My wife and I traveled with another couple. This was our first trip to Las Olas. We live in Panama and at this time of year rates of $70 to $80 were available. Through other promotions we were able to stay even cheaper. I'm rating it as if I had paid $80.

The direction to get to the resort are easy to follow. It is about 30 minutes from David. We arrived at 12:30 am and our rooms were ready. We were in room 103. The staff was friendly and provided us information. There were only 4 rooms occupied for our one night stay and our group had two of them.

The room was good sized. The doors were not the highest quality but they worked. The bathroom was nice sized and had a ledge that you could put your overnight stuff up and out of the way. The shower was big and had great water pressure. The AC worked fine and our room was always comfy. The patio off the room was nice. It has a table and two chairs. Our friends, who were next door, brought their two chairs over and we had cheese and wine that evening before dinner. They have wired Internet for free. Just ask for it and they will give you a cable for your computer.

The rooms are not right on the ocean, but you are very close. You can see the ocean and you can definitely hear the ocean. With so few people it was like having your own private resort. The pool was clean and nice. There were plenty of places to sit and talk, read or relax.

Out on the beach they had permanent structure thatched umbrellas and reclining chairs. There were plenty since there were so few of us. The beach is long in each direction and black sand. It is hot until you get down to where the waves wash up on it to cool it. NOTE: This is NOT a swimming beach or for small children. This beach has very high surf and very, very strong currents. At low tide you can get in but you have to still be very careful. Watch any children closely or if you are not a good swimmer, be very careful. I found the shore break and the waves hitting to be very relaxing.

We had dinner and breakfast at the hotel. The dinner menu was good and everyone enjoyed their meal. We had a bottle of wine that was reasonably priced. I gave the meal and service very good marks.

Breakfast was outside on the terrace of the restaurant. They have many selections and it was good. The omelet was big and filling.

The grounds were well maintained. They have a swim up bar that was not in operation because it is the low season. There is an exercise room

This was a great deal for the price and the fact it was not crowded. The normal rate for the slow season is $140. I wouldn't pay that for it any time of the year. If you can get it for $80 or less, especially in low season when it is not crowded, Las Olas is a very nice place to stay and relax, walk the beach, read, and just enjoy life.

If the place were 80%+ full, I'm not sure how much fun it would be or if there would be enough room in the pools, pool chairs, or on the beach. Just be warned that I think it would be very crowded in the high season (January to April).

Some English is spoken, but most only speak Spanish. Brush up on some of your Spanish when you come. Hope this info helps. Have a great time.

After an extensive web search for a suitable place for our honeymoon in Panama we decided upon the Las Olas Beach resort near David, Panama. The Web site was very nicely presented, the pictures were appealing. I called the hotel for more information and the Receptionist Elicier was very courteous and professional and took his time to tell me about the features of the resort. A follow up email came from him shortly afterwards with a quote. The room rate was $65/ night +10% tax for a double occupancy room. This was a factor in my decision because I needed two rooms since my 14 y.o. daughter was coming also. We stayed at the resort for 6 nights. The beach has dark grey sand, but has a very nice texture. The only downside is that it becomes very hot to walk on as the day progresses. Its a wild beach with 12 to 14 foot breakers so its better to stay at the pool if you are not confident in those conditions. The pool and surrounds is very pleasing architecturally although the pool could be a little larger. Since there were very few other guests this was barely a factor, however this could have been a problem if the hotel was full. The rooms were nice with basic (not split system) air conditioners, and all have a large balcony facing the ocean. Only 5 or 6 TV channels which didn't bother me at all, but my wife would have preferred more selection. There is white ceramic tile wall to wall in the room which is cool. The door to the balcony in my room (room 208) could not be locked, but it didn't seem like theft would be a big problem here so I wasn't too worried. As far as I know there was no in-room safe. The noise of the waves breaking can be annoying to some, but my wife and I found it soothing and relaxing. There is one restaurant "Abigail" and the meals served are excellent, both in quality and diversity. The ambiance of "Abigail" is very fine and attention to detail meticulous. The cost of meals is similar to what you'd expect to pay in your Chillis, Applebee's etc, but the quality is substantially higher and presentation exquisite. We tried most things on the menu during our stay and ate outside of the hotel on only two occasions. There is also a wide range of cocktails available, and the local beer 'Balboa' is available for $1.50 a bottle which is very cheap for a restaurant of this caliber. Adjacent to "Abigail" there is a bar "Azule" which has soft mood lighting and pleasant ambiance. A wide screen TV is often playing loud modern Hispanic music videos. Breakfast is served on the patio in front of "Abigail" and was reasonably priced. A breakfast favorite of mine and my family was the yogurt, fruit and granola parfait. I ordered the 'Cafe Americana' with breakfast every day and was excellent local coffee, for $1.50. One downside is the wait staff do not speak English and appear to lack experience in working with international clientele as they sometimes can be abrupt when asked a question. At my first breakfast I was told in broken English that cash only is accepted which turned out not to be the case. Both my wife and daughter had a professional massage and at $60/hr each was well worth it. The day after we checked in I was told that my daughter would stay for free for the entire visit due to the confusion at check in. We checked in at 10.30 pm after a long and arduous drive from Panama city, and the reception was closed. We were told that the security guard would be giving us the room keys upon arrival, but there was no-one from security to be found. Eventually the hotel owner showed up and checked us in. When we checked out we found out that they were still going to charge for my daughter's room for the entire stay, so the discount offered amounted to nothing. It would have been better if they offered no compensation or a free breakfast would have been more than adequate compensation for the confusion. And finally one other small negative... I asked reception on a few occasions about tennis lesson for my daughter, but this never happened also. Overall the experience was very positive and I would recommend this property if you are looking for a peaceful and romantic getaway. There are no people on the beach trying to hustle their handicrafts, there are no nearby hotspots or nightclub district unless you want to drive 25 minutes to David. I would recommend you fly directly to David rather than drive from Panama city airport as we did and save yourself a lot of stress. Renting a car in David would be a good idea unless you want to stay at the resort for your entire visit.

I am sorry to see the previous reviewer because we had a very good experience. This place is away from everything so if you are expecting to be entertained, don't go here. We felt like we had our own private resort. The room was very clean, the staff pleasant, the food very good. Nice break for us. A vacation from our retirement!

we had an absolutely lovely 7 day stay here. housekeeping is excellent, diligent, friendly & thorough. we left money & other valuables out in the open & nothing was ever missing. the onsite restaurant is beautiful & loaded with wonderful flavors & an extensive menu & the dining areas, both indoor & outdoor are beautifully set. the grounds/landscaping is beautiful & a groundskeeper was working every day. they have a delightful turtle pool loaded with turtles of all sizes. also a bird cage with large colorful parrots. the 3 pools were wonderful but they could have provided some pool toys/floats. the resort is approx 40 minutes from panama's 3rd largest city of david. lots of shopping & eating available there too. we are moving to boquete, panama which is about 75 miles from las olas & when we live there, we will definitely spend some time at las olas resort again. highly recommend. keep in mind it is a black sand beach with lots of driftwood awash but wonderful seating/lounging/umbrellas provided on the beach. we look forward to make this our go-to beach resort when we become residents.