The hosts were extremely nice and caring.

Gilles & Henriette were superb hosts and made us feel at home. The setting is so tranquil and like a home from home. Breakfast was an unexpected highlight - especially the delicious homemade jams and coconut bread, plus the fruit from the garden. Don't miss sunset drinks and dinner at the Opoa Beach Hotel down the road - plus there's tasty pizza on offer next door too.

“Raitea beautiful treasure”

Gill and Harriette have been family to us! They are amazing - the villa is super nice and clean - we had access to a private beach - and we enjoyed our talks and discovering Raiatea through their suggestions and recommendations. They have two villas in the property - so it is quiet and reserved. Great comfort, their kitchen has everything you need. You can ask for suggestions on tours around the island and Tahaa. We loved our stay and we hope we are going to see them again in the near future. Thank you for the long chats discovering the polynesia culture. Raiatea will stay in our hearts!

“Yay 😁”

Beyond expectations. Quiet, spacious and very comfortable bungalow. Direct access to the water, where swim, snorkeling and kayaking just await! Everything is well thought, both functional and "solid". The hosts are very generous with their food, boating, and hospitality in general, including planning trips and such. You need a vehicle (or can rent theirs). I had rented a scooter in town and enjoyed this particular corner of the island.

“Pleasant stay on the beach near the sacred site of Taputapatea.”

Raiatea Sur Mer was indeed on the mer. You could easily watch the sunrise over the water which was lovely. The owners were quite helpful and welcoming. The kitchen was communal and shared with owners.

“Please take me back!”

I wished we could have stayed for a month instead of 3 days! We loved our stay. The hosts were kind, helpful and welcoming and we learned a lot about Polynesia. The bungalow is very spacious, including the bathroom, and there is a walk-in closet. The bed was very comfortable, and the communal kitchen was such a delight, they have great appliances. A lot of thought has gone into building this place, for example having a door that goes directly into the bathroom so that you don’t fill the main room with sand. The property is kayaks and we kayaked to the most pristine motu, where we saw baby sharks!! Incredible place.

“We had a good time, in fact my husband says now that it is his favorite island. It is very quiet.”

Raiatea is a remote island with little infrastructure. It is breathtakingly beautiful. But it is not set up for tourists, which is fine, but visitors must be prepared to make their own food and carry water, driving at least 1 hour to find a restaurant or supermarket . Raiatea sur mer is a freestanding room /bathroom within a lovely home, owned by a friendly couple who want to visit with you and talk, in French. They will also cook you dinner if you arrange it with them . The dinner is lavishly done , pricey, but definitely nice. The bedroom, thankfully, has a mini split air conditioner, as it was very very hot. They lent us a kayak to tool around in inside the reef. We had a lovely time. There is a UNESCO world heritage site, a Marae, within 2 miles of our homestay.

“Very cosy!”

What a warm welcome & farewell from the hosts, very peaceful far away from hustle&bustle but super close to botanical garden&historical site, fresh fruits directly from the garden, baguette in the morning, and pizza with salad that Henriette and Gilles prepared for our last supper at their beautiful place. You have your own terrace, however, you share another big nice terrace and spacious kitchen with the hosts and other guests (one more house). Henriette also organized an excursion for us to Tahaa, with the lunch on a private motu, which is very recommended (with Are Tours). Our daughter loved playing with hosts’ dog and cats.

“Hardly seen a better place”

Wonderful, well planned and executed bungalows. Excellent breakfast and dinner are optional, but well worth it. Possibility to prepare your own meal in a fully equipped kitchen. Manta and turtle are in the bay (free canoes), black tips and an intact reef nearby, the owner Gilles will take you there with his speedboat. Felt at home on the other side of the planet.

“Thank you Henrietta and Giles for such an enjoyable experience!”

Henrietta's homemade jams (banana and coconut are my favourites) with fresh baguettes, tahitian donuts, yogurt, cheese, fresh off their own trees pomelo, passion fruit and bananas, juice, coffee - and an omelette. And that's all in ONE breakfast.

“Dreamlike stay where isolation allows you to breathe and enjoy what's there”

Henriette and Gilles (and Luna their resident canine angel) are the hosts with the mostest! Truly they welcome you and take care of you as though you were family. Gilles picked us up from the airport, an almost hour-long drive that leads you to the most breathtaking view as you drive off the main road onto the road leading to their guesthouse. We ended up never taking that road again until our last day, when Gilles drove us back to the airport. We were that enchanted by their place. Now, the reviews do not lie, it is pretty isolated. The nearest grocery store is a good 6kms away according to Google map, and the nearest restaurant/takeaway is a couple Kms away. However, Henriette asked us everyday if we wanted to order lunch from that delicious restaurant so Gilles could go and pick it up for us so we always had lunch sorted. Also, and it deserves its own paragraph, there is a cornucopia of mangoes, papayas, bananas and other fruits available free of charge from their very own fruit trees that my wife was happy to have for lunch and dinner and we had a few snacks we brought with us that supplemented our dinner. Along with the copious breakfast Henriette and Gilles prepared for us every morning with eggs, baguette, homemade jams, ham, cheeses, firi firi, cut fruit, fruit juice and coffee, we were more than sorted with food every day. We did get an exceptional Christmas Eve dinner with foie gras and 2 different types of delicious appetizers, a freshest of the freshest sashimi as the main course, wine and dessert on our penultimate evening but it was Christmas Eve after all. The guesthouse has kayaks, a pedal boat, a paddle board available, which we readily borrowed on occasion. The communal eating and lounge area overlooks the small beach and is beautifully open to the ocean breeze. We were often on the communal terrace, me on my laptop and my wife lying on the lounger. Stress disappeared while we were there.