The Intercontinental BBR in the time of Covid
We were two of only 12 people staying at this lush, luxurious, beautiful, peaceful, Shangri-La of a resort. We felt a real sense of schadenfreude, knowing that we were so privileged, so fortunate to enjoy this experience, this beauty peace and solitude while so many hotels are just struggling to stay open, and so many employees are struggling to keep their jobs. We did not deserve this, but that did not stop us from enjoying it to the maximum.
We were met at the airport by Mervin, an immensely powerful and kind man, who took us by speedboat to the resort's dock. It is a fairly long ride, passing the St. Regis and the Four Seasons and showing the different views of Mt. Otemanu that each resort has. They are all good, but the view from the IBBR is the best, a lone sentinel looking like it is about to launch into the sky.
We were met at the dock by a young man welcoming us with rich tones from a conch shell, and Marco who registered us, explained to us how our bungalow was chosen for us, and then gave us a tour of the property on the way to bringing us to our bungalow.
The bungalow, number 220, is magnificent - a bedroom with a king bed facing a picture window looking at Mt. Otemanu, and a door leading to the outside patio. The bedroom connects to a walk-in closet and a bathroom with great shower and double sinks. In the other direction is the living room with a glass table over the floor, whose top can be moved so you can feed fish right under you. The living room has the main glass doors to the patio which can be opened so wide, it is as if the living room has the patio as an extension. The minibar refrigerator is kept unstacked because of Covid, but is quite cold. We got a large silver bucket of ice, which kept its ice for many days, sitting in the refrigerator. The espresso maker is compact and efficient.
Just two of the resorts restaurants are open, "The Reef" for breakfast and "The Sands" for dinner, as well as "Bubbles" bar for happy hour. Breakfast was fantastic with best soft scrambled eggs ever, fantastic French toast, great mango slices and almond croissants. Dinner was excellent with traditional Tahitian "Poisson Cru" and French Onion Soup as delicious standouts.
The resort has a "lagoonarium," where they are working hard to grow new coral, and many fish can be found for snorkeling Fins are not allowed in the "lagoonarium" because they can damage the delicate coral, but they are really not needed. There is very little coral in the main lagoon outside the bungalows, so snorkeling to see fish there is general unsuccessful, though we did see the occasional box fish, sting ray and eagle ray.
Kayaks and paddle boards are available for free use, and great fun in the calm lagoon. Walking to the east side of the moth to see the barrier reef, the ocean crashing against the reef, and the islands of Raitea, Taha'a and Little Vanila is a must.
We were there during low season which is the rainy season. We had a short period of rain on two days and a major thunderstorm that lasted about four hours on one of the days. Even that was thrilling because of the booming bass drum sound of the literally rolling thunder, the ferocity of the winds and the torrential downpour. The resort provided rides in curtained carts during that time.
Connections for our ride back to the airport were very prompt and smooth. All of the staff is terrific, and I wish had written all their names, because my memory for Tahitian names is poor. I do remember Vainui at breakfast who was so kind, so efficient, we wanted to take her home with us.
All in all, this was a week in paradise. It almost seems like a dream - a dream that I will strive to remember.