Maitai Lapita Village Huahine

“Lovely hotel”

I stayed at the Maitai Lapita Village Huahine, one of only two hotels on the island. The hotel was built as a traditional Polynesian village on an old archaeological site. The historic features have been preserved. I stayed in a garden bungalow. My bedroom was huge. My bathroom was also quite … more

I stayed at the Maitai Lapita Village Huahine, one of only two hotels on the island. The hotel was built as a traditional Polynesian village on an old archaeological site. The historic features have been preserved. I stayed in a garden bungalow. My bedroom was huge. My bathroom was also quite large, with a nice walk in shower and a large sink. It was not easy to find my bungalow. You have to walk a meandering path. Dinner was served after sunset. It was a challenge to find my room after dinner since the restaurant was on the other side of the hotel. Before I left home, I downloaded "A Botanical and Historic Tour" of my hotel. There are 38 plants on the trail and 4 historic sites. The hotel itself is built around a lake and is quite spread out. The archaeological site Vaitotia is the earliest ceremonial site so far identified in East Polynesia. It dates from ca. 1000 CE. Huahine was the first island in French Polynesia to be settled and the cradle of East Polynesian civilization. The lake was beautiful. The more expensive bungalows are on the lake and have a private pool. The Tahu'ea Marae was one of the principal maraes of the Chiefs of Te Fare Nui Atea. It dates from the 16th-18th centuries. (A marae is a gathering place for ceremonies.) The hotel has a nice swimming pool. I spent the afternoon there. The sun shines on the water and heats it to "delightfully warm". There is also a beach and you can swim in the lagoon. The hotel has a museum in the reception area. The Musée Lapita tells the story of the Lapita people who were the ancestors of the Polynesians. The initial site discovered was Lapita in New Caledonia. They originated in Southeast Asia, mixed with the Melanesians, and spread eastward across the Pacific. The area they occupy is known as the Polynesian triangle, as shown on the map in my photo. They settled first in Samoa, Tonga, and Fiji. Then they went to French Polynesia. Published volumes of Captain James Cook's voyages included a vocabulary from Tahiti and other Pacific islands. The commonalities of the vocabulary led botanist Joseph Banks to conclude that Polynesian languages had their origin in the Malay languages of Southeast Asia. Try to imagine the ancient Polynesian navigators sailing across the ocean in their outrigger canoes. You can see Lapita pottery shards from New Caledonia, ca. 1500 BCE. (When the Lapita people settled in Polynesia, they had no way to continue to make pottery since the Polynesian islands are all volcanic in origin and had no clay.) Various tools for adze working were found at Vaia'otia. The Lapita Marae was reconstructed in 2010, when the hotel was built. There is a restaurant where I enjoyed my meals and also a spa, where I was able to get a massage. It has the atmosphere of a village and was a nice place to stay.

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“The best Maitai hotel on French Polynesia. Amazing staff, excursions, hospitality and services”

We had 8 day 7 night stay at this hotel in garden room and loved every minute of it. The rooms are airy and spacious, with a large bathroom and breezy patio. It came with a large bed, sofa that can be converted to additional bed, wardrobes, coffee table, TV, safe etc. the hotel grounds are beautifu… more

We had 8 day 7 night stay at this hotel in garden room and loved every minute of it. The rooms are airy and spacious, with a large bathroom and breezy patio. It came with a large bed, sofa that can be converted to additional bed, wardrobes, coffee table, TV, safe etc. the hotel grounds are beautiful, the spa has beautiful views over the lagoon and are well maintained. The restaurant is beautiful facing the pool and ocean and serves yummy breakfast and meals. The hotel is 5 minutes from Fare village with ATM, grocery stores, restaurants and all the vibe. The staff was amazing and arranged many excursions for us. They also got us pointers on hiking, pareo painting and car/scooter rentals. Overall the week was a week in paradise and I highly recommend this place

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“Huahine at its best”

We spent four nights in this wonderful hotel using two rooms. The rooms are very spacious with high ceilings and a modern bathroom. There’s a deck overlooking the lagoon and a plunge pool. The beach is fun for snorkeling, and the Infiniti Pool and deck are very modern and comfortable. We also ate m… more

We spent four nights in this wonderful hotel using two rooms. The rooms are very spacious with high ceilings and a modern bathroom. There’s a deck overlooking the lagoon and a plunge pool. The beach is fun for snorkeling, and the Infiniti Pool and deck are very modern and comfortable. We also ate most of our meals in the hotel restaurant and enjoyed the food Particularly the mahi-mahi and the other fish dishes. Huahine is a lovely island and much more authentic than the more touristy ones.

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“A real disappointment !”

We stayed there in August 2025 and I have mixed feelings about this hotel. The gardens are very nice and the lake surrounded by all the villas is really nice and relaxing. But this is more or less it. We stayed in room 103 which is the worst you can have in the whole hotel. it is next to the recept… more

We stayed there in August 2025 and I have mixed feelings about this hotel. The gardens are very nice and the lake surrounded by all the villas is really nice and relaxing. But this is more or less it. We stayed in room 103 which is the worst you can have in the whole hotel. it is next to the reception, with no privacy at all as the bridge that is used to go from one side of gthe hotel to the other was overlooking our terrace meaning that everybody could look at us and see what we were doing if we were sitting there. The beach is very small with sunbeds that are not in good conditions, some of them were broken and it is constantly invaded by wild dogs wandering around and sitting there all day whilst being constantly chased by the hotel staff or tourists - not very healthy if you have kids playing around in the sand. The beach was packed, the swimming area is not that nice and worst of all, there are boats (ferries and boats delivering goods) that are passing over in front of the beach all day long to reach the harbor located next to the hotel and coming from god knows where. In addition we were not given any towels for a whole day because all had already been distributed to other guests and none were left. A disappointing experience and surely not something that you expect when you cross the world to visit Polynesia.

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