Very happy here (but here are a few tips)

First of all, the room (a basic 2-queen economy room) was large, clean, modern, quiet, and new. Check in was quick and courteous. We were shown to our room which was handy as it is a very big resort. I'm glad we got a room near the beach/pool. Tip #1 - be sure to ask for towel cards at check-in as they didn't give them to us and I could not get towels without them. Staff are courteous and helpful. There is limited English but guess what, you're in a non-English speaking country. I used googl [... read more]e translate on my phone once or twice and also enjoyed the chance to learn a bit of Spanish. Food at the buffet was pretty good, and there was huge variety - seemingly endless stations and dishes with different tastes. So even though a lot of it was a bit blah, the variety saved it at the end of the day. A la carte restaurants have similar quality food but with the disadvantage that you're stuck with one dish. We went to one restaurant and then stuck to the buffet after that. Worked well especially with 3 and 5 year old kids. I was a bit disappointed that "juice" was actually a sugary beverage not the real thing. Speaking of Kids, the childcare place was great and nobody was using it except our kids. So take advantage of it. The waterpark was also great for the kids. Tip # 2 is about the drinks. While brand-name liquor is behind the bar, they don't use it unless you specifically ask. Rather, they use some generic stuff under the bar that has virtually no alcohol or taste. So remember, its "Mohito with Barcardi please." Also, for larger drinks, consider asking for your drink plus a shot of the liquor and adding it yourself so the alcohol is not watered down in a large cup. The resort is huge but well laid out, with the buffet centrally located. Take the time to explore it, including down the "boulevard" that ends at the waterpark. And the coffee is great generally but even better at the Cafe which serves all sorts of drinks including sugar-free if you ask (sin azucar por favor) fruit smoothies for the kids. Getting a spot at the pool or beach was no issue at any time of day, but I'm sure it helps that the place seemed only half-full. Tip #3 - if you need to buy anything (hat, sunscreen, etc) steer clear of the on-resort shops. There is a little shopping area just to the right of the resort as you face the water at the beach, that has little shops with everything you might need. I got a nice sun hat for $10 and I'm sure there was room for negotiation. The demographic was a bit older than I was expecting - A lot of mid-40s people like me and up from there. Chill vibe. Enjoy!

Very good resort

We just came back from a 7-day trip there. The resort is approximately 25 min away from Punta Cana airport. We're the only ones being dropped off there, so the check-in process was quick and easy. The check-in starts at 3 pm, but if you arrive earlier, they will let you enjoy everything at the resort already (except your room if it's not ready). We already had the Lopesan app installed. As soon as you have your room number, I suggest you log in and start making the restaurant reservations. They [... read more] fill in quickly. What I didn't like in our stay: Tipping culture: I know DR is a tourist destination, and many people there depend on that. I just don't like it because the vacations are not cheap, and we still need to worry about tips. The worst part is that they expect tips, so if you don't give it or give little, you may receive a lower quality service. We didn't bring too much to tip (I wish I knew that before), so we gave little. I noticed on the third or fourth day that the service was not the same. It looks like they already knew we don't tip much and provided a not-great service. Beach: There were two problems with the beach. One, the swimming area of Lopesan is super small, less than 10 meters wide and maybe 100 m in length. And don't think that it's okay to go over if you know how to swim, the lifeguards will whistle the hell at you. The second problem of the beach is that, for some reason that I don't know, all the boats in the area park right in front of the resort. It's just annoying because you can't get a good picture of the sea. If you walk like 500 meters east, you can take nice pictures there, but if you're just chilling in the resort beach area, you will always have the boat view. However, the beach area of Lopesan has the best structure. There is an umbrella for every two chairs, unlike the neighbouring resorts, which only have chairs and some palm trees to make shade. Daily activities: They offer 3 free daily activities (provided by a third party). The scuba dive experience (on the pool, just to people know how it feels like), the kayak, and the sailboat. The kayak is fun and can take up to 3 people. The problem I had was with the sailboat. They say it's free like the kayak but they said it would cost $55 for the first time, "to learn" how to use the boat. Something that I'm sure it wouldn't take more than 10 minutes. Maybe that's why nobody uses the sailboat there. Now, what I liked: Everything else! The resort is very good overall. The food is excellent. I could eat every meal at the buffet, I just didn't do it because we wanted to try the different restaurants. The pools are very good too, none of the pools were too crowded and they have several to choose from. The waterpark is awesome, I had a lot of fun with my son. The gym is excellent, all the equipment is new and well-maintained. The theatre is ample with nice attractions. Next time, we will try a different resort, but I would definitely go back to Lopesan if I had the chance.

Fantastic Resort

We had researched the hotel a lot on you tube prior to the vacation. The reality was even better than we imagined. Fantastic location, facilities and variety of food. The staff were all excellent and friendly. We stayed in a standard Junior tropical suite which was a nice size and very well maintained. The only thing it lacked what an extractor fan for the bathroom/Shower. The A/C was very effective! Beach was lovely, busy with party boats coming and going but didn’t bother us and added to th [... read more]e atmosphere of fun. Will definitely return next year.

Beautiful resort!

The hotel and grounds are stunning, the room was spacious with a beautiful balcony and well stocked. The pools and beaches are gorgeous! Good drinks, and a variety of food options although the Al a cartes were a bit disappointing.

Gorgeous Resort

Amazing resort! Stunning grounds, lush, beautiful landscaping. Resort layout, structure, pools etc. well thought out, modern rooms, gorgeous design. Excellent value for the money. Five star. Wonderful coffee. Service top notch.

Great resort

This resort is an excellent value for money and the unique adds to the experience. Although the unique doesn’t maybe give you as much as other “step above” clubs offered it was definitely worth the extra that we paid. The beaches are excellent, the unique beach buffet was great and we really enjoyed the lobster tails/scallops and steak offered for lunches as well as the service. The manger runs a tight ship and always ensures each guest was having a great experience and she would always stop say [... read more] hello and ensure everything was to expectations. Jose our butler was amazing and checked in multiple times a day to ensure we had everything we needed. I found all al la carte restaurants to be very good and easy to book. The unique pool was a great quiet getaway as well. Overall a great time at a great resort!

Overall good but expected more

The grounds are very beautiful, lush and can tell a lot of time/money went into landscaping. Outdoor and aesthetically, it looks superb. The footprint of the resort is huge. The Boulevard seems to be mainly unexplored/untapped area that either few know about or frequent because it's a bit of a walk? Anytime we went there, the main courtyards and sitting areas were all empty. Lobby is grand, well decorated and clean (likely because it was mostly always empty). You can tell a lot of money was inve [... read more]sted in the kids waterpark, theatre (very big and state of the art), however that entire area was empty a lot of the time. Public areas could be considerably cleaner. Unfortunately lots of people didn't clean up after themselves and garbage was lingering by the pool and other places. The tables by the pools also didn't see to be wiped down frequently (if at all). The beach was disappointing. Lots of seaweed and no attempts to clean it up, water overall was cloudy and not great to swim in. Very shallow swim area and there were tons of yachts "parked" right in front which I have never seen at other resorts and didn't love. Rooms are nice and as shown in the pictures. Some wear starting to show but overall was happy with the state of them. Some staining on the bedding but overall decent. We paid for the swim out room. While it was nice, the water was super cold and didn't get any sun until late afternoon so we didn't get as much use out of it as we had hoped. For the additional $1500 (per couple) it was definitely not worth it and would personally not recommend for the price point. The rooms otherwise are exactly identical. Dining was mediocre at best. Cleanliness definitely needs to be improved. The buffet seemed to be hit or miss with items being randomnly placed in areas, unappealing and needing some more TLC. The tables could using more cleaning and the placemats too (had a lingering stench that was not great). Lots of use of plastic & styrofoam (have been to other resorts in DR that seemed more eco-conscious and had recycling systems in place). The overall presentation at the buffet is much less than what I would expect for a 5 star resort. While we didn't go there for the food, it would have been nice for this to check off more of the boxes. It also didn't help that 2 people in the group got food poisoning/traveller's diarrhea. Drinks are the same at each bar/restaurant. Special drinks not listed on the menu and need to know to ask for them. Definitely tasted better at some bars vs others. There is no limit on a la cartes and you can book through the app which was convenient but the food at the restaurants was not that much different than the buffet. Would recommend the French restaurant first and foremost. The Yolo restaurant (located in the Boulevard) had an authentic tasting menu that we unfortunately didn't have time to try but looked interesting. Not sure if it's because it's not central to most other hotel amenities but this restaurant was always empty! Service - most of the employees are friendly, some more than others. More reserved than at other resorts I have been to which I didn't mind but there may also be a language barrier. Additional pros: free room service/menu, Michael Jackson show as quite good, Additional cons: no swim up bar, everyone puts towels down on chairs so if you don't also wake up early and do the same you're not getting a chair at the pool or beach, Overall, we had a good experience but was expecting more for the price point. Would recommend if the above negatives don't bother you. Unsure if I would return in the future but leaning towards no due to cleanliness and beach.

Good

Nice resort but the Service is Very Very Bad.. The staffs are not friendly. Rooms services are very bad, room towels and bed sheets were not replaced daily.. Not enough entertainments.. Foods are ok not that great.

Beautiful Resort

This resort is beautiful and at night it is even more beautiful. It is very big! There needs to be drink service on the beach and more around the pool. Entertainment was good but seems to be same kind of show every nite, but great dancers. Food was good better than expected. Would definitely recommend this resort.

Beautiful Resort but no adults only section

We stayed here the first week of November. We booked adults only section. The resort is absolutely beautiful, food was ok, drinks were great, service excellent. There were no activities at the adult pool. Our section of the hotel had kids running up and down the halls and the clubs, no matter the time of night were also full of kids. There is no adult time at this hotel, or any adult vibe. We were told due to low occupancy everyone was out together and when the theatre isn’t open the shows  [... read more]are in the clubs and all ages are allowed. We did not enjoy never being kid-free. So we would not return to this resort. Be aware that you will always be around small children, with the exception of the adults pool.

Great redort

Everything was amazing, the only thing was no pool bar and no towel service in beach area, but other than that pool wad great food was good and rooms were amazing. We return for sure. Very family friendly

A true Paradise called Punta Cana!!

We were very impresed with The Lopesan Resort and the quality of its service, food, recreation., rooms, the warmth and friendliness of all the happy and wonderful people who work at the resort. Beautiful beaches to make anyone fall in love with the resort. This is a true paradise!!!

Beautiful resort

I booked with Jim O'Neill - he was excellent from beginning to end! I would book through TripCentral again, but only if Jim assisted! Thank you, Jim! Extremely friendly and helpful and tolerated all of my questions. Hadn't done an all inclusive in 15 years, so I had a lot of questions. As for the resort, absolutely beautiful from the moment we walked into the lobby. The entire resort was clean and beautiful - had a spa like feeling to it with the warm colours and landscaping and just t [... read more]he overall vibe. The good: The room was clean and super spacious - housekeeping was great. Beach was nice, bit of seaweed, but it is an ocean The boats in the water were only periodically noisy, but I didn't find it annoying like a lot of people complain about - actually gave for some nice pictures and something to look at vs just the ocean Food at Inari (the Japanese restaurant) at the teppanyaki tables was fun to watch and delicious! Service at the adult pool was great - although there are no swim up bars, the servers come to the pool and serve, so basically the same Happy to have some shade at the ocean and pool areas Room Service - was very good. We actually became friends with Jose and are keeping in touch. He was so nice and wants to learn English :) The not so good: The Teatro - the show Emotions was absolutely horrid, we walked out early and chose to not go to any additional shows Booked the adult only package - however, there were some young crying kids on our floor at the hotel, so that was a bit disappointing Booked a flight package that left early in the morning on departure and early afternoon on the way home - for a higher price (the flight got changed to a later departure both ways - so felt we got screwed on pricing AND had to pay $25/hour at the hotel for a late checkout) We only stayed an extra 2 hours, but still thought that was crappy on the hotels part...and quite frankly, Sunwing too. The food - was okay, but not necessarily the buffet, it wasn't great at all. Wish they actually had a Domincian restaurant so we could try authentic food. It's just Dominican people trying to cook North American food, so it's average. The drinks - were definitely not watered down! Get a double espresso with Gressy! Amazing! Coffee - if you want to take some home, buy it at the airport, it's cheaper! Would go to this resort again and would recommend.

Recommended

We read some bad reviews before going but it seems people are just picky. We have been to many nice hotels (all inclusive and not) and we really liked this one. It was at the top of our list. We knew to expect that service in Dominican is not what it is in North America. Also the food is different from home. But the food was good (fresh fish and meat every day at lunch, can’t go wrong. Steak restaurant was good. French restaurant steak was comparable to a high end steak house in canada). The s [... read more]ervice was hit and miss - some staff were grumpy. The grounds and decor were beautiful, modern and extremely clean. Very little wear and tear on this property. Fountains and greenery everywhere, which was beautifully lit at night. No bugs. Restaurants were all really nice, especially the seafood and the steakhouse which are on an upper level and have a beautiful view. Rooms were bright , spacious, modern and very clean which is extremely important to me. I am picky about rooms and this one didnt disappoint. Only bad thing was that the water in the shower was not very hot. We loved the outdoor dance floor beside the bar at night. One night there was a beach party which was very fun. Huge indoor auditorium with entertainment at night though we only went once as we’re not so into that. Live music on Saturday at the lobby bar was also great. Beach was very wide, comfortable chairs. It was not too difficult to find a chair at the beach or pool Clientele was diverse , people speaking many different languages. Not too many kids other than babies (perhaps due to time of year - not a school break time). But there are 2 kids water parks - one closer for younger kids, and one at the entertainment complex which was large and looked super fun, though we left kids at home so we didn’t try it ). Also a kids club, bowling, arcade and teen club with activities , so very family friendly Overall a really great experience. I would return

Disappointing stay and stay away

My husband and I went with our baby and 2 other couples with families. To give some context, we've travelled extensively around the world and have been to DR alone atleast 15+ times. We're realistic about what to expect when on vacation in DR and am only comparing this our other times in DR and not 5 star resorts elsewhere. First off, the resort is beautiful and very family friendly. That's where the positives end. Food is mediocre everywhere (again in comparison to other DR resorts). Service [... read more] is atrocious save for a few exceptions (shout outs to the awesome/funny servers in the valley and the French restaurant), but the vast majority of employees there including guest services really seem like they don't enjoy their jobs and don't really care about the guests. Our first night checking in, our room was digusting. There was blood on one of the towels and a dirty q-tip still in the shower and the sink had other blood around the rim too. We took pictures and showed guest services and the first response we got wasn't even an apology but an "ok" and we practically had to beg to see what they could do to make it right. Took the next day where they offered us an "upgraded" room that was identical to our current one but just at a different part of the resort they claimed was nicer. Instead I asked for the upgrade to unique bracelets instead, which they atleast accommodated so I'll give them that. Little did I realize that the unique bracelets really offered us no additional benefits, we got access to a better beach buffet where the food was the same as the other regular buffet. The service was better here for sure, but the bar was still the same grumpy overworked bartenders who acted like they were just punching in and out no matter how well you tipped or tried to joke with them. On the last day my husband ended up getting food poisoning from the unique buffet ironically. Was vomiting all night and didnt end up sleeping at all while trying to not wake our baby. I asked if we could check out slightly later @ 2pm instead of 12pm (which is customary with our unique braclets anyways) and was promptly told no they do not have any rooms available but I could purchase an extra day if I wanted it. What??? Also told them about our food poisoning incident and was just given a cursory "ok". Oh well at this point I didnt expect much anymore. Also, I'm realistic. If the food poisoning incident was an isolated experience he’d chalk it up as just bad luck, but throughout our stay every member of our group had some type of gastro issues at one point or another. The hygiene and food safety in this place is definitely lacking even for DR standards. All told in all the times we've been to the DR this resort is definitely in the top 10% but easily in the bottom 5% of food and services we've had. One of the only places I would probably never recommend to anyone coming to DR.

Beautiful and Modern Resort

The resort was absolutely beautiful and very modern and clean with plenty of seating and things to do. Staff were very good and the food was amazing. Lots of food options for all ages as well as swimming areas for all ages (adults or families). We loved how this resort was so big so it was never an issue with over crowding or trying to find a spot to sit by the pool or beach! I will say the resort was so massive that you do need to do quiet a bit of walking to get from point A to point B but tha [... read more]t’s just the small price to pay when the resort has everything to offer. There weren’t any mask mandates with Covid and everything was open and running. Overall we can say we highly recommend this resort to you or any of your clients interested in traveling to Punta Cana!

Large, beautiful hotel for Adults or Families

Lopesan is a large hotel so make sure you bringing walking shoes. That being said there so many choices of pools for all. Main pool is huge and clean but sadly you can’t see ocean from pool. There so many chairs everywhere so you always find one. Beach right now has seaweed but they clean beach all day long. Restaurant choices are good and food amazing. Buffet gets a little repetitive after a week but food is still tasty. Staff is very friendly and helpful and hotel staff keep hotel extrem [... read more]ely clean. Rooms are mostly king beds with pull out couches so not many rooms with two beds. We booked private transportation as it was easier than waiting for large group with WestJet

STARTED OFF A BIT ROUGH BUT THE HOTEL RESPONDED TERRIFIC!

I have to be honest, the stay started off rough with us not getting our room cleaned and a couple of other issues. I submitted a review on trip advisor while I was there and the hotel management tracked me down. That was so important to our family and made the positive difference for the rest of the trip as they asked us what they could do to change our minds and make us happy. After that our room was cleaned every day with even a night time check in from the cleaners! If you are a beach lov [... read more]er then you should consider another hotel as this beach is very busy with party boats docking, going in and out from right in front of the resort. Previous reviews mentioned this and I have to say it is true. These large boats and constant movement really muddies the water even more. I guess Bavaro beach is having a major sea weed problem as we couldn’t swim in the ocean for one day of our trip. The resort itself is beautiful, rooms are beautiful, I would recommend a pool bar as you have to constantly get out of the pool to get a drink. The restaurant’s are all excellent, food was awesome! The gym is phenomenal and is a professional gym. Theatre for shows is phenomenal as well. The most valuable part of this resort is the staff we met there. They treated us like family, it was emotional leaving them. We upgraded to the unique option which was worth it as you get extra restaurants, bars and a personal liaison rep who takes care of everything you need. In the end, I am a very fussy person and I would go back tomorrow. Here are some very special people. Jose or liaison/butler as a part of the unique Alejandro Cedeno from the unique restaurant is phenomenal and treated me like his brother. He has the heart of truth and genuine kindness you seldomly find. Belkis Vilorio is the supervisor at the unique bar and she is another jem! Treated all of us like her family! Winnie or better know as Winnie the Pooh from the unique bar was another beautiful person who always took care of us and treated us with a smile! If you treat the staff with respect you will definitely gain some long term friends and memories! I know all of these people mentioned above are forever in our hearts. Thank you

AMAZING Resort!

Everything at this resort was impeccable! From the rooms, to the pools, to the service in the restaurants and poolside - we couldn’t have chosen a better resort. Everyone was super friendly and the entertainment was fun by the pool during the day and at night at the lounge. The grounds are super lush and luxurious, and everything was super clean. We are looking forward to our next visit, we will definitely be back!

Amazing Resort!

This hotel was wonderful. It is fairly new so very clean and beautiful. The grounds are impeccable, with many gardens and water fountains. The rooms are large, clean and very comfortable. We enjoyed the unique experience with a swim up room and it was excellent! There are many restaurants and so much variety of foods which was all delicious. The pool and beach were wonderful. They could use another beach towel hut as they only had one and often ran out of towels and had people waiting for [... read more] clean ones. Overall this resort was excellent and we had a great time.