Stayed here for 3 nights leading up to Christmas. This hotel is in the La Barra section of Punta Del Este and just about 100 metres up a very gradual hill from a very large beach. Very surprised to see how quiet the beaches were all over Punta Del Este in the days leading up to Christmas. The hotel beach was downright deserted! Surf was fairly rough all 3 days and water rather chilly. I'm guessing surf temp wasn't more than 20-21C (70F).

Though the hotel beach bar was not open while we were there, they did have someone at the beach setting up umbrella and chairs. When we asked for beach towels at the hotel front desk, they immediately phoned down to the beach staff to set up an umbrella and chairs for us, also offering to take us down in their little golf cart... though we walked as it's not more than a 5 min walk.

The rooms are all suites with a separate living room and small kitchen from the bedroom. All units have a large balcony with patio furniture. Our balcony looked over the pool and have a view of the beach and ocean. There are 2 large pools, both clean and again virtually deserted. The bedroom had windows on 2 sides so was really nice and bright. Bed was comfortable/firm. However the living room and kitchen area did not get much natural light. All flooring throughout is white tiles. Bathroom is spacious and modern. There is a TV in both the bedroom and living room.

As there is not much within walking distance of the hotel, I would recommend having a car if you stay here, though you could technically walk into the 'downtown' of La Barra which has many nice restaurants, cafes and shops. The drive to the centre of Punta Del Este is an easy 10 minute drive on a beautiful road lined with new modern condos.

The hotel provides a computer for internet access which comes in handy for sending emails back home.

All-in-all, if you are looking for a great quiet place to lay on the beach or by the pool and then drive to dinner and fun, I highly recommend Las Olas Resort Hotel. If you want to be able to walk to restaurants and shopping or be right in the middle of the action, this is not the place for you.

It's just that a clean hotel, in a very quite area... la barra, i went during march so everywhere was quite, but i enjoyed that part, and the staff were fantastic. Breakfast was ordinary... but most of south america for me has been.
But if you have a scootre its great, the beach area its at is rough and the shore lined with shells... but the hotel is fine... i payed 13&USD a night, and had a mssive two room accommodation with 2 tvs (small) and a hige bathroom, as wall as a proper fridge and tea coffee facilities.
Gym is ordinary, 2 outdoor pools are nice and quite, and not far from mantra casino.
Free Wi-fi in rooms....

Punta Del Este is a coastal resort lined with beautiful rental homes and condos along the coast. However, the number of halfway decent hotels is minimal. Las Olas is one of them. Las Olas is clean, almost in a sterile sort of way. The walls, exterior and interior are painted white. The floors and doors are all white. At times, you feel as if you could be in a hospital. However, it is located a mere 100 meters from the ocean, and has balconies where you can watch the ocean and hear the waves crashing. That is why I selected this hotel. I initially reserved one suite which accomodated 4 to 5 persons. However, the living area with the two convertible couches is rather small and was much too crowded for my husband, and two daughters, 10 and 14. So after one uncomfortable night, we decided to splurge and get a second room for the girls. We were much more comfortable. Unfortunately, we had lousy weather the 5 days we spent here, so our visit here was not very memorable. The included breakfast is very minimal. However, the restaurant's snack menu was adequate. We did not get to experience the snack bar at the beach or the transport and set up because no one was going to the beach because of the weather. They did have two nice pools and a jacuzzi. The other problem with the hotel is that it is not that close to the town of La Barra and it is a $20 taxi ride one way to the center of Puntal Del Este.

We booked our room for Dec 22 through Dec 26th. Their weren't any reviews on Tripadvisor to get any idea of the place and we went on blind faith and a good feeling. Thank goodness for my intuition! We loved this place. It is in a great location in La Barra, about a 10 minute drive to Punta del Este. La Barra is a little surfer town that reminded me of Laguna Beach or HB if it had been 50 years ago. Unspoilt! The people are what made the place. Maria helped us book the reservation and the front desk staff were incredibly kind to us. They took extra steps to make us comfortable and feel at home. Anything we asked for they went above and beyond. The rooms are very comfortable and spacious. We had an ocean view and the beach was right across the street. We had dinner at an excellent restaurant around the corner from the hotel called Hernan Tainan. When we left the hotel on the last day I cried because I felt I was leaving some very good new friends. We will be back next year we hope!