short ~10 minute ride from the airport, we arrived at the Kon Tiki Tahiti. Once inside, I handed our passports over to the agent and we were quickly checked in. While you’re at the front desk, you should take a picture of the Wi-Fi code. I didn’t see it listed anywhere else.

As you could see, the lobby has a bit of a woodsy feel to it (I took these pics the following morning). We could tell right away that this is a very popular hotel. There were a lot of people wandering around in the lobby, heading up to the bar on the higher floors or just chatting in the lobby.

Speaking of heading up, there’s only one elevator in the building. As such, it’s fairly crowded and there could be a line to get in. The one thing that’s neat is the door is clear, so you can see what it looks like between each floor. The kids found that rather amusing.

If you’d rather save time, you can take the stairs. That’s not a good option if you have luggage though.

The room

Our room for this stay is up on the third floor (room 304). While it was near the elevator, we didn’t hear any noise coming from it or passengers using it. Rather, we did hear street noise throughout the night and into the wee hours of the morning.

Bedroom

Once inside, we found a large room that was perfect for our needs. It actually had three beds in it (one was a sofa bed they already opened for us). Behind the beds was a large image of dancers. It was a conversation starter with the kids, if nothing else.

We found the beds pretty comfortable–plenty firm and the pillows were good. Each bed could only fit one person, so two of us would have to sleep on the sofa bed.

Jenn won the sleep-on-the-sofa lottery because Char decided she wanted to go there with mom. The firmness isn’t as good with the sofa bed, but it wasn’t a bad sleep. I’m just happy we were all able to fit into the same room.

Across from the beds is a long counter/desk plus a relatively small TV.

I like quizzing the kids on artifacts from when I was young. They both recognized it was a phone, but they seemed unsure how to use it to call someone. Kids these days…

Our room has a kitchen, which is great if we’re here for a long-term stay. We didn’t get a chance to use it on our brief overnight stay. But the front desk pointed out the water from the faucet is indeed drinkable.

The shelves are also stocked with dishes and pots, so if you need to cook, it’s there for you. Having the option to cook for yourself (and save money) is fantastic.

Underneath is a mini-fridge. It already came stocked with some drinks, but those do cost money.

Across from the kitchen is a nice table with tall chairs. We ended up using it just to store some of our luggage but it would have been nice to eat here.

In case you wanted to see the price of the drinks in the mini-fridge, it’s displayed on this table.

The room does have two sets of sliding doors. Yes, it’s a bit much if you want to walk outside to have to open two sets. But I imagine it does help with reducing noise though it’s not perfect. We still heard cars and motorcycles revving their engines through the night. In fact, the noise from the street could be heard at 4AM. But at 5AM, things were calm again. Ask me how I know.

The Kon Tiki Tahiti is immediately across from the ferry terminal. If you’re planning to go to Moorea, take the ferry right across the street.

Bathroom

The bathroom is cozy, which is different from how the rest of the space felt. One thing that stood out in this bathroom was just how shallow the sink was. It felt like water was splashing everywhere when in use.

I normally don’t point out the toilets in bathrooms, but this one felt like it was almost inside the shower. Talk about multitasking!

The shower is not a great setup. It commits the two sins I feel exist with shower design. You have to get wet to use it, and it isn’t fully enclosed so it doesn’t stay hot inside. You’ll want to make sure it’s on the hand wand (single dot) and not the rain shower (double dot) when first turning it on. That’s especially true given how slow the water seemed to heat up.

Toiletries are branded with the hotel’s name. I thought they were fine enough.

Breakfast at Kon Tiki Coffee

We could have auto-included breakfast in our room rate at the Kon Tiki Tahiti when booking. I think many people in the restaurant took them up on that offer. We didn’t and decided to just stop in for a la carte.

I liked the decor of the restaurant by the entrance. They created a nice outdoor feeling that feels a bit festive and inviting.

Menus

We took a look at the breakfast menu. You could have the buffet for 3,500 XPF, but we instead went with a couple of dishes to share.

The drink menu also had plenty of hot drinks to choose from. Tempting as it might be, I’m not having beer for breakfast on this trip.

Buffet

Before getting into what we ate, I took some pictures of the breakfast buffet. The staff directed us to come over here to get water, so it’s not like I was in an area I shouldn’t be. Perhaps a little strangely, there is a large projection TV along the wall above the kitchen.

There are plenty of pastries and bread in the middle of the floor (along with the water pitchers). You can tell Jenn is thrilled I am taking a picture of her.

Near the kitchen window is the fruit station.

There’s also a fridge with yogurt, juice, and pudding.

And there are a couple of hot items along the wall (like eggs). The buffet setup seemed rather simple. If it’s included in your room rate, it might be fine. But I think you’ll find far better value in ordering what you want.

Our order for breakfast

We ordered an omelet, which was massive. It came with a side salad, which was actually pretty refreshing.

The kids love eggs with a soft yolk for dipping breads. And these were simple but delicious.

The trio of pastries were on the petite side, but flaky and paired well with the eggs we ordered. You don’t have a choice on the pastries that show up when you order the trio.

I normally don’t like tapioca all that much, but this was perhaps my favorite. It’s not nearly as sweet as the tapioca back at home. Of all the breakfast dishes we had, this was the best and well worth an order.

For drinks, we had a hot chocolate that came with the pastries (not pictured). And we also ordered a lemonade. The lemonade wasn’t all that sweet and tasted a bit too watered down. But the hot chocolate was tasty.

In total, we spent 4,950 XPF for breakfast for the four of us ($48 USD). I still believe this is the better financial decision than getting the buffet for everyone.

Walking the area

We had a little bit of time to kill and decided to walk around. The Kon Tiki Tahiti is close to the market, but it wasn’t bustling on Sunday morning (which is typical for Sundays). This feels more like authentic Tahiti walking around here instead of the ultra-maintained resorts. We saw some homeless, but didn’t feel unsafe.

In truth, we didn’t make it too far because we wanted to be sure not to miss our flight. But there is plenty of restaurants and bars to walk to. The location of the hotel is quite good for downtown Papeete.

Recommendation: Yes

I like the hotel both for the quick overnight stay and for a longer stay. It works for a quick stay because it’s clean, efficient, and the hotel breakfast is good. And longer stays are great because of the kitchen features. Finding a hotel that can comfortably fit all of us in one room is also a plus.

Where the hotel came up short was that it’s perhaps too popular with party-goers as the street noise could be heard well into the morning. That didn’t bother us–or at least didn’t bother the kids. I know Jenn and I heard it, so bringing your own noise maker is a good idea. The shower could also be better, but it didn’t bother me much for a quick overnight stay.

We like the location of the Kon Tiki Tahiti and would consider it again the next time we’re in Tahiti. I think it works best if you’re looking to go to Moorea the next day, but it’s also pretty close to the airport to work for flights too.

We didn’t get a chance to check out the restaurants on the top of the hotel, but I hear the views from there are supposed to be quite good.

food.wada.travel

experiencing the world via gastronomy with our children