Lopesan Baobab Resort

Since arriving at the hotel my thoughts and feelings have been extremely mixed. As such I’ve debated how to rate and review on TA. Given we are currently unable to sleep due to excessively loud drum and bass echoing throughout the entire hotel and subsequently through our pillows, now felt like a good time to begin a review. It’s 1.30am and we have been advised the music will continue until 3-4am as ‘it’s a wedding madam’. I’ve never stayed at a ‘5 Star’ hotel that subjects guests to this kind of noise throughout the night. *** Update: The music finished at 3.45AM this morning. Absolutely all of the hotel guests at breakfast this morning looked exhausted and unhappy. It’s now the next evening and the music has started up again. We are exhausted and are due to fly home tomorrow. Can’t begin to explain what a terrible sleeping experience this ‘5 star hotel’ has provided. Now onto the rest of our stay; Upon arrival we were assigned a room in block 4, which we nicknamed the Avery, as it’s like living in a dark bird cage. Hundreds of birds live in the opening between the rooms and consistently tweet 24/7, therefore if you fancy a lay in, why would you on holiday ? It’s not possible without earplugs. The first room I was given (as a single woman with a small baby) was in block 4, level 4, facing the roundabout. This was the furthest possible room away from reception and any amenities in the hotel. Surely some consideration to the location of a solo traveler with baby would have been prudent here ? I immediately requested a change of room and was advised it would be €450 for my stay! What a lovely way to start my holiday. After visiting reception upset (a very long walk after traveling from the UK) a girl named Laura was sympathetic to my situation and helped me change locations without trying to fleece me for €450. Thank you Laura. I could not read the name badge of the lady who initially assigned me the room farthest away, it could have been Petra although I couldn’t be sure as her name tag was written in italics, difficult to read. The staff throughout the hotel are generally friendly and helpful, the cleaning staff do a fantastic job. There were one or two incidents which jaded my view slightly including the checkin experience already mentioned. One further example was at breakfast; when looking for a small tea spoon I was told to “get back to my area” by a dark haired lady as I had inadvertently asked a staff member serving a different section of the restaurant! Upon returning to ‘my section’ and hunting down the relevant employee I was advised by a lady “we don’t have any tea spoons”! Really ? A 5 star hotel doesn’t have any tea spoons, this is incorrect as we had used one at dinner the evening before. My son likes a smaller spoon. The attitude was just couldn’t be bothered. At breakfast I shouldn’t be spending 20 mins hunting down a teaspoon! It’s a shame as every other member of waiting staff were fantastic, especially the waiters working outside on the terrace! It just seemed to be the two women working in breakfast inside who were particularly unhelpful. Housekeeping was excellent and efficient. The rooms as others have said are dark. It is depressing and extremely difficult to get ready in. Storage is rubbish and poorly designed. Saying that, the beds are comfortable (if you can sleep through the various noise) and are spacious. The bath is large. The walls, as others have said, are paper thin. You can hear showers, toilet sounds, beds, babies, birds, dripping taps and everything in between from neighboring rooms. Probably another reason the music is vibrating through my pillow as I type!! The food was very good. Absolutely no complaints in this department. Although it was unclear which restaurants were included in our half board. We were advised of two in different hotels and to book on the app, although when booking the app stated we received a 15% discount as opposed to an included meal. We therefore stuck to the buffet in the hotel which is a shame. We did ask twice at reception regarding this and never really got a clear answer. This hotel is extremely large, I’m unsure why a hotel in the canaries would need to be this big. Anyway, it’s difficult and confusing to fathom out where you are at any given point. There was lots of taking lifts twice or getting out at the wrong floor, we weren’t the only ones with this issue. It was a long walk to the buffet restaurant from our room, for breakfast, lunch and tea. After a week we had our bearings, although by this time we were going home. The African architecture is impressive at night time, a great deal of thought has gone into designing the hotel, however, by day the place looks like a prison with bars on the roof which is a real shame and what we were greeted with as we arrived in the afternoon. The lazy river and pools were all lovely. Although there are tiles missing and I stubbed my toe on one of the old jets on the floor. Sun beds are uncomfortable. The ‘beach’ sand is actually grit and extremely uncomfortable to walk on, almost impossible when carrying a baby. The wifi is RUBBISH. A full 7 days spent disconnecting and connecting to send or receive messages. I don’t come on holiday to be on my phone, although a few messages to check on things back home should be possible from my room. On weekends it became apparent local children visited the hotel pools, which isn’t terrible and I don’t begrudge them, although the environment and vibe of the children’s pool area changed from quiet and a few small children playing nicely to louder and more boisterous ball games. There was also a huge congregation (100+) from a local university one lunch time, which left the hotel buffet totally depleted, we are talking no salad left, nothing, a few slices of stale pizza. Therefore (similar to the wedding currently taking place) be prepared to feel uncomfortable as a hotel guest when large parties arrive in the hotel throughout your stay. I have previously stayed at Villa Del Conde and wished I had gone back there, as the experience was far superior. This time we had initially booked into the Lopesan Costa Melerones across the road, although changed to this hotel last minute as I felt it looked more suitable for my baby, as it was his first holiday, I wanted to make sure I got it right. Sadly disappointed. Extensive facilities have enabled this hotel to achieve a 5* rating, although the experience as a hotel guest is 3* with aspects of 4* such as the food and pools. We had a nice holiday overall, although would not return to this hotel or recommend it.

This is all round one of the best hotels we’ve stayed in. It has superb pool facilities, an important feature for me as I like to actually swim as opposed to just cool off. The hotel and grounds are extremely well kept and pleasing on the eye. Lovely breakfast buffet and the meal we had at Akari restaurant in the centre of the hotel was extremely high quality and reasonably priced. The only reason I cannot give 5 stars is that, for such a high quality hotel, it was a shame that our double bedroom had two single beds pushed together. This is not ideal when you’re having a romantic weekend away from the kids and every time you try and have a cuddle one or both of you slips between the two beds as they slide apart! Would also be nice to be able to get a drink at the hotel after midnight. Overall though a lovely stay and we would definitely return