Lopesan Baobab Resort

This is our second time returning, we love it here, the staff are all fantastic and enthusiastic which really adds to the feel of the place. They work hard to be efficient and create a seamlessly perfect environment for guests at all times.

The setting makes it feel like a relaxed nightclub retreat without the nightclub, mood lighting, waterfall sounds, it’s such a vibe. Then during the day I can’t help but have the Jurassic Park theme in my head with its gran entrance.

We stayed in a standard room and requested to be facing the sister hotel by email in advance (aim for the 3rd floor!), these rooms don’t count as a view but in my opinion they are better than the view ones which face inwards and cost more. You can see the see and the other hotel has a pretty entrance. Plus you get a decent amount of sun on the balcony.

Food I’ve seen some mixed reviews, which personally I don’t get. With all inclusive it’s always tricky trying to please everyone. There is always a superb range to choose from, everything actually has flavour too, nothing is bland, great salads, fresh meat cooked in front of you, fresh fish choices every day. If you aren’t impressed I’d be surprised. The smoked salmon at breakfast when it’s there is delicious 😋

The only change I would like to see brought in is tea and coffee be available at every meal not just breakfast. This would be a huge benefit to guests and I strongly think it’s something that should be reviewed. I see a lot of negative reviews about no drinks included (except breakfast) and this would be such a quick win for the hotel to have the machines out at all meals to remedy it.

We took part in a new activity which was fabulous, wine and painting (Thursday 3pm - you have to sign up in advance), it was no extra cost and great fun. The staff and everyone had great fun, so well done for introducing something different. Even better yet my mother and I won best paintings and got a free cocktail each!

I nearly forgot to mention there are also resident terrapins in the hotel, pop by and see them just up past the hotel shop after the bamboo arches!

Can’t wait to come back here again 😃

Aesthetics - The look and feel of the hotel is as you would hope it would be. Very pleasing on the eye, if a little bit dark throughout but I think this definitely helps with the ambiance, theme and ability to stay cool of the hotel. There are some lovely touches around the hotel in keeping with the African theme such as terrapins, birds etc.

Location - The location of the hotel could not be more perfect. It’s a short walk to the beach and restaurants.

Rooms - we had a deluxe unique room with private plunge pool. We found the room to be very nice and the plunge pool was a god send due to the heat. It also allowed for some quieter relaxation time in a pool without being surrounded by others.

Food - This is where the hotel really lets itself down. The food was of poor quality and there is very little choice of hot food at meal times so it became very samey and many of the dishes were tasteless. The fruit at breakfast was frozen or tinned which for a 5 star hotel is unacceptable especially in a country where fruit is both plentiful and juicy. If you are not a lover of fish, your options are greatly reduced. Saw many kids eating plain pasta because there was really nothing else for them. The sister hotel across the road had a vastly different buffet with a fantastic array of choice and theme which only serves to baffle me further as to why the baobab was more reminiscent of a basic catering offering rather than the cuisine you would expect. We had paid for all inclusive so it really stuck in our throats to have to pay again to eat out as the food was so poor at baobab. The food is the sole reason I would not return.

I booked this for my 50th, with high expectations. On arrival the entrance is beautiful, but lacks signage or staff to welcome you as found ourselves wondering which way to go to reception. Checked in then dragged our cases a good 10min walk to our room. Our Room was nice and spacious with view of the relaxed pool at the back, which was nice. We booked half board premium. Which lets you use the al a cartes to.

We had a lovely holiday, but wouldnt go back, to many negatives for us. Weve been far nicer 5 star hotels, the staff, service and food let it down.

Cons
Rooms very dark, no full length mirror.
Food at buffet luke warm, altho good variety.
Staff not the friendliest, hardly interacted.
Pools spread out so you dont know whats going on and where.
Towel patrol. Like wardens removing peoples towels and belongings.
Al la cartes alot of supplements if on half board premium. Sides not included and limited menu. Altho we did enjoy meal at pil pil. Nicer to eat out.
Entertainment very amateur.
Altho dj on in Burton bar ...no atmosphere
Overall no atmosphere on nigghtime

Pros
Lovely setting lots of photo ops.
Lazy river lovely.
Pool bars lovely. Nice cocktails
Good location
Breakfast nice
Friendly staff at pool bar,.

Sioux city nearby worth a visit.

Wouldnt go back

Ok let's start with the positives.
The hotel is absolutely beautiful , it's African themed, it's a huge hotel with 9 pools, the lazy river is lovely and relaxing. The tropical beer is lovely and there's a drink called Irish dream, it's baileys with cream and caramel. Plenty of sunbeds to go round. The pool near the Richard Burton bar is lovely for having a swim, it's a suntrap there for sunbathing, so remember to put plenty of suntan cream on, but the pool is full of posers, Instagramers just standing in the pool taking selfies, it's open so you get more sun there. The Richard Burton bar is absolutely beautiful inside, all African themed, but it's sad because the place should be packed and it's not, we went in 3 times and there's just no atmosphere in there, maybe look at karaoke or a live band playing in there, there's just a DJ. The pool near the bar is nice to play with your kids in, but swimming again your better going to the Richard Burton bar pool , there's another pool for kids with inflatables in. The pools aren't massive but ok. Rooms was ok and nice size balcony with 2 chairs and a table even though there was 3 of us. There's a lot of trees near the other pools so you lose the sun and can be quite breezy out of the sun, so again if you like sunbathing stick to the Richard Burton bar pool it's all open so you get more sun.
Now the negatives.
The hotel seems to be all about money, you pay at lot to get here then at reception when you arrive they try to upgrade you to a unique room, this involves a wristband were you get extras in your room and your own pool. Absolutely ridiculous. They divide the hotel, you can't use there pool, but they can use anything., I've never been to a hotel before were you don't get a kettle, long standing mirror, the fridge topped up, no sunbeds on the balcony unless you pay extra. But the main thing for me like while your trying to have a shave is that ist just completely to dark all through the hotel there's no good lighting. You even have to pay to weigh your luggage, ridiculous. Shower not very powerful. And for a Married couple there's no double bed, unless you upgrade to unique it's a pull out bed for my daughter and 2 single beds pushed together which comes apart, ridiculous. There was topless sunbathing, which was off putting and a lot of girls with g sting bathing suits on. Its a family hotel with little kids, don't wanna see bums everywhere of all sizes.
Let's get started on the entertainment , for a five star hotel it was like Butlins, amitutre at best, it was shocking, again little kids about and one woman who thought she was better than she was, showing all her knickers. The band was ok that was on not brilliant acts for a five star hotel . Entertainment staff was none existing, didn't see them apart from the aqua aerobics which in my opinion was to much. They didn't walk round to get to know you are asking if you wanna take part in anything it should be part of there job. Not a lot going on round the pools for entertainment not even music if you like that sort of thing.
If you go out the hotel you can go to a shopping outlet, with designer shops if you like that sort of thing. It's about 5mins walk. There's nice cafes and bars you can go in for something to eat or drink. There's a nice Italian called maximillion just on the front, it's nice if you like Italian. Not a nice beach all pebblely. Nice walk on the front though. We went half board plus which means you get breakfast and tea and 2al a cart restaurants free. I personally didn't like the food here ordered a steak in one restaurant and not a patch on miller and carter. My gum was hurting after I get medium rare, suggest you order medium. The buffet restaurant was limited, more or less the same food ,meat was too chewy and no mash always fries. Breakfast was ok, omelettes nice they was the only thing that stayed hot by the time you got to your table it was warm at best, the tea here was disgusting especially in the lobby bar even the coffee. Desserts were horrible, looks lovely but not, I stuck to fruit to be safe. I prefer sitting were I like, but you had to wait to be seated. Again very very dark in the restaurant, better to sit outside, there's 2 buffet restaurants. Found the staff here not very friendly apart from the cleaners, who do a fantastic job by the way. Unless you are a unique board. Didn't see any guess relatetions walking round asking if your ok having a nice time, again it's part of there job. Some pools are man made beach, but it's not, it's gravel what really hurts your feet even in the water with beds plonked on it. Be aware of the traffic wardens 😂 when you get a bed in the morning you get 45 minutes to have your breakfast or your belongings will be taken and bagged up so it you disabled or all of you want to look round or go in the pool it could take longer, so be aware, absolutely ridiculous, never known it before , they watch you as well, a little bit of common sense here is needed in my opinion. The price you pay here isn't cheap . It's dearer than a all inclusive hotel. Yet you still or limited, we love turkey all inclusive which works out a lot cheaper with food and drinks, entertainment, food everything, this hotel is no comparison to an all inclusive hotel in Turkey. The best thing for me was the souix park cowboy show , I do recommend this, it was absolutely fantastic if you like that sort of thing, it gives you an insight as to the wild west, with live shows , shoot outs and a barbaque at the end, brilliant. It's all day but brilliant, you can book it and it's about40 euros there and back, takes about 20min, better taxi than bus which takes an hour. We had a nice time, but won't be coming back, rather go to Turkey for all inclusive.

A stunning African paradise with gorgeous pools, delicious food, and incredibly warm staff. The perfect resort for a dream vacation!

Todas las instalaciones y como está todo hecho y cuidado!
Super amables y agradables el recepcionista Braian, y del restaurante Sebastián!

Amazing hotel! Lovely pools, tree's plants flowers & bamboo, a very calm atmosphere buetiffuly designed, great cocktails, breakfast & dinner, just a few things to mention, to high hooked hangers in the wardrobe as I suffer from arthritis this did hurt my arm! The fridge was hardly cold & no ice tray, as a five star hotel I would have expected a coffee pod machine & tea maker as I had to order room service for my morning coffee which cost 5 euros for tray service & then the charge for the coffee!

My wife has already left a review of our stay, but there were several additional issues that were not mentioned and, taken together, reinforced why we would never return to this hotel.

On arrival, we arrived after dinner service had ended. Rather than receiving the usual lunch voucher for our final day, we were told that a meal had been provided in our room instead.
When we got to our room at around midnight, we found a warm tuna and egg salad with stale bread rolls and no butter for our family of four. Two of us tried it but couldn't eat it. Many people would not want to eat at midnight, and tuna and egg salad is certainly not a meal that appeals to everyone.
This appeared to be another cost-cutting exercise. Instead of offering the lunch voucher that had previously been provided, guests were given a basic cold meal left in their room, regardless of the time they arrived or whether it was something they could actually eat.

On the day of departure, we were not asked how our holiday had been or whether we had enjoyed our stay. We were simply told there was nothing to pay, as we hadn't charged anything to our room. We then had to ask about storing our luggage, as our transfer was not until 5:30 pm. A simple question about our experience before we left would have shown a much greater level of care and customer service.

The on-site shop was also extremely expensive, with many items priced well above what you would reasonably expect. It gave the impression that it was another opportunity to extract as much money as possible from guests, with prices that felt excessive for everyday items.

Unfortunately, our overall impression was that this hotel is now more motivated by maximising revenue than by providing the quality 5-star experience its guests should expect.

We will now spend our hard-earned money elsewhere, choosing a hotel that genuinely delivers the 5-star experience, service, and attention to detail that guests should expect.

This is by far the best hotel we've ever visited. I have to search for a downside but cannot find any. Very beautiful, large, clean hotel and hotel room. The people working at the hotel are helpful and very friendly. The food choice in the restaurants is enormous yet not subject to a less quality. Lots of pools to choose from when you want to go for a swim. We will definitely come back in the near future.

Writing this review is incredibly disappointing because we have been returning to this hotel over the past ten years. We have always enjoyed this property and continued to come back because it once provided a great holiday experience.
We were loyal guests, always happy to recommend this hotel to others, and although there were always a few small things that could have been improved, the overall experience previously made those issues easy to overlook.
Unfortunately, over our last two visits we began noticing a huge decline. However, our most recent 11-night stay was by far the most disappointing and has left us with no intention of returning.
This hotel used to be great. Sadly, the standards, attention to detail and overall experience that once made it great have now declined significantly.

Rooms And Facilities
The rooms have always had one minor issue: the dark décor and poor lighting make them quite impractical. There is no full-length mirror, which has always made getting ready unnecessarily difficult, especially when dressing for dinner. However, these were small inconveniences that we accepted because the rest of the hotel previously made up for them.
Unfortunately, the condition and facilities within the rooms have now deteriorated considerably.
Items that were previously provided as standard, including shower caps, body lotion, exfoliator, mini sewing kit etc have all disappeared from the rooms. The only toiletries now available in the shower are shampoo, conditioner and hand soap, all supplied through refillable dispensers.
These dispensers looked old, worn and tired. The hand soap dispenser was only partially filled, showing that products were simply being reused between guests rather than maintained to the standard expected from a five-star hotel.
The minibar has also been completely removed, leaving nothing but an empty fridge.
The cleanliness and maintenance of the room were particularly disappointing. The ceiling inside the shower cubicle was covered in a significant amount of black mould, not just a small area of staining. This is completely unacceptable in any hotel, especially one marketed as five-star, and raises serious concerns about cleaning and maintenance standards.
The cleanliness issues were not limited to the shower area. The toilet also had a persistent smell of urine, which further added to the impression that the room was not being cleaned and maintained to the standard expected from this level of hotel.
The furniture throughout the room was heavily worn and damaged in places, making the room feel tired and neglected.

Food And Dining Experience
Food used to be one of the highlights of our stays. Breakfast and lunch previously offered an extensive selection with plenty of variety, while the themed evening meals gave dinner something different to look forward to each night. Sadly, this has declined year after year.
The breakfast selection has gradually become smaller, and during our last two visits the quality of the hot food has fallen significantly. The food was, at best, lukewarm, with baked beans often barely warm enough to eat. This is not the standard guests should expect when paying for a five-star experience.
Dinner has suffered the same decline. The choice is now extremely limited, many dishes taste almost identical, and the overall quality has dropped dramatically. Even the potatoes were so heavily salted that they were almost impossible to eat.
A particularly concerning food hygiene issue we witnessed involved serving utensils. We observed the same tongs being used for raw chicken and then used to serve cooked beef. This presents an obvious risk of cross-contamination and is extremely concerning.
This is not a practice you would expect to see in any professional kitchen environment, particularly not in a five-star hotel. Food safety procedures should be followed strictly at all times, and this incident added further concerns regarding hygiene standards in the dining areas.
The themed evening meals that were once a highlight have also disappeared, and the variety and quality of food no longer resemble what we experienced during previous stays.
The breakfast service was also disappointing. The member of staff serving the hot food never interacted with us throughout our entire stay. Not once did she greet us, smile or say a single word.
Every morning we said “please” when ordering and “thank you” when our ‘hot’ food was served, yet we received no acknowledgement or response.
This complete lack of basic courtesy felt extremely unfriendly and was not the level of service we would expect from any hotel.

Serious Breakfast Hygiene Concerns
The most concerning issue during breakfast was the presence of birds inside the dining area.
Every morning we arrived at around 7:00 a.m., among the first guests entering the restaurant, and every morning we witnessed small birds flying around and landing on food items including bread rolls, baguettes, fruit, meat, biscuits and cakes.
On the first morning, we saw two small birds positioned between crusty loaves of bread, pecking directly into the middle of the bread.
The following morning, I returned with my phone to take photographs because I could not believe what we had witnessed.
After the birds flew away, unsuspecting guests began cutting slices from the same bread, completely unaware that birds had just been walking over it and pecking into it.
At no point did we see any staff member try and prevent the birds from entering the breakfast area or eating the food.
In our opinion, this represents a serious food hygiene and health and safety concern that should be addressed immediately.

Restaurant Service Issues
The service throughout the hotel was inconsistent.
On one evening, we were asked whether we wanted to sit inside or outside for dinner. We requested the outside dining area but we were then told that it did not open until 7:00 p.m., despite it only being 6:30 p.m.
We accepted this and were seated inside, only to notice other guests being seated in the outside area less than five minutes later.
On another evening, we arrived for dinner at 8:24 p.m. and were told that the restaurant was closing in five minutes and that we should go to the other restaurant instead.
However, the information provided by reception when we arrived a few days earlier clearly stated that this restaurant closed at 9:00 p.m. The conflicting information was frustrating, especially as we were in high season.
Even the small details that previously contributed to the luxury feel of the hotel have disappeared. The white linen napkins provided during previous visits have now been replaced with paper napkins, which makes the dining experience feel much less premium.

Pool Area And Sunbed Issues
One of the biggest disappointments of this holiday was the way the pool area was managed.
We paid a considerable amount for two garden/pool-view rooms for four people and expected to be able to enjoy the pool facilities throughout our stay. As we had during previous stays.
We spent every day at the pool and did not leave the hotel grounds once during our entire 11-night stay. This could easily be verified through hotel CCTV if required.
The issue began when, on one morning, all of our towels were removed despite us actively using the pool area all day throughout our stay.
We had only been away from our sunbeds briefly because we stopped to watch the England World Cup highlights that we had missed the previous night. The match had been shown at around 2:00 a.m. and was not available on the hotel room television, so we took the opportunity to watch the highlights before returning to the pool.
Despite only being away for a short period, all our towels were removed.
We were not guests who had disappeared for hours or left the hotel; we were a family of four making full use of the facilities we had paid a lot of money for.
The situation escalated further when staff attempted to remove our daughters’ towels from the sunbeds next to ours simply because they had gone swimming.
We explained that they were using the pool and would be returning shortly, but the way this was handled felt intimidating and confrontational.
We reported our concerns to reception because we felt the behaviour of the pool staff was unacceptable. Unfortunately, after making this complaint, it felt as though we were constantly monitored for the remainder of our holiday.
We became worried about allowing our daughters to leave their sunbeds even to swim or get lunch because we feared their towels would be removed again.
Instead of relaxing and enjoying the pool, we felt uncomfortable and constantly aware that we were being watched.
What made this even more frustrating was the complete lack of consistency in how the rules were applied.
After reporting our own experience, we informed reception that we had seen other guests leave towels on sunbeds from around 9:00 a.m. and not return before we left the pool at approximately 3:30 p.m.
We also witnessed staff leaving notices on sunbeds stating that guests had 45 minutes to return before their towels would be removed. However, on these occasions where more than two hours had passed and there was still no sign of the guests, the towels remained in place.
The policy itself was not the issue; it was the inconsistent enforcement. Some guests appeared to be allowed to reserve sunbeds for hours without consequence, while our family was challenged despite actively using the pool area or leaving the hotel throughout our stay.

Other Observations
The drinks prices were excessive, with a single Bacardi and Coke costing €9.
The plastic wine glasses provided around the pool were in a very poor condition, heavily scratched, marked and unpleasant to use. This is not something you would expect from a five-star hotel.

Communication With Reception
One point worth mentioning is our experience when trying to communicate our concerns through the hotel’s app.
When we submitted complaints and replies through the app, we noticed that a couple of our responses appeared to have been deleted, meaning we had to submit them several times before they appeared. Interestingly, non-complaint-related messages appeared to go through without any issues.

Final Thoughts
It is genuinely heartbreaking to see how much this hotel has changed.
After ten years of loyalty and many great memories, we never expected to leave feeling extremely disappointed.
The decline in food quality, hygiene standards, room condition, service levels and overall guest experience is significant. We have also heard a lot of other loyal guests say the same. The hotel no longer feels like the five-star property we once enjoyed and happily returned to. Sadly, after this visit, we will never return.

Photographs of issues pointed out have been attached to this review.

Some areas for improvement, but all in all, we had a really enjoyable stay.

Party: 2 Adults + 16 Year old
Duration: 7 nights
Board : half board premium unique
Room : Junior suite

First impression of the hotel was grande. Check in was swift with a welcome drink. Staff was attentive.

Room
- spacious and clean.
- Towels are good; bathrobe are clean but worn; slippers provided.
- Balcony was big with two sun loungers, a parasol, table and two chairs. View was great.
- Plenty of storage space. However, inside the wardrobe was very dark. Can do with better lighting.
- Bed comfy and clean
- Bath : no privacy if you want a bath, there’s no door. Not convenient if you are sharing the room.
- Shower: good but dark with little lighting.
- Hairdryer didn’t work very well.
- Air con was faulty on arrival. Reported to reception and they sent an engineer to fix it relatively quick. They offered to change the room but the engineer managed to fix the air con before we had to move everything. Wasted about an hour of our time trying to sort but the hotel staff was helpful and was trying to resolve the problem. No problem with the air con after it was fixed.
- Bottles Water was replenished daily.
- There’s kettle in the room
- Room was cleaned daily.

Pools
- pools are plentiful and clean
- there are missing tiles around the pool that should be addressed
- No sun bed wars for us.
- There’s water and fruits in the Unique area if you are on the Unique package.
- Staff are helpful
- Pool bar seems to be very popular

Food
- breakfast in the main restaurant is very standard. There’s the usual sausages, eggs, beans, pancakes, churros, fresh fruits, breads, salads, etc buffet style.
- As part of the Unique package, we had breakfast at their Pili Pili restaurant where hot items are ordered and served at the table. There’s also a selection of cold items where you self serve.
- As part of the Unique package, it also includes an area where you can grab some snacks and drinks between breakfast and dinner. Only light snacks like sandwiches, ready salted crisps, sweets, nuts, muffins, cookies, various alcoholic and non alcoholic drinks plus hot beverages.
- Dinner buffet at the Boabab restaurant was good. It’s a grill restaurant. Grill steaks, pork, fish, burgers, turkey, chicken, etc was plentiful. Salads and breads were also plentiful. I thought soft drinks and juice were a bit pricey but the beers and wines were reasonably priced. Staff were attentive. Queues can be long for the buffet. There’s more than one grill station. Salads, breads, fruits, desserts are plentiful. Pasta, chips, nuggets, pizzas, are also available.
- Dinner at Pili Pili was good. Really enjoyed it.
- Buffet dinner at Lopesan meloneras was good. Seems to have a wider choice than Boabab. However, we preferred the grilled meat/fish from Boabab.

Gym
- small but the equipment was ok.

Spa/massage at Lopesan meloneras hotel
- spa and massage was good. Worth visiting.

Walking distance to promenade and sand dunes. Restaurants are plentiful outsides of the hotel.

Inside the hotel is quite dark. The stair wells are not well lit.

Hope this helps.

Uteplassen

Tout est parfait. C’était notre 3eme séjour dans cet hôtel

Estuve en Baobab cuando abrió y he vuelto unos cuantos años después. Fui con familia (2 peques de 5 y 7 años) por poner contexto. El hotel es espectacular, las piscinas muy chulas y más que suficientes, las habitaciones están muy bien y son amplias (la mía la familiar). La ubicación es buena porque es Meloneras y puedes salir e ir andando a la playa, si quisieras ir. El personal es MUY agradable, esto cabe recalcarlo, porque es algo que destaca de forma positiva, desde la recepción a los restaurantes. Los espectáculos de por la noche no están mal tampoco.