Staff superb, eager to help and clearly working under difficult conditions.
Location good, although make sure you rent a car at airport for 7500 xpf /per day from Fare Maeva to avoid transfers fees and being hostage to the hotels dreadful restaurant food and meal prices.
Beach okay for Polynesian standards although narrow but white sand.
Bay, sea views from the beach magnificent
This is just another one of those sad, old ,over priced establishments that has seen better days, relying on its location, undeserved 3 stars and glossy photo web shots to attract unwitting customers
Reception area, swimming pool (green old pond) and the majority of the bungalows in need of bulldosing. Wires hanging our of lights, weeds growing on our terrace, rooms dark and full of mosquitoes, water leaking and spIrting all over from the shower etc endless faults.
Only way to stay here is to take one of the refurbished, on the beach bungalows, eat out side and rent a car to be independant of the hotels pitiful restaurant and outrageously high prices

Huahine is one of the least developed islands of French Polynesia, and that’s what we asked our travel agent to find. A place with sun and sand where we could “get away from it all” for a few days.
We flew in from Papette, Tahiti, a short and easy hop. But the hotel forgot to send someone to pick us up at the airport. This is a big deal when there are no taxis to be had, and we had paid for a private transfer. After we found someone at the airport who spoke English and called the hotel for us, we waited about a ½ hour for an unmarked van, driven by 2 guys who spoke only a bit of English. They delivered us to a small but quite lovely hotel. The manager, who forgot to apologize for the transfer mix-up, showed us to a private bungalow and described the activities and services.
Hint – you need to understand and speak at least basic French. The menus are not in English and wait staff’s English is limited. In fact, everyone else’s English is limited too.
The bungalow was perfect, comfortable King bed, plenty of closet space, and an indoor/outdoor shower that may be the best one I’ve ever had! When you arrive there are gorgeous flowers all over the interior - it’s beautiful. There is a well-stocked mini-bar, but no A/C. We slept with our doors open. A few mosquitoes did get in, but only a few. Beachfront bungalows offer your own beach chairs. The ocean is about 10 steps away. There is shade on the beach from trees that look hundreds of years old. Kayaks are available free as is scuba equipment. You can rent a car from the front desk and go exploring. They offer a cruise around the island, but it needs a minimum of 6 people to make it a go, so that doesn’t always happen.
The dining room is a bit overpriced but the food is quite good. They open at 7:30pm. It took them 2 hours to serve appetizers, entrees and dessert and they were closing up as we drank our coffee! Within walking distance you will find two other restaurants that are more reasonable. Breakfast is Continental but with lots of great fruit. Lunch is available, sometimes instantly and sometimes on Polynesian time.
It’s a perfect hideaway, but remember to bone up on your French first!

Stayed 3 nights at this resort during our stay in tranquil Huahine.

How can you not be extremely happy with the beautiful interiors of the Relais Mahana bungalows? First class! Also, the idyllic beach was everything they say it is... the nicest spot on Huahine.

Unfortunately, what keeps this resort from going from good-to-great is the lousy service and food. Most workers were a bit "frowny" and definitely not "there with a smile."

One anecdote: the wife and I took lunch back to our bungalow to eat on the porch (with prior permission from the waitress at the restaurant). Halfway through our meal another worker came tromping to our bungalow and hollered that we "aren't allowed to eat at our bungalows due to ants". Fine (although a little more tact would have been nice). What"s ironic is that they sell sodas, chips, candy, etc. from the mini-fridge!

The food in the restaurant is abysmal. We ate there the first night and had some variety of strange French fusion that was foo-foo and terrible. And paid handsomely for the experience.

Do yourself a huge favor and eat at nearby Pension Mauarii. Friendly staff and incredible fresh local food. We at here the remaining of our nights and loved it. They offer free pickup/dropoff from the Mahana.

My husband and I went to the Relais Mahana a few years ago as a couple and loved it. This time, we brought our 20-something daughters with us and stayed in one of the beach bungalows that can accommodate 4 people- a king sized bed and 2 twin beds. The room is right on the water on top of a sea wall and has a fantastic view. The room inside is quite dark though and not particularly attractive. I did not realize that the bungalows are duplexes and each bungalow shares a common wall with its neighbor. Fortunately for us, the bungalow next to us remained unoccupied during our visit, but if another family had been in there, it would have significantly detracted from the privacy of our bungalow. I shudder to think how it might have been if a crying baby were on the other side of the wall. The management has changed since our last visit and the hotel staff and its operation seemed a bit more lax. In some ways, this was nice. They have not done much in the last two years to improve the facility. The pool is really a joke- small, ugly, and no one uses it. The beach towels looked a bit shabby and in need of replacement. They have cut down on the bathroom amenities- no more lotion. The continental breakfast is reduced to bread and fruit. (The last time it also included meat and cheese and my favorite- po'e). They no longer serve po'e and the meat and cheese are extra $$. The only fruit on the continental breakfast that was served the entire week we were there was watermelon. I was surprised by this because we were looking forward to papaya, banana, mango, etc. Lunch and dinner there were better than we remembered and their vanilla sauce is superb. Poisson Cru was also excellent. The snorkeling in front of the resort is wonderful, the car rental clerk in the lobby is very helpful and convenient, the water is crystal clear and breathtaking, the beach is walkable for many miles. All in all, a wonderful location with a hotel that has all the basic amenities and makes for a comfortable, laid-back experience. Huahine is my favorite island ever, and I would go back every year if I could afford the airfare.