DoubleTree by Hilton Noumea Ilot Maitre Resort

Overwater bungalows are spacious, comfortable and very well planned. Rooms were always kept clean. Location is amazing! The boat to and from city is easy to catch and runs many times a day. Breakfast is great but gets a bit “old” after day 4 or so. Overall fantastic place to stay. PS further back bungalows seemed to get LOT MORE turtle action than front ones, but also much windier in windy periods and long walk from reception.

Some staff speak no English, which makes it very difficult to order most basic things (very common I understand). Eating dinner/lunch there is VERY limited and expensive. Do yourself a favour and stop and get snacks/drinks at supermarket before hand or bring with you. Bring your own snorkelling gear during the swim ban time, plenty of turtles to see and they aren’t allowed to rent them.

Cannot recommend the overwater bungalows enough if travelling as a couple, they are extremely spacious and offer amazing views. A couple quick tips for this stay: - if you don’t want to spend too much on resort food, bring along snacks and drinks from the mainland! there are supermarkets and petrol stations nearby the port, stock up on items and you won’t be left leaving a bad review about the prices! - snorkelling with turtles seemed to have a prime time of around 10am, we saw 5 next to our bungalow in one snorkel session - keep your adjustable steps up when you aren’t using them, a friendly sea snake crawled up but he was nice enough to leave quickly

Nothing! Highly recommend booking the bungalows if you can. It would be tough with a large group, but as a couple it is a must do! Come prepared and you’ll have an amazing stay

Amazing amazing location. We stayed in one of the garden bungalows, which was nestled among the most beautiful trees and flowers, with birds wandering around everywhere. One of my favourite parts of the whole stay was taking the walk to and from the bungalow just to experience walking through the garden. The bungalow itself was so comfortable, clean, and well maintained. So much marine life to see, we saw turtles, fish and sea snakes just walking along the pier. The staff were also incredibly helpful and friendly. Also the buffets offered in the main restaurant were great!

Honestly not much - there was a very noisy seagull outside our bungalow that would squawk a lot as it was protecting it's nest, but I kind of liked that too because it was part of the natural environment (also the resort provides you with ear plugs for this very reason!). The wait times for food and drink from the bar were a bit slow, but we didn't have anywhere else to be so not really a problem.

From the warm choc cookie on arrival from our short trip on the ferry, this island is magnificent! Our room was spectacular, king bed , large bathroom with egg bath, comfortable lounge area , fully catered & the view of the ocean from the front door was amazing. The property is well laid out, great fitness room , great pool , large dinning area . The staff are friendly & very helpful. The pool swim up bar was not open , but the pool bar was available . swimming in the ocean is full of tropical fish , stingrays & turtles. Just make sure you book breakfast included with your room . Otherwise a costly eat . Overall highly recommended !

The buffet for dinner was a bit hit & miss. Food & alcohol are very expensive . Paid $25 AUS for a bourbon & coke. No water sports were allowed due to 2 shark attacks on the mainland beach few weeks back . Bit of overkill as the water is shallow & crystal clear . Everyone swum in the ocean. So BYO goggles & snorkel !

beautiful setting. room was great. breakfast buffet was fantastic. lots of sea turtles and fish. comfortable bed, clean room. clean private gym. Lovely experience overall

swimming ban (placed by government) , birds nesting was quite loud (crying baby birds - but earplugs were provided), swim up bar was closed, bar staff often unattentive.

We had a room over the water .. definitely worth the extra .. big and spacious.. easy access to the water and sunny deck .. watching the wildlife in the water ... Turtles , snakes and numerous fish

The attacking birds while eating at the restaurant .. they were amusing at first then just really annoying after that ... Was a problem at other resorts to be fair Shame we could not go swimming because of the year long ban because of shark attacks

Location

Dining options were repetitive -not a lot of options unless you had the same smorgasbord every night. Vegan /vegetarians. Be prepared to pay $90 aud for a plate of vegetables . Also no swimming due to sharks was a little annoying

The stunning location

I was very disappointed not to be able to snorkel from the bungalow due to the shark scare. There was nothing in the information provided about the venue that indicated that this was the case. I researched the swimming ban on tourist web pages and the hotel page and it said nothing about a swimming ban at Ilot Maitre. This was deceiving.

The resort location was absolutely stunning- on an island just a short (20 minute) boat ride off the coast of Noumea, with spectacular scenery. The water is incredibly clear and beautiful, with many fish species and turtles visible. Free snorkelling equipment means it is easy to swim with these animals- an incredible experience in itself! The overwater bungalows are well appointed and clean, with steps straight from the bungalow deck into the water below. Amazing to watch the sunset from the deck. Very friendly and helpful staff. Generally excellent food and drinks at the resort dining facilities. Exceptional value- very few other resorts in the world offer over-water bungalows to this standard, for this price.

The swim-up pool bar was not open for any of the 5 days that we stayed at the resort, which was a little disappointing. We also noticed some ants/insects crawling near the food service, which was a little off putting.

We stayed in an over the water bungalow and it was worth every penny! The bungalow itself is clean, modern and fresh. Bed is fantastic (king size). Balcony over the water is superb with a large day bed - stairs lower down into the most beautiful water. Turtles swim right by! It’s absolute paradise. Pool is great and the resort itself is layed out so that you never feel like it’s busy! Great food (albeit a little overpriced, but to be expected). The staff are so wonderful and will help you with whatever you need. Boat service makes it very easy to access and do day trips into noumea.

Food and drinks a little overpriced but this didn’t surprise us given it’s a Hilton. Food did taste fantastic though!