With a wedding behind us, we were ready to relax! My husband had talked to several people and gotten generally good reviews about Club Med itself. Having never been to French Polynesia before, we opted for the Club Med on Moorea.
We flew on Air Tahiti from LAX (not too excited about THAT airline, but that's another story). After a quick stop in Papeete, Tahiti, we caught another puddle-jumper to Moorea, maybe a 1/2 hour flight. It was dark and late when we arrived at the Club Med compound and we were herded off the bus to the Dining rooms. They gave us a late-night snack which was much appreciated, and a brief welcome.

THE ROOM / HUT:
Overall... comfortable. No, we didn't have A/C (like most Americans seem to expect in every country in the world) but we did have a powerful ceiling fan in our thatched roof hut. The room had a big bed, an in-room safe to put valuable and travel documents in and hard-wood floors (made it easy to sweep away the sand we tracked in from the beach). The windows were shuttered and we didn't have much of a view but we were able to get a nice cross-breeze. We were left bottles of drinking water everyday which was nice.
I would complain about the bathroom... a little more rustic that what even I would put up with! The toilet was in what I would consider a closet - my husband could barely get in and turn around without hitting the sides (and he's NOT a big guy!). The shower was on the small side too. No bathtub. Towels were marginal. I did have a run-in with some of the local wildlife at one point... I discovered a HUGE spider the size of my open hand clinging to the shower curtain! My husband caught it in a Pringles can and released it outside (there are no poisonous spider species on the island). We laugh about it now but I was pretty spooked then!

THE COMPOUND:
Lots of vegetation! Most of the public rooms (dining, reception area, bar, etc...) were open and lofty with massive thatched roofs. The beaches were decent - obviously man-made or least "enhanced"... but pretty crowded. There are lots of walking paths as the compound is pretty spread out and it was nice to stroll along those in the evening. The compound is gated with a small security house but there is no issue of coming or going as you please. There is a gift shop in the main hall (paid about $25 for a bottle of sunscreen), along with a jewelry store and a few others.
Lots of cats and chickens running around. Apparently, the chickens eat the bugs and the cats catch the bigger problems (mice, rats, lizards...?)

FOOD:
The nice thing about the all-inclusive deal is not having to worry about the food! It's not a 5-star facility but there was always something from the buffet that would satisfy all. Beer and wine were complimentary and you could grab a bottle from the cooler before heading to your table. The main dining hall was family-style, meaning you sat at a table for 8 with strangers most of the time. We frequently sat with people who didn't speak any English so we sometimes felt a little awkward. It was fun, though, to meet others and talk about where they were from and what they had been doing on the island. There was another restaurant on the compound that was still buffet but had more tables for two and more service. The bad thing about this place was at lunch, you usually have to wait in line and at dinner you have to make reservations early in the morning (we never ate dinner there, only lunch).

ACTIVITIES:
There were a lot of options of things to do, especially water-related sports: snorkeling, scuba diving, water skiing, sea kayaking. The compound had tennis courts and aerobic classes, volleyball and daily sport activities led by the staff. We were there in mid-September during the 2000 summer Olympics and they spun off on that theme a lot (a bit cheesy).
We had a lot of fun doing things off the compound - unfortunately that cost extra. We took the one-day Jeep tour around the island of Moorea, an evening sunset cruise on a 110 ft. schooner, a deep-sea fishing excursion (we didn't catch anything), and we went to an evening Tahitian tiki-theatre dinner. All fun stuff but it certainly added to the bill. There was a spa at a hotel nearby that was advertised in the gift shop but never got the chance to go. There were other activities such as swimming with the dolphins and feeding the reef sharks and sting-rays.

I HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH CLUB MED...
The one glaring disappointment with Club Med (or maybe we should complain to the agency that booked our trip) was the oversight to mention the water shortage. Club Med would turn off the water at the most inopportune times to conserve water, such as from 4:00pm - 5:30pm... the time when most people were coming back from a day at the beach. It made it difficult to freshen up before dinner and made it very uncomfortable. They also turned the water off at night, from about 11:00pm - 6:00am. Again, with the tropical humidity and coming in after a few hours at the nightclub, it was disappointing to say the least to not be able to shower before going to bed. Let's not forget the inability to flush a toilet when the water is turned off...! This wasn't a regular occurance at Club Med and maybe we were there at a bad time but they should have compensated in some small way.

OVERALL:
We had a few mishaps but in general we truly enjoyed our honeymoon. Yeah, we had to "rough" it a bit but the beauty of the island and the incredible weather made up for it. We'd definitely go back to Moorea, but maybe try another hotel.

Recommended: Yes