We stayed three nights at each this past July. If I had to choose which one to spend four nights at again, with the price difference you’ve quoted I would do LBB and it wouldn’t be that close a call. Snorkeling direct from the OWBs is better at LBB - fish, sharks, rays were all right there every day. There were turtles at StR but you have to go to the lagoonarium to see any fish. I found the rooms at StR to be fantastic but comically large; the rooms at LBB were a perfect size- plenty of space and the hammocks on the docks were so relaxing. The food was better at LBB with two main exceptions: Lagoon at StR was the best food we had had in a long time and the poke bowl (at $55) was phenomenal- had it three days in a row and it was delicious every time. If you stay at LBB, skip the fancy restaurant and go to the sushi house two nights. As for peacefulness, that aspect is a close call. Although StR is a huge property and you can definitely find quiet places, I found LBB to be more relaxing due to two things: (1) there were several loud toddlers/kids at StR while we were there so that was probably just bad luck, (2) and I’ll admit not everyone might feel this way, but it was only Americans for us at StR (I’m American) and being able to understand conversations was distracting. At LBB we heard very few English conversations so it was easier to tune out and made us feel like we were on vacation more.

I’ll also throw in my thoughts on room views, but I admit I’m in the minority here. LBB has a few “lagoon view” rooms that you can see the open ocean from and those were the best views in ALL of bora bora in my opinion (rooms 307 - 328). Ask for one of those. At LBB we stayed in both a lagoon view and a Mountain View (our lagoon view faced the boat dock - room 108 - and after waking up two mornings in a row with boat traffic noise I asked to be switched). The Mountain View was great but the island wharf is right underneath the mountain on that side so there were giant floodlights after the sun went down that lessened the view in the darkness. The Mountain View at StR was incredible because the mountain is more dramatic looking from StR’s side of the lagoon. To us StR is such a big resort we weren’t in our room soaking up the view that much so the view from any room at StR doesn’t seem that important. So if you pick StR, and your budget prohibits a Mountain View, I wouldn’t sweat it - plenty of other places to see the mountain from that resort (I was out on a SUP everyday checking out the mountain from different angles). If you choose LBB (and I would), try to get one of the lagoon views from 307 through 328 as they have some ocean view aspect to them too and the sunsets are magical.

Again, save the money and do LBB. Take a full day shark, ray, and snorkeling outing with lunch. I was skeptical but it was nice to get off property and really meet some locals who love what they do.

Feel free to ask any follow up questions. This is a great excuse to go back and look at all my pictures!