Trying to plan ahead so any know if card payments are common at hostels in Tahiti or cash is king?
My long-stay hostel near Puna’auia accepted cards but tacked on a 3.5% fee, and the terminal didn’t always work. Several travelers I met had to run to the nearest ATM before they could even drop their bags. It's still very much a cash-preferred culture at the budget level. High-end resorts accept cards, but hostels? Be prepared with XPF.
Don’t assume you can pay by card unless the place says so very clearly. I booked a surf hostel in Teahupo’o - they emailed me that only cash was accepted at check-in. Even the guy at reception didn’t have a card machine. Best plan is to bring cash or withdraw at the airport, especially if arriving at odd hours when banks are closed.
I stayed at two pensions and one youth hostel in Papeete - only one had a working card reader. The others either said “machine broken” or asked for Pacific Francs only. I learned to message ahead via WhatsApp or Booking.com to ask. In general, hostels in Tahiti prefer cash, and sometimes won’t accept cards even if they say they do online.
Almost all budget hostels I stayed at asked for cash on arrival. Even when I booked online through a site that let me “pay now,” they still wanted XPF in hand when I got there. A hostel in Faa’a let me pay part of the stay by card, but added a surcharge. Just to be safe, I always withdrew cash before check-in.