The framework: country law 2018-10 and classification

Tourist accommodation comes under country law no. 2018-10 of 29 March 2018 as amended, which regulates tourist accommodation in French Polynesia, and its implementing orders. The Service du tourisme (SDT) keeps the register: every accommodation activity, international tourist hotel, pension de famille, bed and breakfast room, furnished tourist rental, luxury villa, holiday village, youth hostel, campsite or other lodging, must first be declared, online through the Rumia service, with a processing time of fifteen days from receipt of a complete application. The SDT publishes the lists of declared establishments, category by category.

Classification is a separate step, at the operator’s request and after a visit by the service’s agents: 2 to 5 stars for international tourist hotels, under order no. 1491 CM of 6 August 2018, and 1 to 4 tiare for pensions de famille, under order no. 1492 CM of the same day; for a pension, classification also opens the way to financial support. An unclassified establishment is therefore not necessarily a lesser one; it has not asked to be classified.

International tourist hotels

The Service du tourisme list of 30 June 2026 counts 48 international tourist hotels in operation, 36 of them classified or in the process of being classified. They are concentrated on three islands: 11 on Tahiti, 11 on Bora Bora and 10 on Moorea; then come Raiatea with 4, Taha’a with 3, Huahine, Rangiroa and the Marquesas with 2 each, Tikehau, Tetiaroa and the atoll of Nukutepipi with 1. In the Australs, Rurutu and Raivavae have no hotel, only pensions.

On Bora Bora the airport and most hotels stand on motu, the islets of the reef; the boat shuttle to Vaitape is included in the air ticket, and many hotels run their own boat transfer from the airport or from the Vaitape quay. Tahiti Tourisme describes establishments where overwater bungalows sit beside garden rooms, often with a spa and watersports equipment, diving, kayaking and sailing. Hotels are the category where star classification is most common; the room category and occupancy you ask for are checked with the establishment for your dates, as are the rates in force.

Pensions de famille

The pension de famille is the country’s most widespread form of lodging: 307 establishments declared on 30 June 2026, 1,494 units, 4,300 beds. The Tuamotu have 91 (28 on Rangiroa, 18 on Fakarava, 10 on Tikehau), the Leeward Islands 85 (26 on Maupiti, 19 on Raiatea, 15 on Huahine, 13 on Taha’a, 12 on Bora Bora), the Windward Islands 77 (42 on Tahiti, 35 on Moorea), the Marquesas 30, the Australs 20 and the Gambier 4. On many islands it is the only option.

Tahiti Tourisme describes them as small family-run places where guests are treated like part of the family: home cooking with fresh produce, often fish, breakfast and dinner served at a shared table, and hosts who know the island and advise on outings. Comfort ranges from a plain room to a bungalow; the official scale, 1 to 4 tiare, grades those that applied, and many have not. The price is generally below a hotel’s, with half or full board included; it is confirmed by the agency for each enquiry.

Furnished rentals, luxury villas and other options

The furnished tourist rental is the holiday let: Tahiti Tourisme lists them ranging from the traditional wooden fare on stilts to the modern villa with ocean view, under the label “furnished accommodation and gîtes”. You live independently, shopping and cooking included. The luxury villa is a category of its own in country law 2018-10, with its own list at the Service du tourisme. The two options are treated differently for tax: until the end of 2026 their services carry VAT at the intermediate rate of 13%, against 5% for hotels and pensions, and from 1 January 2027 a single rate of 9% applies to tourist accommodation, except pensions de famille and bed and breakfast rooms, which keep the reduced rate.

The other declared categories are the bed and breakfast room, the youth hostel, the campsite, the holiday village, the room to let and unusual accommodation, including the host boats that Tahiti Tourisme lists in the Marquesas. The communal stay tax also varies by category; the guide on that tax gives the amounts.

Sleeping on board: cruises, cargo-passenger ships and charters

Three ways to sleep on the water. Cruise ships, among which Tahiti Tourisme names the Paul Gauguin between Bora Bora, Moorea and the Tuamotu, and the Windstar ships. Cargo-passenger ships, which supply the islands and carry passengers: the Aranui 5, 230 passengers in 103 cabins, links Tahiti to the six inhabited Marquesas islands by way of Fakarava and Rangiroa, in 11 nights and 12 days on the late-2026 departures; the Tuhaa Pae IV serves the Australs, Rimatara, Rurutu, Tubuai and Raivavae in 7 to 8 days, as far as Rapa in 10 to 11 days, on full board with excursions and air-conditioned cabins, from 280,150 XPF per person, that is 2,348 EUR, at the fare published on 19 October 2026.

Boat charter starts from Raiatea: the Apooiti marina at Uturoa is home to a fleet of some thirty catamarans from 36 to 63 feet, with or without crew. Without crew, the charter company requires at least two years’ experience as skipper; with a skipper and a hostess-cook there is nothing to prove. Tahiti Tourisme describes these cruises between Raiatea, Taha’a, Huahine and Bora Bora.

How an enquiry works on this site

This site sells no rooms online and shows no real-time availability, no reviews and no offers. It presents accommodation with the room categories as the establishment describes them, and every enquiry goes to the partner agency, based in Tahiti, through the enquiry form, in French or English. The agency confirms for your dates the room category, occupancy and real availability, the rates and services in force with the establishment, the domestic flights and ferries, whether the arrival-day transfer is realistic, and the season, trade winds and swell on the chosen coast. Activity providers are checked with their conditions and their permits.

The proposal is drawn up with no handling fee. The response time depends on the partner agency and is stated in the acknowledgement. Nothing is booked until you have accepted the proposal. Prices that appear on the site carry the date of their publication; they do not replace the agency’s confirmation, which alone commits the establishment for your dates.

What we verify for your dates

Timetables, provider conditions, entry rules, weather-sensitive activities and commercial terms are rechecked for the actual trip. This article explains the planning logic; it is not a live availability promise.

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Sources

Reviewed against its sources

Polynesia Local editorial desk · sources cited on every entry · 20 October 2026