Hotel-Apartamento Las Olas

Definitely not a 4 star. Misleading to say every room has a terrace or balcony and the pictures are misleading. We were given a room in the block across the road. There was no balcony and the room faced a large hill which was oppressive. There was road noise and the room needed serious work to get it up to even a three star. There was no heating or air conditioning and all the pools were freezing. We asked at reception for a room with a terrace or balcony and were told they only had one room available and that we wouldn’t like it. We viewed it and although it was in the basement and it as bad a condition as the first one, it had a terrace and was on the main site of the hotel so we took it. The hot breakfast food was cold although there was a good choice. Good points, the staff at breakfast were very friendly, there are restaurants and a supermarket within walking distance and there is a bus stop close by to Santa Cruz.

Little has changed from my Nov.23 review. Good location, with excellent grounds, pools and views out to sea. Plenty of shops, minimarkets, bars and restaurants on the doorstep and a bus stop within 300 metres. Our accommodation was very spacious, but a little spartan. This year there was no balcony just a terrace and we were further away from reception. Could only find 1 English channel (Sky News) on tv disappointing compared to the number of German and Spanish ones, though we were in a minority. Still no aircon but we managed. Food was a little better than last year and sufficiently good without being special with menus largely replicated in our second week. A key feature again was the attitude of the staff, dealing promptly with any issues/questions we raised and being pleasantly charming at all times. Extremely good value.

Las Olas is a nice hotel with one huge flaw - rooms are NOT equipped with AIR CONDITIONER. The vicinity is nice, it takes appr. 10 minutes on foot to the beach in Cancajos. Hotel´s 5 buildings are nice, rooms are big enough, some have balconies. Furniture and amenities are modest, often Chinese made, yet reasonably new and clean. Restaurant is offering decent food with the exception of the breakfast coffee which is awful, but that has become the industry standard in the 4-star world so no surprise here. For real coffee head to the lobby or a coffee shop outside. I must stress how surprised we were when we arrived and found a fan on the floor. That was the first time I realized I didn´t even check, when booking, whether rooms were equipped with A/C. We were staying in junior suite but A/C wasn´t there! It wouldn´t even occur to me that a 4- star European hotel in the tropics can "not have" an A/C. Well, we walked into this one and it was really hard not to wake up during the night, so hot it was inside even though balcony door was wide open. The heat becomes really unberable during the day. BTW, out of 5 buildings one is actually equipped with A/C and another has several rooms with and several rooms without A/C. If you are arriving with travel agency you are almost certain to be given the room without A/C. At least everyone in our group (Čedok) ended up staying in sauna. Nights are less hot than you would expect in La Palma, still, summer nights indoors are hot. I would stay here again between October-April.