Post #694925 by No No on Sun, Sep 29, 2013 2:06 PM

Thanks for the kind words. Below, is a summary of the hotel history that may help you understand where your experience with the hotel fits in the big scheme of things.

Societe Hoteliere De Tahara’a
Beginning to End
This is the sad story of arguably the finest architectural achievement in hotel design in Polynesia and its tragic slide into ruin. I will attempt to summarize the ownership of the hotel so that you can better understand its fall from grace if you ever get a chance to see it.
• 1966…. Joe Long negotiates a loan with the French Government, takes on Pan American Airlines as a partner, buys Tahara’a Hill, establishes the project team and work gets underway.
• 1967…. Hotel construction commences. At that time, I went to Pateete to select a nurseryman and start growing most of the plants required to landscape the property. A small Pitch & Put golf course was laid out at that time.
• 1969…. The grand opening followed two years of design, construction, decorating, landscaping, staffing and training. It was operated by International Hotel Corporation, a subsidiary of Pan American Airlines.
• 1974….The operating agreement with IHC was terminated and the day to day management of Tahara’a was handled locally for the next thirteen years.
• 1987…. Joe Long sold the hotel, thus ending a 21 year long love affair with Lone Tree Hill, Tahara’a. The buyer was Adriaan Zacha, the head of a Hong Kong Investment Company.
• !988…. The hotel was renamed the Hyatt Regency Tahiti.
• 1989…. Zacha then sold the hotel to a Japanese investment company called E.I.E.
• 1994…. E.I.E. in turn, sold the hotel, still operating under the moniker of Hyatt Regency Tahiti, to a holding company named Societe Hoteliere De Tahara’a. The head of this group was Gaston Flosse, the president of French Polynesia.
• 1995….Another group, whose majority shareholder is Reginald Flosse, Gaston’s son, purchased the hotel.
• 1997….Hyatt continued as the operator until their contract ran out in May. Flosse changed the name again to Hotel Royal Matavai and operated it until he promptly closed its doors on 1.1.98. Employees were laid off, furnishings were sold, as great plans for an 18 month renovation were revealed. Nothing ever happened and the hotel fell into disrepair! Ten years passed. Decay set in. Then….
• 1998-2008… A rebirth was announced, as plans to turn the old Tahara’a into a residence called Matavai Bay by 2010 were revealed. Well……just more smoke. Joe would turn over in his grave!
• The one bright spot in this tragic tale is the fact that the gardens, for whatever reason to this day, are still maintained and the Tiki still stands tall!(47 years later) A fact that is not lost on me. Jan Prince, a writer for the Tahiti Beach Press, told me that this last July, during the Annual Festival of Music, a concert was held in the gardens. I wish I could have been there.