Lopesan Baobab Resort

We are returning guests at this hotel and unfortunately didn’t have the great experience we’ve had in the past this year. The hotel grounds are stunningly beautiful but on closer inspection there’s a lot in need of some care. We spent most of our time at the central pool with the lazy river. Despite being down for 10/1030 each morning, all we saw were rows of reserved sun loungers. On a 10 day trip, I only managed to get a lounger on 6 days… and on some of those it wasn’t until later and I found myself sitting at the bar with all the bags or sitting on the edge of the pool. As a solo parent only looking for one lounger (my kids are in the water, mostly), it’s not ideal when you’ve paid thousands of pounds for a five star experience. I saw a few notes on loungers stating items would be removed after 45 minutes but on checking the times most were well over that so it felt like lip service. I had to ask staff for help a few times but to no avail, except on one occasion where the lifeguard managed to find me one lounger sandwiched between two families- a little awkward. Especially infuriating as there were five reserved loungers opposite me with 2 parasols. Not one person came near them all day long. Loungers should be assigned each morning and monitored for usage. The area around the pool had lots of loose tiles and both my children were cut on multiple occasions due to this. I also noted smashed glass on one of the front glass panes and overflowing bins all over the resort with people resorting to balancing rubbish on top of them or on the ground below. On one of the days I managed to secure a lounger, I noted candy wrappers under the lounger in front of me- they were still there 2 days later.

Moving on to the rooms. I booked a double room for single parent use with a pullout bed as I did last year. Room seemed ok but there was a strong smell like cat urine when we arrived. It was a late arrival so thought I’d ignore and raise it the next day, but as it turned out, we had to request a room change due to noise. We were on the 1st floor just above the terrapins and trees and we were awoken at 5am by shrieking noises so bad I flew out of bed. Couldn’t figure out where it was coming from … turned out to be some very noisy birds tweeting and shrieking in the trees outside our front door! I knew immediately we couldn’t cope with that for ten nights so I repacked all of our cases and went to reception to ask to be moved. The move took a while to sort but eventually they found us a new room above reception on the first floor. It seemed fine other than a strange smell again but I ignored that. The balcony was significantly smaller than what we’d had and looking on to some strange astroturfed ground that looked very poorly kept, but it felt like the better option if we didn’t want to be jolted awake at 5am every day. I unpacked three cases for a second time and we went about our day. The next morning I woke up at 7am to a dripping noise. Got up and realised the room was completely flooded from a leak of the air conditioning unit. The uplighter lighting was buzzing and flickering which didn’t feel very safe. I took videos and we got ourselves back down to reception to report the issues. They sent a maintenance man up who was there for a while and we were sort of trapped on the balcony while he was there as we hadn’t managed to get ready yet. Eventually he said it was fixed and a lady then appeared to clean the mess. She was wiping the vent with a towel on a broom to try and soak up the still dripping water while we were stuck on the balcony. I could tell it wasn’t fixed and eventually she agreed and phoned reception to advise. When she left we quickly gathered our things and headed back to reception. The lady there said it would be sorted by afternoon so we went to the pool. After a couple of hours I was called to be told that it couldn’t be fixed and that we’d need to move room again. So we all had to leave the pool to repack the cases yet again ready to be moved. We were asked to go to reception when ready and they’d show us our new room. When we arrived we were directed to the guest services manager who gave me a key and sent me to check the room. We took one look out of the balcony and seeing it was looking onto the bars and a construction site, knew we couldn’t accept it. When I returned to ask for an alternative I was met with a severe lack of understanding from the manager who looked at me as if I was being very ungrateful and said he was sure it had a sea view. I confirmed you could see a dot of the sea in the distance if you looked beyond the bars and construction area. He was very abrupt and said they had no other rooms. I argued that there must be another free room in the hotel of either the same or better type and he just kept saying no. I also asked him - in reference to my earlier call from reception - if we could have some compensation for the fact we’d wasted so much of the first 2 days of our holiday either at reception, packing and unpacking suitcases, or in substandard rooms. The person on the phone had offered me buffet lunch but I’d advised that wouldn’t suit us as my children are very plain eaters. She said she’d sort something of benefit to me. The guest services manager however was unwilling to provide anything other than that… unless I wanted a massage. I reminded him that I was a solo parent and couldn’t just disappear for a massage. He was unwilling to budge and when I suggested perhaps a late checkout or a coffee machine in the room was told he couldn’t confirm until our last day for the former and a straight no to the latter as I wasn’t a unique guest. Eventually I had to ask for a manager above him as it was like talking to a brick wall. Someone else came out all smiles and said yes to the late checkout, and miraculously found us a room of the same type. When I asked her about the coffee machine she said there were none left as the unique rooms were sold out… but if I wanted to hire one at a cost, I could. I gave up at this point and accepted the late checkout.

Aside from all of this, we tried to put it behind us and enjoy the holiday. I spent a lot of time at the mungo bar watching all of our things while my kids swam and the staff at the bar there are lovely.

The Richard burton bar at night was a challenge to get served. I waited over 30 minutes twice and on the second time I stood at the bar hoping to have more luck than the table service but was completely ignored by the staff.

Couple of other random things but worth mentioning:

• our room wasn’t cleaned on 2/10 days
• on 2 occasions we were only given 2 bath towels when there are 3 of us- also 2 drinks glasses and only 2 chairs on balcony
• balcony lights go out at midnight every night and can’t be overridden- frustrating when that was my only downtime to read when kids were asleep in the room
• walls are so thin I could hear the person next door to me using the bathroom

I love this hotel and always have so it pains me that our experience was tainted this year. Bad luck happens, but it’s how it’s handled that makes the difference, and I didn’t feel like the service received from guest services was representative of a five star hotel.

We spent most of our evenings outside of the hotel, and a lot of the daytime too when I couldn’t get a sun lounger and needed a break from sitting on a bar stool. The area is lovely … we’ll be back, but perhaps not to the baobab.

We loved Lopesan Baobab! The pools are stunning and the staff is wonderfully kind.

We had a week at Lopesan and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The photos do represent what the resort is actually like.

The entrance to the hotel is imposing, very large, very grand and different in a positive way. With it being African themed, yes, lighting is poor, but it does give a bit of atmosphere.

We had a Junior Suite, unique and half board plus/premium. We felt this was a pretty good upgrade as unique gave a few touches which were fab. For example, the “VIP area” on the 6th floor for snacks etc. What we did find though on a couple of occasions, non unique guests managed to find their way up there, probably through tailgating in the lift.

The junioe suite was spacious, but we did have an issue with the air con. To be fair to the hotel, when it was reported, a technician arrived not too long after and probably spent close to 2 hrs fixing it (including the time we were not in the room). At one point, we were offered a free upgrade to a senior suite, but this was at the far side of the hotel where we felt it was too out of the way for us personally (it was in block 1). For me, it is about how staff respond to issues and the technician, he eventually fixed the air con for us and we stayed in the room we were originally allocated. A big plus as we much prefered the junior suite and the view compared to the senior suite.

There are a lot of comparisons between Lopesan Baobab and Lopesan Costa Meloneras (LCM) across the road. We tried the buffet at both as part of HB+ and personally for me, wasnt quite sure I agree with the perception that LCM was “better”. Yes, LCM has a bigger variety, no doubt about that. However, we felt that the food at the buffet at Boabab, at least when we visited, was generally better than at LCM. This could have been a timing thing, but we did enjoy Baobab more. When we visited, we felt that the guests at Baobab felt a bit more pleasant. In terms of Baobab catering kore for kids? Yes, there is a kids section for food in Baobab, think pizza, pasta, hot dogs etc. The most frustrating part of the hotel is tht drinks can be on the steep side, for example, a member of our party likes apple juice. A small serving, think 237ml, it was over €3. So costs can quickly add up if you charge to your room and you go all out. But then again, you are here to enjoy yourself, so just keep an eye on that.

The Pili Pili a la carte restaurant opened the week we arrived for evening meals. It may not have been widely known as we only saw a sign for it as we walked past it and though we would try it. We really enjoyed our meal here and again, the staff were very attentive. Definitely worth a visit if you are on HB.

There are plenty of pools at Baobab, some seem to be well hidden in the corners of the hotel and were quieter, which may suit some guests. We enjoyed being in the Unique area as it was well maintained and service by staff seemed to be very attentive. I cannot recall where I read it, this review platform or another, but I recall someone suggesting that Unique guests seem to be treated better. I would personally hope that is the case, as a premium price has been paid for it.

OK, so there are plenty of reviews suggesting the hotel could do with a refurbishment, and that is true. It is quite tired in places, eg, our Junior Suite, the wallpaper was peeling and one socket came off the wall, so it could do with some investment to bring it back up to scratch. In line with the theme, it is dark, and in the rooms, overly so. There should be at least option to have some more lighting. This was also the case in some of the stairwells, particularly the one at the back of the hotel towards the rear entrance near the lifts, it is very dark and is an accident waiting to happen.

All in all, we really liked Lopesan Baobab and we are glad we booked it. Is it good service? Yes, every single member of staff we came across were fantastic. Did we enjoy outselves? Very much so. Are there improvements needed? Yes there is. Did it meet our expectations? Yes. Would you be able to find problems? If you go looking for them, of course. Ultimately, it is what you make of it, so if you come here with the expectation that everywhere has its quirks, you will definitely enjoy yourself. We did!