Le Meridien Tahiti, Papeete

I had a last-minute snaffu with my honeymoon and ended up staying at LeMeridien with my husband. Because it was a last minute rearrangement, we had to change rooms several times. While my husband liked the place okay, I've traveled alot and wasn't really impressed with this hotel. First, Papeete is noisy, full of traffic and not a good quiet destination for more than a stopver on a honeymoon. The other islands are much better...and if you end up in Papeete be sure to take the Ferry or other boats to Moorea and other islands which are like paradise in comparison. At the same time, Le Meridien is probably one of the better hotels in Papeete. I would HIGHLY recommend the hotel's overwater bungalows! These are some of the only ones on the island, to my understanding. They are small, but charming, surrounded by coral reefs you can snorkel through. The beds are comfortable, the views are spectacular and you will bliss out listening to the waves on the reef crash nearby. Lay out on the small deck and watch shooting stars at night. Ahhh. On the down-side, the food is EXPENSIVE all over Tahiti. It was not only expensive at our hotel - it was lousy. After a few days of starving, we found a really excellent brick oven pizza place next door and highly recommend that, too. Breakfast was about $60 per person and the best value at the hotel. On another note, the hotel beds are HARD AND FLAT. My husband playfully plopped me down on one of the mattresses in our larger suite (not the bungalow) and it literally knocked the wind out of me! My back hurt so bad we changed back to a bungalow after two days. Be warned, there are wild dogs running about all over the hotel grounds. This is really disconcerting for a lot of guests. They'll walk right up to you and have little fear of humans. They mate all over the front of the hotel lawn at night. I found this rather disgusting, although my husband and I did befriend a dog we nicknamed "Yoda" who was begging near the Pizza place. The hotel should do a better job of keeping the dogs at bay. In general the staff was nice, although they were not always super helpful. The hotel is older, but positioned very well, very clean and pretty grounds. I recommend renting a car and geting OUT to experience the island... eat at "Le trucks" (crepes and pizza are awesome), find a little fresh seafood place or and hang with the surfers in Tahiti Iti.