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The Brando, Tahiti

The eco-friendly resort has been built to the actor’s specifications...

The eco-friendly resort has been built to the actor's specifications.
Tumi Brando grew up on Tetiaroa and knows every nook and cranny of the pristine atoll in French Polynesia. As a nature guide at The Brando, a 20-minute flight from the Tahitian capital of Papeete, Marlon Brando's granddaughter is like everything at this phenomenal new resort: cool, exotic and beguiling.
Given the island's natural beauty and hint of Hollywood glamour - Brando discovered Tetiaroa while filming Mutiny on the Bounty in 1960 and bought it six years later - few resorts have been more anticipated. No expense was spared on the 35 villas, the work of Tahiti-based French designer Pierre-Jean Picart, each with custom-made French and Italian furniture, plunge pool and a private stretch of white-sand beach. Nor on the Polynesian day spa hidden in trees above a lake where, for centuries, Tahitian royalty holidayed. Nor in the restaurant with menus designed by Guy Martin of Paris's Le Grand Véfour.
Resort developer Richard Bailey, a long-time resident of French Polynesia, spent a decade fleshing out the concept with Brando, who dreamed of building an eco-friendly "university of the sea" on the atoll.
The Brando opened last year, 10 years after the actor's death, with all the eco-credentials he wanted. These include power from the sun and coconut oil and an air-conditioning system cooled by seawater.
A package, including five nights at The Brando, all meals and drinks, excursions and spa treatments, return flights from Australia with Air Tahiti Nui, charter flights to Tetiaroa, plus two nights at the InterContinental Tahiti in Papeete, costs from $13,360 per person twin share. 1300 858 305, tahititravel.com.au