Lopesan Costa Bávaro Resort, Spa & Casino — Hotel in Higüey

If you need a sign to book a trip to Lopesan, this is it! So many people & intentional touches at Lopesan that made our stay special!

We had Unique Club Ocean View rooms which were stunning! The rooms are very clean & spacious. They delivered welcome chocolates & fruit which were both delicious & beautiful! The property is great for families, couples, & singles!

We were quickly greeted by our Butler, Graviel Andres ‘Andres’. He checked on us at least once/day in the AM & was always a call/text away. We needed a couple of things, let him know, and it seemed like it was taken care of within minutes! He is a very kind & caring guy who puts his guests’ experience first!

Our meal highlight by far was the Hibachi, Chef Patricio made the experience unforgettable & food was delicious! By far one of my top 2 Hibachi experiences! For my foodies, other highlights: rice pudding @ El Charro (best dessert in resort) lobster tail @ Moreas, was extremely tasty, juicy, and tender (lobster included for Unique) steaks @ El Asador (we had the striploin, filet, ribeye) - various temperatures, cooked perfectly fried snapper @ Unique Club (cooked made to order) soup of the day on the room service menu was the best! pizza at Gondola! So simple, yet so good!

Some of the unforgettable people we received phenomenal service from were: Manuel (Unqiue bartender, he is AMAZING! He made my most favorite drinks all week! He takes pride in the drinks he serves and does it with a smile. He remembered my Husband and I within a day of being there and always made us feel welcome and special! Jasiel Vilcho (poolside cocktail waitress who was so kind, lively, and sweet! Our drinks were never empty when she was around and quickly remembered our order after the first day, she has a beautiful smile and was our favorite poolside cocktail waitress) Aderly (El Asador for dinner and Gondola for lunch, he made great food recommendations and when we had a problem, he quickly remedied the situation and always had a smile) Unique Club had so many amazing people! Juan Martinez was phenomenal! Always greeted us with a smile and made sure we were taken care of. He communicated well about the timing of our food and responded quickly when we needed something. We had Ana as a waitress and she was amazing as well! Our glasses were never empty and she was always very friendly. Patricia on the made to order grill/BBQ and Wilson the chef who cooked my snapper at the Unique Club were both amazing chefs! Our food was always fresh, tender, juicy, and tasty! This means a lot to us because we look forward to the food and Patricia and Wilson certainly delivered! Nelson Rivera and Jhon Feliciano provided phenomenal service at our dinner at El Charro! Such sweet guys! Very friendly, always had a smile, and were very quick to serve! Hipolita and Yamil at Om Spa were AMAZING!!! My Husband and I received 2 spa services on separate days because the massages were some of the best we ever had and the prices were extremely reasonable.

General compliments: housekeeping came 2X/day, once in the AM and once for turndown service! We never ran out of towels and our room was always very clean our mini bar was restocked at least 1X/day, our fridge was never empty. My husband ran out of beer one time and they had it to the room with mins The grounds are STUNNING, especially at night The entertainment was the perfect amount for us! We prefer somewhere where there are things to do but not where you feel you have to do something every moment of the day. Their team was extremely lively and fun with every activity! The circus show was great and my Husband participated in a cornhole contest poolside one day. Security was great, extremely vigilant and stepped in when needed. We never felt unsafe at any point on our trip. We were on the beach at various times of the day. All of the people who delivered room service were very kind and professional! The Boulevard full of shopping, entertainment, & little eats...

Beautiful hotel, but service needs major improvement to match 5-star expectations

I left the hotel yesterday after staying for 5 nights and 6 days.

I arrived at the hotel in a rental car. Upon arrival, nobody offered assistance with my luggage; I carried it myself to the lobby. Staff saw me entering with my bags and completely ignored me. The check-in process was smooth, and my room was ready a little before 3:00 PM.

The hotel is extremely beautiful. Gorgeous room, stunning beach, well-maintained gardens, lovely pools, and beautiful overall grounds.

In general, the staff is friendly, but the good service is not consistent. For example, I went to the Valley Restaurant for lunch and found the staff to be unapproachable and inattentive. They acted like robots — they took my order, poured water into my glass, and never came back to check on me, refill water, or ask if I needed anything else. They provided only small paper napkins and never offered more. Most of the staff gathered in groups chatting and simply ignored guests. It was a very disappointing experience during daytime service.

However, during the early morning hours, the service at this same restaurant was the complete opposite. A server named Felix Ortiz stood out — he was welcoming, attentive, smiling, and constantly checked to ensure everything was perfect. Daytime staff should learn from him.

The only truly excellent service I received was at the Steakhouse. The food, wine, and service there were absolutely amazing.

I also had dinner at the Italian restaurant. The server seemed rushed — he literally dropped the plate on the table in a hurry. Although he was friendly, the rushed service made me feel like I had to eat quickly and leave. At the end of the meal, the server even asked me to scan a QR code to leave him a positive Google review — which I did not do, because good service should speak for itself.

The food at the Goldfish Beach Club buffet was delicious. In my opinion, it was the best food offered at the resort. Food was also good at the Atlantico Buffet.

The bars: Every time I went to a bar, I felt like I was bothering the bartenders. The only time they smiled and approached was when they saw cash in my hand for a tip — which is wrong. Tips should be a reward for good service, not a requirement to receive basic service. The drinks overall were poor quality — beers tasted bad, and cocktails were low quality, both in flavor and presentation. Very far from what a 5-star resort should offer.

At the pool and beach: There were no servers walking around offering to take drink orders or refills. Every time I wanted a drink, I had to leave my chair, walk to the bar, and wait up to 10 minutes. There was simply no pool or beach drink service, which is expected at a 5-star resort.

The nightly shows at the theater were very good. Talented performers who clearly worked hard to put on an entertaining show.

Housekeeping service was also good. My housekeeper was friendly, professional, and helpful.

Language barrier: Yes, there is a language barrier with English, but it’s understandable — English is not their first language. If you don't understand something, just use a phone translator — it's easy.

Final thoughts:

As beautiful as this hotel is, it does not offer 5-star service like it advertises. They need to improve service consistency and significantly upgrade the quality and presentation of service at restaurants and bars.

I have stayed at cheaper hotels in Punta Cana that were not as luxurious, but where the service was impeccable — warm, consistent, and personalized, making you feel unique and valued.

I do not recommend this hotel if you are seeking true 5-star service. You will not get it here, even though you are paying for it.

Personally, I will not return for now. I prefer to go back to more affordable hotels where service is so good that I feel guilty if I don't leave a tip — that is what...

I would like to start off by saying that this is based off our own experience during our stay at the Lopesan Resort in Punta Cana.

We went on this trip for 6 days and decided to book Unique for a coworker’s destination wedding. We booked through a travel agent and transportation from airport to resort and vice versa was already pre arranged which was nice.

As soon as we got to the Resort, we were greeted by an employee and tagged our luggages and asked us to check in, Booking Unique you will be checking in at a separate check in area different from Adults only and Regular bookings. According to reviews, the wait is way shorter as opposed to the Regular check in. There was only one person at that time and there were two people ahead of us, so we did have to wait at least 15-20 minutes before we were helped with. This was no big deal for us since they were asking us if we wanted more champagne and the lady was super nice and accomodating. After that we were assigned our Butler (part of the unique booking) which we found to be real helpful and one of the reasons why we thought booking unique was worth it. Our Butler’s name was Fermin and he immediately showed us the grounds, gave us his what’s app info (in which he responded quickly with questions and requests). He then showed us to our room which we thought was nice. The bathroom area is open concept with just two glass doors enclosing the toilet area and the shower area. Keep this in mind if you are going with someone you are going on a first date with, someone you don’t feel comfortable naked around with or with your teenagers/kids.

I would recommend bringing a few damprids to help with the humidity causing that wet feeling on the sheets.

After settling in, we immediately booked our dinners at special restaurants in which our butler helped us tremendously with. We did El Charro, Gondola, El Asador and Inari. To rate these restaurants we ate at: 1. El Asador 2. Gondola 3. Inari and 4. El Charro

For Breakfast and Lunch, we would either go to the el atlantico and caribe buffet, which was serving decent food. For Unique booking, I was able to try there Lunch and Breakfast serving and it was so worth it to me. The unlimited seafood and steaks they grill for you there was more than enough for me to make the extra money we paid for worth it.

This resort is huge and would recommend taking your time the first day or two to at least check out everything. There were some spots at this resort we wished we spent more time at but even with 6 days there, it was still not enough for us to check it all out. The specific area i’m talking about is the Boulevard. There you can find shops, cafe, casino, theater, bars, ice cream shop, etc. (If you are looking for a lot of partying and drinking, this is not the resort for you.) We found our majority of the nights when we were there during the weekdays that they harely had anything going on at night for night life. They do have a club called Chia Lounge, but if you stayed there during the weekdays, it was rarely open at night and is only open during the weekends.

The Beach and Pools were nice. I found myself spending most of the days either beach side on the beach chairs and/or at poolside or in the pool. It wasn’t overcrowded at all. If you booked Unique, you have your own pool along with Unique people to enjoy for more privacy. I didn’t mind the boats docked on the beach as many have mentioned.

All in all I would give this resort a 4/5.

Cons I can think of really is that the way they make the alcoholic drinks can be better or worked on. I found myself ordering shots separately and a mixer so i can mix my own drink.

Some of the staff need work on being friendlier and helpful. Some service depended on how much or if any tips were given to them. Also there is definitely a language barrier with a few staff members that made it difficult to...