Best of the Best-hotell

Just back after a week at Ikos Andalusia. We have stayed at another of their properties, Ikos Oceania twice. Decided to book this back in 2019, then after numerous covid cancellations finally enjoyed a week their 3 thru 11 May. The place itself is just fantastic, loads of amazing indoor and outdoor spaces and enough pools to suit everyone. we paid extra for the Deluxe room and the additional facilities that go with that. Suite 7203 was perfect and faced the deluxe pool and a marvellous sea view. There are 7 restaurants here, 2 more than Oceania and all of them serve superb meals all day long. All are a la carte with the exception of Flavours which is buffet style. Deluxe pool was fantastic with waiter served drinks all day long, We also had a separate poolside bar which was open till 11pm. Premium drinks and quality wine by the bottle are served in all restaurants no matter what grade of room you have. But....... the reason we stopped going to Ikos Oceania after two visits was the number of young babies and toddlers all over the hotel. Ikos Andalusia is much worse, with dozens of prams all over the resort and in all restaurants till very late at night. Flavours buffet is quite a bun fight with kids for lunch, avoid at all costs. This is a very expensive hotel. Expect to pay at least £4500 for two for a week in low season. Much higher at peak times. for this kind of money I don't want to sit in restaurants with screaming babies in high chairs who should be in bed. There is little to no entertainment in the hotel, the lobby bar, whilst beautiful, is devoid of any atmosphere and plays elevator music all day long. The main bar which is well away from reception has the only entertainment in the whole hotel in the evening, it is just up market Karaoke to be honest with a singer and backing tracks on an iPad. It is so quiet it can only be heard from a few front row seats that were always claimed by families with prams who had eaten early and claimed the best seats. Inside the bar the music cannot be heard even with the doors open. The seating inside the main bar is far from luxurious or comfy and even late into the evening 10pm+, still full of prams. It seems Ikos have committed themselves to young families as their preferred guests at all resorts. I decided to count the prams that past our table at Olivia restaurant one night, I got bored and stopped counting at 30. They do seem to understand that some guests want a quiet time at breakfast and Olivia is adults only for that meal. There is an Adults Only pool,, but having paid for the Deluxe upgrade ( a lot extra) whats the sense in going there. So until they turn at least one hotel into Adults Only, we wont be returning to any Ikos properties in the near future.

My husband and I visited Ikos Andalusia during October half term, the hotel was nothing short of spectacular! We have visited Oceania (2016) and Aria (2021) and we loved both of them, but had niggles here and there. I can honestly say I cannot fault Andalusia in any area, the food was unparalleled with any other resort I have been to, both in presentation and quality. There is Spanish, French, Italian, Asian and of course Greek cuisines to choose from as well as the Beach Club serving other Mediterranean dishes. These are free to use, however must be booked for evening meal, this can be done during your stay, but I would recommend emailing the hotel or using the app to make the bookings in advance, as slots get booked up quickly. There is a buffet, however we only used it once for breakfast, we took full advantage of the a la cartes! The service was exceptional which is standard for Ikos, we were rarely sat with an empty glass, the staff were efficient and friendly. Katrina and Elena at the adults pool were both amazing. The location was brilliant, we took the bikes a couple of times to Estepona, mostly a nice flat 13 mile round trip. They give you water and a lock for the bikes incase you want to stop for a coffee. There are also daily shuttles to Estepona, Puerto Banus and Marbella. We thoroughly enjoyed making use of the complimentary Tesla! The hotel is well located to explore the south of Spain but also Gibraltar if you fancy a change. We visited Caminito Del Rey, Sentenil de Bodegas and Ronda which was a brilliant day out. The evening shows at the Teatro were great, enjoyable for both adults and kids alike. There was musicians in the lobby if you are looking for a more relaxing atmosphere, as well as singers/DJs at the main bar if you want something in between. I also really enjoyed the DJs at lunch at Fresco and Dinner at Beach club. The weather for October half term was good, occasional overcast days but a pleasant 25-29°C in the day and low 20’s at night. The hotel is quite well designed to block the breeze, so we never needed a coat when sat at the bars and restaurants. Overall I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of our stay and hope to return again very soon!

Arrived in early October and this was our 11th Ikos visit (but first to Ikos Andalusia) Therefore, we are obviously very invested and committed to the brand and all that it brings. The Ikos arranged transfer was excellent in a beautiful Mercedes with a professional driver who was in a suit and took about 45 minutes. However, upon arrival and over the first couple of days, I really thought that this was going to be the hotel that broke the Ikos spell! We were initially just really disappointed with the Hotel layout which felt claustrophobic compared with the others and lacked the views normally associated with many of the sister hotels. We also initially felt that the restaurant locations were unimaginative with many sharing similar locations but perhaps my biggest concern was the pools (compared to other Ikos). The pools are all a bit shallow and for myself, very overlooked on all sides with no real view. However, pleased to report that the ones we tried were all heated to a good temperature, which remains a real plus and the reason for coming this late in the year. This probably sounds incredibly picky but this was our most expensive Ikos booking to date and we were staying in a Garden view room. When you are used to being blown away from the first moment you arrive, it just put me in a negative mindset and had me kicking myself for not returning to one of the other much loved sister hotels. My gut reaction 24/48 hours in, was strongly telling me that I would never return to this one! and this is what I told a lovely lady from Guests relations (Mariana) who approached us at dinner on the second night. She asked me to be honest and listened with patience to my feedback. She acknowledged my concerns and then with a disarming smile, gently requested that we give Ikos Andalusia a chance. And so we did just that and like all the others, Ikos Andalusia slowly started to weave her magic and once the seduction had started, there really was only going to be one conclusion. Like all Ikos holidays, you are bombarded with generous attention, genuine kindness, outstanding service, gastronomic heaven, an amazing beverage selection all served up with unconditional smiles and Ikos Andalusia is really no different. You soon start making new connections and discover new personalities such as Julio the Bar manager (what a character) and his Spirit Master Classes which were fun and interesting. Also the hotel runs wine tasting which we didn't attend. However Alicia, the wonderful assistant Wine Sommelier, visited our table on the second night and after a quick discussion she made fantastic suggestions which convinced my wife to try other wines apart from her go to, Private Cellar Rose. Every night she would pop up in each of the restaurants we visited with a new recommendation and all were every bit as good! . A great example of proactive service which really enhanced our dining experience. Then you add in the pluses of this location with the many areas you can choose to visit via the courtesy buses or by using the stunning 17 k promenade into Estapona. In addition you also have the fantastic Tesla drive option (go to Ronda, it is stunning) with fully inclusive insurance and no petrol to fill up. After a couple of days we found our preferred pool location and well and truly surrendered and opened our hearts to the team and all the hotel had to offer. Those original issues did not seem so important and the Ikos Andalusia team (both old and new) deserves great credit to be able to recreate this level of the authentic Ikos magic in another country and ultimately this is what turned our opinion around. Really exciting changes are planned to be in place for the start of the 2023 season, which I believe will make a genuine difference and move it to another level. These include:- The area around the Hayman bar gets a fantastic new deluxe pool along with a new "seasons restaurant" and bar (assume like the set up in Aria) and non deluxe people can take dinner there. Current deluxe pool becomes another general pool and the current deluxe bar becomes Adults only Bar. Another restaurant somewhere near or on the beachfront. Extension to the main bar veranda area pushing out towards the beach and also an extension to Anaya restaurant to increase their covers. Major beach upgrades including underwater wave breaks (similar to Oceania) which should really help reduce the stones (subject to local approval) as this is currently the worst Ikos beach. So would I return? I really can't believe that I am now saying this after my original reaction but yes, in a heartbeat! Many thanks to Timos and the team for giving us another outstanding Ikos holiday.