You Can Swim with Whale Sharks in the Maldives!

08 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by mrsselfish in Accommodations, Hilton, The Maldives

Tags

Accommodations, Conrad Rangali, Lucky, Maldives, Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, The Maldives, Whale Sharks

This is the fourth of six posts on the Maldives. Check out our other posts here:

Whale sharks are the biggest fish in the ocean, and the largest recorded one was over 41 feet long and over 47,000 lbs. However, whale sharks do not pose a threat to humans since they are filter feeding fish, which means that they primarily eat plankton. I’ve recently become a little obsessed with whale sharks.

The reason that I’ve become quite fascinated with them is that the scientists in the world know very little about them. All knowledge about whale shark reproduction is based on one female whale shark that was captured in 1996. National Geographic even has a million dollar reward for anyone that can take a photograph of a whale shark giving birth.

So when I learned that the Maldives was one of the few places in the world that you could spot whale sharks year-round, I was pretty stoked. In fact, the Conrad Rangali supports the Maldives Whale Shark Research Programme (MWSRP), which is a nonprofit based in the Maldives that focuses on whale shark research and conservation.

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Relaxing in Paradise: Activities at the Conrad Rangali

07 Tuesday Jan 2014

Posted by mrsselfish in Accommodations, Hilton, The Maldives

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Conrad Rangali, Hilton, Maldives, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, The Maldives

This is the third of six posts on the Maldives. Check out our other posts here:

What’s there to do in paradise? Surprisingly lots at the Conrad Rangali in the Maldives.

Snorkeling Around the House Reef

First of all, the house reef is awesome. While Mr. Selfish and I haven’t mastered our GoPro camera yet, take our word for it – the house reef is full of fish and colorful coral.

To get to the house reef, you should walk to Beach Villa #220 and start swimming straight out into the ocean. At that point, you’ll be swimming in between an opening in the reef. After a little while, there is a huge 60 feet drop, and you can see lots of marine life.

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3 Nights of Paradise at the Conrad Rangali

06 Monday Jan 2014

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Hilton, The Maldives

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Conrad Rangali, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, The Maldives

This is the second of six posts on the Maldives. Check out our other posts here:

Getting to the Conrad Rangali
3 Nights of Paradise at the Conrad Rangali
Relaxing in Paradise: Activities at the Conrad Rangali
You Can Swim with Whale Sharks in the Maldives!
Trying to Eat Cheaply at the Conrad Rangali
Our Brief Time in Malé, Maldives

As much as I enjoy flying, Mrs. Selfish and I are less about the journey and more about the destination. After a grueling 20 hours of flying, and 36 hours of jetlag in Hong Kong, we had finally reached our destination: The Conrad Rangali.

The Conrad Rangali has been relentlessly hyped up over the years as one of the premiere destinations to reach on miles & points – and with good reason. While the Conrad Rangali is difficult to get to, it is without a doubt one of the most gorgeous places on earth.

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Getting to the Conrad Rangali in the Maldives

05 Sunday Jan 2014

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Hilton, The Maldives

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Conrad Maldives, Conrad Rangali, Male, Selfish Year, Selfish Years

This is the first of six posts on the Maldives. Check out our other posts here:

When Mrs. Selfish and I started talking about our Thanksgiving trip, I had originally planned on traveling to the Maldives to stay at the Conrad Rangali before the great Hilton devaluation. Unfortunately, Mrs. Selfish, sensing a large number of flights, axed the trip. I kept our reservation, however, secretly hoping something would change.

Fortunately, luck was on my side when Cathay Pacific announced the opening of their Hong Kong – Male route back in July 2013. The trip was on!

Others have covered the numerous ways one can get to the Maldives on points & miles, way better than I can, so this post will deal with the trip from Male to the Conrad Rangali itself.

Sea-planing to the Conrad Rangali

The Conrad Rangali is in no way a cheap, or affordable hotel. While you can get a room for free with HHonors points the food, activities, and extras can add up very, very quickly.

Case in point, the sea plane. At roughly $450 per person, this sucker ain’t cheap. It is luxurious, however, as is the entire experience from beginning until end.

Mrs. Selfish and I ended up landing in Male around 9pm our first night in the Maldives, which was a good 4-5 hours after the last seaplane had left for the Conrad Rangali. Fortunately, I had booked us at the Hotel Octave, a small hotel in Male, which is a good 20 minutes by boat and car from the airport.

Transportation to and from the hotel was free, fast, and efficient. The next morning we were dropped back at the airport to the welcome counter for the Conrad Rangali.

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36 Hours in Hong Kong: The Intercontinental Hong Kong

02 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, China, IHG

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Hong Kong, Intercontinental Hong Kong, Selfish Year, Selfish Years

Mrs. Selfish and I arrived bleary-eyed and jetlagged at the Hong Kong International Airport at 6:30am, from our 11:30pm flight from San Francisco. After hitting the showers and grabbing a cup of coffee in Cathay Pacific’s Arrival lounge we jumped in the closest cab and headed straight to our first stop, the Intercontinental Hong Kong.

Getting there and Check-in

The Intercontinental Hong Kong is located right off of the Avenue of the Stars and is pretty easy to get to. If you’re low on bags and traveling by yourself, I recommend taking the express train into town and taking a cab from there, which should run you close to $120 HKD total.

If you’re traveling in groups of two or more, a cab is probably more economical (and definitely faster), and should run you closer to $230 HKD ($30 USD). From memory, it took us around 20–25 minutes to get to the Intercontinental, since there was relatively little traffic around 7:30am.

The check-in process was smooth and quick, since I had already arranged everything via email ahead of time. We opted to book an award night for 40,000 IHG points a night instead of paying the ~$400 it would have cost. As an Ambassador member, Mrs. Selfish was granted late check-out, and two drink coupons for the bar.

Intercontinental is pretty stingy when it comes to perks, and doesn’t guarantee their Ambassador members much of anything. They are supposed to upgrade members to a better room upon check-in, but in this case we would have been upgraded to a deluxe room with a view of the Sheraton. Instead, we opted to pay to upgrade to a Superior Harbor View room for an additional $1,200 HKD a night (+10% tax), since the harbor view was the whole reason we chose to stay at the Intercontinental. Otherwise I probably would have chosen the Conrad HK, or the JW Marriott again.

Amazing skyline views of Hong Kong from the lobby.

Impressively, our room was ready at 8 in the morning, so Mrs. Selfish and I headed to our home for the next 36 hours.

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Back on the Road: An Introduction

01 Wednesday Jan 2014

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, China, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Japan, Marriott

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong, Japan, Maldives, Selfish Year, Selfish Years

Mrs. Selfish and I have been living in San Francisco for the last few months, exploring the city and the Bay Area. Well, “living”, might be more accurate.

While we’re physically in San Francisco, most of our stuff is still in a pod somewhere in Orlando, Florida, so we’re still living out of suitcases. Normally, I’d view this as a disadvantage, but after traveling for a year I’ve become pretty accustomed to the lifestyle. It’s nice to be able to leave and hop on a plane at the drop of a hat.

So it was with much anticipation, that Mrs. Selfish and I started our annual Thanksgiving trip. This year we decided to visit the Maldives, and Okinawa, Japan, stopping by Hong Kong, Fukuoka, and Tokyo along the way. An odd routing, to be sure, but we were in pursuit of an elusive beast.

The whale shark.

More on this guy, in a few posts.

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The Costs of 1 Year of Selfish Traveling

01 Tuesday Oct 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, Australia, Best Of, Europe, Oceania, Travel Hacking

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Miles, Points, Selfish Years, The Selfish Years, Travel Hacking

This is the final part of our 15 part series on the Best of Our Selfish Years of Traveling. You can check out the other parts below:

Our great Selfish Years adventure started when I discovered the world of miles & points, back in September 2011. Mrs. Selfish and I applied for 2 Citi AA cards, for a grand total of 150,000 AA miles a piece: enough for two business class tickets around the world!

We’ve done some pretty awesome things, flown some amazing flights, and stayed at some world class hotels. So how much did it all stack up?

Let’s look at the numbers, shall we?

Mrs. Selfish and I spent a grand total of 372 days of straight traveling, leaving the States in August 2012, and returning in August 2013. During the course of the trip we saw 102 cities and flew 61 flights across 25 countries.

We spent the most days in France, followed by Japan, Australia, and England. Expensive countries, indeed – though surprisingly, Australia was the MOST expensive country – coming in at roughly 50% more in costs than any other country.

Some random factoids:

Miles traveled: 70,150
Number of pictures taken: 50,326
Average number of pictures taken daily: 136
Best award redemption (value for cost): Park Hyatt Sydney
Best business class flight: Qantas, Sydney to Los Angeles
Number of beds we slept in: 97
Average number of days in same bed: 3.81
Best bed: Heavenly Bed, any Westin Hotel
Amount of time spent packing & unpacking bags: 3.36 days
Number of massages: 46
Number of native languages we encountered: 16
Number of languages we learned “hello” and “thank you” in: 8
Most expensive economy ticket: Siem Reap to Bangkok at $1.31 per mile
Most free attractions: Paris
Days we spent no money: 1

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I Need a Vacation!

27 Friday Sep 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Asia, China, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Japan, Marriott

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Conrad Maldives, Doubletree Naha, Fukuoka, Intercontinental Hong Kong, Maldives, Okinawa, Ritz Carlton Okinawa, Selfish Year, Selfish Years

When we first started traveling abroad, I figured our year long wanderings would end one of two ways:

1) After traveling for a year we’d be so sick of it, that we’d immediately settle somewhere and never leave.

2) Our travel obsession would get worse and we’d have problems staying anywhere for longer than a month.

Unfortunately, it looks like it’s #2.

Mrs. Selfish and I have been settling into San Francisco for two weeks now, and I’m already starting to get antsy. While it’s nice to have a slightly more permanent home (at least for the next few months), I miss the call of the open road.

Fortunately, I anticipated this outcome and booked a new trip back in July. Come late November, we’re heading to the Maldives and Okinawa for scuba diving, by way of Hong Kong and Fukuoka, Japan!

Let’s see if the Maldives is everything it’s cracked up to be!

Okinawa, Japan’s Winter Paradise.

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Heading West: The Expensive Hotels around Yellowstone

19 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Cross Country, IHG, North America, United States

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Cody, Cross Country, Holiday Inn West Yellowstone, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, The Cody, West Yellowstone

Yellowstone is a tourist trap.

This is something I knew going in, but I was still shocked at how crowded and expensive it was. Mrs. Selfish is more of a glamping gal, then a car-camper, so I set out to find decent accommodations within range of Yellowstone.

While there are many hotels in Yellowstone itself, very few of them are actually bookable online.

Yellowstone is split up into 4 main entrances: North, East, South, and West. Having consulted a guide to Yellowstone’s main attractions, Mrs. Selfish and I decided to head through Yellowstone’s east entrance on Day 1, ending in the west entrance. For Day 2 we decided to head south to the Grand Teton National Park.

As a result I decided to book accommodations at two of the larger cities around Yellowstone: Cody, Wyoming and West Yellowstone, Montana.

A) Cody, WY. B) West Yellowstone, MT. C) Grand Teton National Park.

Rustic, but nice: The Cody

For our first night, I booked us at The Cody, in Cody, Wyoming. Unlike most places we passed through, Cody seemed to be a decent sized town with all the usual American stores. It’s a great place to stock up on supplies and sandwiches before hitting Yellowstone.

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Now THIS is Living: The Selfish’s Top 10 Stays

05 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Africa, Asia, Australia, Best Of, Europe, Hilton, Hyatt, IHG, Oceania

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Conrad Koh Samui, Hilton Bora Bora, Hilton Queenstown, Intercontinental Danang, Paris, Park Hyatt Sydney, Park Hyatt Tokyo, Riad Pachavana, Ryokan Sanga, Selfish Year, Selfish Years

Prior to our year of reckless traveling, Mrs. Selfish and I only splurged once on a hotel, staying at the Sofitel Hanoi for our Honeymoon. Otherwise, business as usual was a 3-4 star hotel using sites like hotels.com.

And then I discovered the world of miles and points.

With a bank roll of millions of hotel points, spread out over 5 different hotel programs, Mrs. Selfish and I decided to spend our year abroad in style – hitting up some of the travel hacking community’s go-to destinations.

Here’s the 10 best places we stayed in chronological order. Some are miles and points accessible, though some can only be paid for with cold, hard cash!

Room with a view: Airbnb in Paris

Mrs. Selfish and I spent an amazing 6 weeks in Paris in Montmartre, the same Arrondissement where the movie Amelie takes place. Taking in the sights, sounds, and smells of Paris was something I’ll never forget, and certainly nothing screamed “Paris” quite as much as waking up to a view of the Sacré-Cœur every morning.

Anyone interested in renting the same flat can do so at Airbnb.

The Riad Pachavana: The full Moroccan Experience

Mrs. Selfish and I arrived in Marrakech, disoriented and utterly confused. Marrakech’s old town is maze of twisting streets and Aladdin-style scamming street rats, children who try to get you lost so you’ll pay them to take you to your hotel.

Nevertheless, we quickly succumbed to Marrakech’s charms – especially after staying at the lovely Riad Pachavana, which we saved $150 on thanks to three Expedia BRG coupons.

For more, check out our full post on the Riad Pachavana.

Staying in Protected Palawan: El Nido Resorts

In the Philippines we were fortunate enough to stay at El Nido, located on Palawan – a protected island south west of Manila. Accessible only by a small private plane (max capacity of < 50), El Nido is a beautiful, isolated paradise. Despite being an all-inclusive resort, the food and activities were pretty great. Plus they have a killer happy hour with an amazing view.

For more information on Palawan check out our full trip report.

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I wish I was still relaxing at the Hilton Queenstown

17 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Hilton, New Zealand, Oceania, Queenstown, Travel Hacking

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Hilton Queenstown, New Zealand, Oceania, Relxation Room, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Travel Hacking

After the disappointing stay at the Hilton Auckland, Mrs. Selfish and I decided to give the Hilton one last go at the Hilton Queenstown.

From everything we’d heard, Queenstown is the most beautiful city in New Zealand, and the Hilton Queenstown is one of the best hotels in the city.

Neither disappointed.

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One Night is All You Need at the Hilton Auckland

08 Thursday Aug 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Hilton, New Zealand, Oceania, Travel Hacking

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Auckland, Auckland Hilton, Food Alley, New Zealand, Selfish Year, Selfish Years

Mrs. Selfish and I arrived in Auckland on a late flight from Melbourne for the start of a two week drive from north to south. With limited time, Mrs. Selfish and I hit Auckland with two things in mind: good food, and a good point redemption.

After a little research, I stumbled across the Hilton Auckland, a category 7 redemption with a central location downtown – only a 20 minute walk away from our car hire company.

The oh-so-tasteful lobby

Getting there and Checking In

The Hilton Auckland is located on Prince’s Wharf, which is roughly a 30 minute drive into town. Since we couldn’t pick up our car rental until the following morning, that left us with very few options.

Fortunately, we found Super Shuttle, which ended up costing $43 NZD (~$35 USD) for the two of us and took approximately 45 minutes to reach the Hilton.

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The Good and Bad Eats of Bora Bora

19 Friday Jul 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, Food & Drinks, French Polynesia, Hilton, Oceania

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Bora Bora, Hilton Bora Bora, Oceania, Selfish Year, Selfish Years

Editor’s note: This is the third of three posts on the Hilton Bora Bora. Check out our other posts here:

Like the rest of French Polynesia, Bora Bora has a rich food tradition with heavy French and Chinese influences. Unfortunately, the Hilton maintains the brand’s tradition of serving very average food at marked up prices – so what’s a hapless foodie supposed to do?

Eating at the Hilton Bora Bora – The Bad

The Hilton Bora Bora has three restaurants:

Tamure Grill – serves breakfast and casual meals
Iratai Restaurant – serves Polynesian cuisine or Mediterranean food (i.e. French)
Upa Upa Restaurant – located at the Spa. Serves some sort of mystery cuisine.

After reading flyertalk posts, I figured the hotel food would be mediocre and over-priced. As it turns out, the prices were fairly reasonable (at least by hotel standards).

EATING AT THE TAMUR GRILL

Mrs. Selfish and I ended up eating a few meals at the Tamur Grill before we got wise. Since the menu is the same for lunch and dinner, I’ll post ‘em all here.

The Fish of the Day (2900 XPF – about $31) – a firm white fish served on top of a bed of vegetables with a side of fries and a vanilla sauce. Mrs. Selfish was excited to try the vanilla sauce, which was supposed to be a specialty of the region. Unfortunately, the hotel’s version was simply too sweet – the fish itself was decent, but at $30+ this was pretty disappointing.

VERDICT: Pass

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Fun in Paradise at the Hilton Bora Bora

18 Thursday Jul 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, French Polynesia, Hilton, Oceania, Travel Hacking

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

AXON award, Bora Bora, Hilton, Hilton Bora Bora, Oceania, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tahiti, Travel Hacking

Editor’s note: This is the second of three posts on the Hilton Bora Bora. Check out our other posts here:

Today is a continuation of yesterday’s post on the Hilton Bora Bora. Whereas yesterday I was talking about how to get to this amazing resort, and how beautiful Bora Bora is, today I’ll be discussing what you can actually do there – other than the usual relaxing, eating, and napping, and taking long walks on the beach.

I jest of course, though there are plenty of beaches for strolling if you like that kind of thing. Not those shelly beaches either – these are powdery sandy white beaches!

Diving in Bora Bora

Since Mrs. Selfish and I are both certified divers, we decided a dive in the crystal blue-green waters of Bora Bora was a no-brainer. Unfortunately, options in Bora Bora are pretty limited, with only 4 companies. The 2 larger ones felt a little crowded and impersonal to us, so we ended up going with Dive N’ Smile, which was a one man operation run by Patrick.

Patrick picked us up promptly from the Hilton and suited us up. Not only was his equipment brand new (and very nice!), but he also had steel tanks, which is not something we’ve never seen before.

Although the reefs around Bora Bora are dead, thanks to a hurricane that ripped it up a few years, there is a ton of wild life! We ended up spotting half a dozen lemon sharks, a giant school of blue-spotted eagle rays, and a couple of very active eels.

$DCIM\100GOPRO$ $DCIM\100GOPRO$ $DCIM\100GOPRO$

Visibility was great, the animals were amazing, and the equipment and instruction were on point. Overall this was definitely one of our better dive experiences and I would highly recommend Dive N’ Smile. If anyone is thinking of going, shoot Patrick an email at: diveNsmile@mail.pf.

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5 Nights at the Insanely Beautiful Hilton Bora Bora

17 Wednesday Jul 2013

Posted by misterselfish in Accommodations, French Polynesia, Hilton, Oceania, Travel Hacking

≈ 16 Comments

Tags

AXON award, Bora Bora, Hilton, Hilton Bora Bora, Oceania, Selfish Year, Selfish Years, Tahiti, Travel Hacking

Editor’s note: This is the first of three posts on the Hilton Bora Bora. Check out our other posts here:

After our evening of cold croque monsieurs in Tahiti, Mrs. Selfish and I awoke early the next day and boarded a plane for Bora Bora, one of the most beautiful (and expensive) places on Earth.

Having read good things about the Hilton Bora Bora, I was anxious to check out our new home for 5 nights – an overwater bungalow in some of the most magnificent waters I’d ever seen. I booked the stay before the Hilton Honors great devaluation using an AXON award and an extra night, so the total came to 195,000 HHonors points.

Getting there and check-in

Getting to Tahiti itself can be quite difficult on miles and points, though flyertalk has several threads devoted to the topic as I mentioned yesterday.

Once you’ve reached Tahiti the intra-island flight from to Bora Bora is costly at roughly ~$450 round trip. Air Tahiti Nui has multiple flights a day starting in the early morning and ending mid-evening, but unfortunately none of these accept points or miles, just cold hard cash.

Pro-tip: Sit on the left side of the plane for stellar views of Bora Bora

After landing, you have two options for getting to the Hilton Bora Bora: a) take Hilton’s fancy speedboat to the property for roughly $125 per person round trip, b) take the boat into Viatape (the main town) and then catch Hilton’s boat from there for roughly $8 round trip. While we chose option B, we ended up giving our bags to crew of Hilton’s speedboat, which they brought to the hotel for us. I highly recommend this option.

Getting to Bora Bora proved more difficult than most destinations: with 2 flights to Tahiti, a plane to Bora Bora, a shuttle boat to Viatape, and a boat to the Hilton Bora Bora, but man is it worth it.

Bora Bora is easily the most beautiful beach destination we’ve ever been to, beating out Koh Samui, Bali, Danang, and Cancun. Since Mrs. Selfish and I wanted to maximize our time at the resort, we took a late-morning flight in, and an early evening flight out and boy was I glad we did, the Hilton Bora Bora is gorgeous.

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The Selfish Years

~ Over 200 cities, 42 countries, 6 continents and counting.

Category Archives: Accommodations

You Can Swim with Whale Sharks in the Maldives!

Relaxing in Paradise: Activities at the Conrad Rangali

Snorkeling Around the House Reef

3 Nights of Paradise at the Conrad Rangali

Getting to the Conrad Rangali in the Maldives

Sea-planing to the Conrad Rangali

36 Hours in Hong Kong: The Intercontinental Hong Kong

Getting there and Check-in

Back on the Road: An Introduction

The Costs of 1 Year of Selfish Traveling

I Need a Vacation!

Heading West: The Expensive Hotels around Yellowstone

Rustic, but nice: The Cody

Now THIS is Living: The Selfish’s Top 10 Stays

Room with a view: Airbnb in Paris

The Riad Pachavana: The full Moroccan Experience

Staying in Protected Palawan: El Nido Resorts

I wish I was still relaxing at the Hilton Queenstown

One Night is All You Need at the Hilton Auckland

Getting there and Checking In

The Good and Bad Eats of Bora Bora

Eating at the Hilton Bora Bora – The Bad

EATING AT THE TAMUR GRILL

Fun in Paradise at the Hilton Bora Bora

Diving in Bora Bora

5 Nights at the Insanely Beautiful Hilton Bora Bora

Getting there and check-in