Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa

The Hilton Moorea Lagoon Resort & Spa has one of Moorea's loveliest settings — the north coast between Cook's Bay and Opunohu Bay, the island's two most photographed inlets — so that, unusually, you can watch both sunrise to the east and sunset to the west from your bungalow. Spread across around 21 acres near Ta'ahiamanu Beach, it has roughly 100 to 104 bungalows in garden, beach, lagoon and overwater categories; the overwater bungalows run to about 62 square metres with a glass floor, a king bed and daybed, a marble bathroom with a claw-foot tub and a ladder into the lagoon, while the Panoramic and Premium Panoramic overwater bungalows sit at the end of the pontoon for the most open outlook and the most privacy. Dining runs across the lagoon-facing Arii Vahine, with buffet breakfasts and fine-dining dinners, the casual beachside Rotui Bar & Grill, and — the signature — the Toatea Bar & Creperie, Moorea's only overwater restaurant, where you eat crepes with reef sharks gliding below. There is a full-service spa drawing on Polynesian traditions, a lagoon-style infinity pool, tennis, fitness and yoga, and complimentary water sports. The lagoon itself is the draw: snorkel with stingrays and black-tip reef sharks (and sometimes dolphins) straight off the resort, then head inland on a 4x4 safari to the Belvedere lookout and the pineapple plantations, hike the trails above the two bays, or play Moorea's only golf course nearby. With babysitting and garden bungalows alongside the overwater rooms, it is a genuinely family-friendly island base as well as a couples' one.