Planning a dream cruise in French Polynesia through the Islands of Tahiti? Even if your flight times allow you to go directly from airport to cruise port, plan a few days in a hotel before and after your cruise to ease into and out of your vacation. the new Hilton Hotel Tahiticlose to both Papeete’s cruise port and airport, is an ideal choice.

Sunset, Hilton Hotel Tahiti’s pool.

Johanna Read, TravelEater.net

French Polynesia’s capital: Papeete on the island of Tahiti

The island of Tahiti is considered the main island of French Polynesia‘s 118 islands, which are spread out in five archipelagoes. Tahiti, as well as famous islands like Moorea and Bora Bora, are all part of the archipelago called the Society Islands.

Most flights to French Polynesia—you can fly direct from Los Angeles, San Francisco and, as of October 2022, Seattle on Air Tahiti Nui as well as via other airlines—arrive on the island of Tahiti just a few minutes’ drive outside of Papeete.

Many people come to French Polynesia to see its paradise islands on a cruise. Windstar Cruises has been visiting the Islands of Tahiti for 35 years and has several round-trip itineraries out of French Polynesia’s capital city, Papeete. You can sail the Society Islands and, on longer cruises, also the Tuamotu Islands and even the Marquesas, on its 148-passenger tall ship Wind Spirit or the 312-passenger yacht Star Breeze. All Windstar cruises stop at tiny Tahitian islets, called motus, for Windstar’s signature beach barbeques and more.

Windstar’s Wind Spirit at anchor in Moorea.

Paul Koros via Johanna Read TravelEater.net

Going straight from the plane to the ship is possible, but why not relax for a few days and get into the spirit of the islands? A hotel convenient to both the airport and seaport makes this simple.

Hilton Hotel Tahiti

Officially opened December 2, 2021, Hilton Hotel Tahiti provides elegant relaxation to begin and end your Tahiti vacation. The 200-key resort is between the cruise port and airport, a few minutes’ drive from each, with views of Moorea from its swimming pool and most of its ocean-facing rooms. It’s about a half-hour stroll to the cruise port and the downtown cluster of Tahiti’s popular food trucks, mostly through Papeete’s pretty waterfront park.

Poolside at Hilton Hotel Tahiti.

Johanna Read, TravelEater.net

The first hotel on this prime coastal spot was Hotel Tahiti, host to international celebrities and royalty in the 1960s. One of the first things you’ll see on arrival at the new Hilton is the wooden outrigger canoe—called a va’a in the Tahitian language—suspended from the ceiling just in front of the open-air lobby. It echoes the va’a that was in the original hotel’s popular cocktail lounge and, from the Hilton’s pool, you can watch the occasional va’a paddling by today.

And what a pool it is—Hilton Hotel Tahiti has the largest pool on the island. Its swooping freeform shape glimmers with iridescent tiles echoing the mother of pearl that you’ll see on excursions from your French Polynesian cruise. Bordering the pool are white lounge chairs in its shallowest waters as well as sand-colored ones beneath large umbrellas. You can also rent out the six large poolside cabanas which come complete with a safe and mini fridge.

Staying at Hilton Hotel Tahiti

At check-in you’ll be greeted with a lei that smells so lovely you might not want to take it off. If you prefer to be a little more subtle, pop a fragrant flower or two behind your ear or in your hair like many Tahitians do (wear it on the right if you’re single and on the left if you’re committed to someone).

Throughout the hotel you can almost smell the flowers growing in the extensive gardens, as the Hilton Hotel Tahiti’s open-air design takes advantage of French Polynesia’s warm breezes. The elegant lobby and two of its three restaurants are mostly open air and all 200 rooms are accessed from open-air hallways. While there are elevators, you can also choose open-air staircases to the hotel’s five floors.

King room, Hilton Hotel Tahiti.

Johanna Read, TravelEater.net

Rooms have balconies that look out onto the oceanfront grounds dotted with gardens of tropical trees and flowers. Inside, floors are wood and there’s either a king or two queen beds, plus a small couch, tables and counters, and a hidden mini-fridge. Both bedside tables have several spots for charging, with two USB ports, and a North American and a European outlet. Decorated in soft taupe and white, palm frond designs above the bed and in the bathroom remind you of what’s waiting for you outside.

If you’re sensitive to light, do pack an eye shade. The Tahitian sun still highlights the edges of the light-blocking curtains, plus there are three soft night lights which guide you to the bathroom and the bathroom light glows through the frosted glass window in the walk-in shower. Lights—and almost all the hotel’s electricity—are powered by the solar panels which cover almost the entire roof of Hilton Hotel Tahiti.

Lobby bar, Hilton Hotel Tahiti.

Johanna Read, TravelEater.net

In the morning, the overwater Moevai restaurant provides a buffet breakfast with made-to-order eggs and crêpes, croissants, tropical fruit, charcuterie, Asian soup, even sashimi and French Polynesia’s delicious national dish of poisson cru (raw fish with lime juice and coconut milk). Hilton Hotel Tahiti also has the San Sushi Bar, La Strada for Italian, and, next to the pool, Taitea Brasserie and the Vaipuna pool bar with a swim-up section. Heiva Lounge Bar serves expert cocktails and small plates upstairs in the lobby and on the semi-circle balcony overlooking the pool.

Another reason Hilton Hotel Tahiti is ideal for beginning and ending your Tahitian cruise holiday? The hotel does its best to accommodate travelers who disembark their cruises in the morning and those that have evening flights. If rooms are available, Hilton provides early check-ins and, while the check-out time is noon, guests are welcome to enjoy the pool and restaurants until they need to catch their taxi to the airport. Thoughtfully, the lobby even has tables with spots to charge up your devices (with both US and Euro plugs plus USB ports). There are shower rooms near the pool and in the large gym so you can change out of your bathing suit to get ready to leave paradise to go back home.

Blue hour at Hilton Hotel Tahiti, with Windstar’s four-masted sailing ship Wind Spirit lit up in … [+] port.

Johanna Read, TravelEater.net