10 Days in Tahiti, Guam, Tokyo

This year we celebrated our wedding anniversary with a trip to New Zealand, Tahiti, Guam, and Japan.  I previously shared the details of our 12 days in New Zealand. This post is about the 10 days afterwards where we visited Moorea, French Polynesia, Guam, a U.S. territory, and Tokyo, Japan. Our itinerary was:

New Zealand – Days 1-12
Moorea – Days 12-14
Guam – Days 16-19
Tokyo – Days 19-23

Getting There

To visit Moorea, we flew into Papeete, Tahiti.   I redeemed American Airlines (AA) Advantage miles for two one way flights on Air Tahiti Nui from Auckland.  This was a nice award – only 15,000 AA points for an economy seat on a five hour flight.  We arrived in Papeete late at night, so we stayed there overnight and then took the Terevau ferry the following morning to Moorea.  You can reserve tickets online ahead of time.  The ferry ride is about 30 minutes. 

We also flew Air Tahiti Nui out of Tahiti enroute to Guam. The flight was from Papeete to Tokyo.  This was another nice redemption of 40,000 AA points for a business class seat on an eleven hour flight.

Guam is a bit difficult to get to as there are no direct flights from the mainland US (there is a flight from Honolulu).  Most flights to Guam will route through Korea, Philippines, or Japan. For our trip we routed through Tokyo and it was a 3.5 hour flight. I used United miles on the inbound flight and British Airways Avios for a flight on Japan Airlines on the outbound flight.   

Accommodations

Tahiti

Upon arrival late at night, we stayed at Fare Suisse.  This is a lovely place for a quick overnight stay. Breakfast was included with our room and I loved that shuttle service is included as well. We were picked up from the airport upon arrival and we were taken to the ferry terminal the next morning. 

On Moorea, we stayed at the Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa.  We booked this hotel in order to use points for our stay in an overwater bungalow. I had been looking forward to experiencing an overwater bungalow for a long time and it did not disappoint!   The bungalows are spacious, well appointed, and just lovely.  During our stay, they were just beginning a remodel with the sunset facing bungalows being worked on first. 

The hotel is located about 20 minutes from the ferry terminal.   There is just one road on the island, that road circles the island on the perimeter.  The Hilton isn’t within walking distance of much else, but it is a short drive from restaurants and shops.   The hotel is located right on/in the lagoon. There are garden bungalows on land and there are bungalows over the water with direct lagoon access.  This lagoon is basically like a reef shelf that then drops off into the deeper ocean.  I could stand up in the waters outside our bungalow, so I estimate it was about 5-6 ft deep.    There’s a lot of coral which makes for great sea life.  There are sharks, sting rays, and all sorts of fish swimming about.   We even saw an octopus one day.

We had bungalow 70 which is the sunrise facing side.  I originally requested bungalow 95 but that section was being remodeled.   The room was very spacious with a king bed, separate seating (couch and chairs), a desk and a large bathroom with separate tub and shower.  There was even a window in the floor to see down into the water below. 

Service was fine, nothing outstanding to note, and nothing terrible to report.   Our room was ready at 1:45pm. At check-in, Hilton Honors elite status was acknowledged and all the benefits were explained. I also let the hotel know we were celebrating our anniversary on this visit and upon arrival found a box of cookies and bottle of wine in the room. I requested a late checkout and it was not granted.

As a Hilton Honors Gold member, breakfast was included and it was a lovely buffet.  There was quite a variety of hot and cold items to choose from:   French toast, pancakes, fruit, breads, Japanese breakfast, and a cook-to-order egg station.

On our last day, we had to check out at noon but did not leave the hotel until 5pm.  After checkout, I went snorkeling and had a massage.  We were able to use the shower facilities in both the gym and the spa and our luggage was held at the front desk in the main lobby.

Guam

In Guam, we stayed with friends who live in Tamuning so I don’t have feedback on accommodations there. Tumon is the area with many resorts to choose from including a Hyatt and Hilton.

Tokyo

We stayed four nights at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo in Shinjuku.  The hotel is located in the finance, business section of Shinjuku.  It is about a 15 minute walk to Shinjuku station.  There are restaurants and shopping nearby. There is a 7-Eleven on the sub-level floor of the hotel.   The Hilton Tokyo is across the street with more shopping and stores underneath.   The hotel also offers a complimentary shuttle to Shinjuku station.

It is a big hotel and has the feel of a large conference hotel.  The lobby is huge with extremely high ceilings, with fancy crystal chandeliers.  The club floors have a more polished, updated feel to them.   The Regency Club is on the 9th floor.  We were in room 2222 which is a corner suite, upgraded from a regular king room thanks to being a Globalist member.  While the room was perfectly fine, the finishes were outdated and old.  The carpet was worn.  The bathroom did have a bidet, so that was a nice feature (to be expected in Japan).

Everyone we encountered was very attentive.  We had breakfast in the Regency lounge every day and service there was responsive. The breakfast consists of a hot egg dish, breads, Japanese breakfast (miso soup, salad)and some fruit and yogurt.    The lounge also offers a cocktail hour with minimal snacks (cheese, crackers, chips) and liquors provided to make your own cocktail.  The wine offered while I was there was mostly Chilean wine.

I also used the hot tub facilities on the 28th floor and the attendant there was responsive and helpful as well.  The front desk personnel acknowledged World of Hyatt elite status and explained all the benefits that applied. I mentioned ahead of time that we were celebrating our anniversary on this trip and we found a gift bag of cookies with a nice note in the room upon arrival.  Internet worked well.

Overall, it does not have a ‘wow’ factor to it, but it’s a great place to come back to after sightseeing in Tokyo.

Activities

Moorea

Our visit was short, so all we did was snorkel, relax, and enjoy the water.   We didn’t go anywhere outside of the resort on this visit.

Guam

Thanks to great friends, we did everything we could do in a short amount of time.  We saw Two Lovers Point, which offers outstanding views if coastline, the War of the Pacific memorial, and the giant latte stone.   We visited the Chamorro Village, which takes place every Wednesday evening, and ate Korean fried chicken at Thunder Chicken.  We also snorkeled at Fish Eye. There’s no need to pay for a tour to take you, if you have your own gear, you can just walk out into the ocean and start snorkeling. I saw amazingly beautiful royal blue starfish! 

Tokyo

Disclaimer, we’ve been to Tokyo before, so we have previously done a lot of the ‘must-do’ items.  The last time we were in town, the Hotel Gramercy, with its Godzilla experience, did not exist.  On this trip, we visited Godzilla and heard the roar.  

We went to a cool digital art museum, teamLab Borderless. It’s a fun and unique experience that I recommend if you can go at the beginning of the day. Purchase your tickets ahead of time online.  Pay attention and do not buy tickets for teamLab Planets – that is a separate exhibition.   Also, plan to arrive there early.  We went at 12pm and the crowds are a bit out of control. The wait for one of the rooms was an hour and the wait for the well photographed Forest of Lamps was 30 minutes.   These wait times are less intense when you go early.   There are many reviews with details on each of the rooms so I won’t get into the details here. Check this one out for more information.

We visited the ramen museum in Yokohama one afternoon.   I learned about the different types of ramen base (soy, salt, miso) and got to try a delicious bowl of tonkotsu ramen.

One evening we did real life ‘Mario Kart’ on the streets of Tokyo, driving go-carts through Shibuya and Harajuku.  We did the one hour tour with Street Kart and definitely recommend it!

Returning Home

After 25 days of travel, we returned back to the States on Japan Airlines via Chicago. It was a great anniversary tour. We saw old and new friends, had great conversations with travelers along the way, celebrated, and even managed to relax a bit.  While I’m so glad we were able to go on this adventure, I have had enough of long-haul flights for a while.  I think our next vacations will be a little closer to home.