Ikos Andalusia

We think the Ikos Andalusia is a very good hotel. The staff are above reproach. Always smiling and totally willing to help. Great waiters, room service, life guards, cleaners. They were a strong, motivated team. The rooms are stylish, work well and comfortable. We had two side view junior suites. The room divides easily into two, if you wanted to share with younger children. Our teens were old enough to go it alone and liked their room. The architecture of the hotel is very clever; there are good views from most angles. Our “side view” sounded bad, but was of the swimming pools and the Med. There was a lovely balcony too. The view down the hallway into the main bar with Mediterranean horizon behind it is great. The decor is pared back, but looks great. I imagine many people are not shy to post the glamorous setting of the bars on Instagram. The hotel was at full capacity during our visit, but it didn’t feel like that. We never had a problem finding loungers near any of the many pools, and the service in restaurants was never slow. There were a lot of young families, and I can see why. There are two vast kid-friendly pools and the menus in all the restaurants have sensible options for children. However, the number of young children running around the main bar at night is annoying. There is an adult-only alternative bar, but it’s empty. We ended up just going to our rooms after dinner. We did Pilates most days, which was informal and good. However, don’t be fooled by the tennis offering. There are only two courts for the entire hotel (not the clay ones pictured on the hotel’s website) and they had been fully booked for most of the week by the time we arrived on a Sunday afternoon. There was one basketball hoop. This is where the holiday didn’t work for us; not enough to do for a teen. There are plenty of bikes, but the area to cycle is pretty underwhelming (along a paved path between the sea and the many resort hotels and holiday apartments in the area). We booked a family walk, but this was equally uninspiring. There are many restaurants and they were all good (my husband particularly liked Chiringuito - great waiter called Darko). However, after a couple of days the menus become predictable. We all joked about the “anti-oxidant fruit salad” appearing on every menu every day. The wines were really good. If you go to the Italian restaurant there are Italian wines, the Greek restaurant has Greek wine etc etc. I also loved that you could order Tattinger on tap! You can book a Tesla for a day, but we couldn’t face navigating the highway. You can book a dinner in Estepona (charming local town) for one evening, which was probably the hi-light of our week. There’s a big buffet breakfast available at Flavours. Very popular, but I thought it offered style over substance. I found the coffee in all restaurants disappointing. No cafetières, just machine-made out of sight. We went in the October half term and were lucky with the weather. It was comfort

October saw our third visit to ikos Andalusia, this time with family in tow. A lovely stay had by all with just a few tweaks for improvement suggested. Pros The resort itself is gorgeous, landscaped beautifully. WhatsApp concierge was very responsive & helpful. Great variety of places to eat. Friendliness of staff, always with a smile & a hello. Location is great for venturing outside the resort. Kids shows in the evening were great, thoroughly enjoyed by my toddler. Cons Some of the soft furnishings could do with a bit of TLC. I assume this is due to us visiting end of season and they’ll be refreshed for next years opening. Quality of food has noticeably fallen & menus lack the diversity the used to have. A lot of restaurants seem to have a different variation of the same dish. Lack of entertainment is something I’ve mentioned after each stay - they could do with a bit more going on through the day. Bar service in the main lobby and pool bar wasn’t as efficient as in other areas of the resort. Materials used in and around swimming pools is a danger for little feet - my son ended up with multiple cuts on his feet just from a day at the pool. We were already booked to come back in May and are looking forward to our stay. Addressing of some of the issues mentioned (especially entertainment) will be needed to justify the cost/value benefit for us going forward though.

Honestly, one of the finest resorts we've hadin a long time! We loved every minute of our five day visitie to Ikos Andalusia. The seven heated pools were what attracted us to start with, and then the photos of the rooms and restaurants. But the best thing about this resort is the service level. From the moment we checked in, with Christo, to the moment we checked out, also with Christo, the staff took care of us like we were family. Rooms are great. Big balconies. Comfortable beds. 'Lots of room. The heated pools are fantastic with many loungers so there was never a comptetition to find a free place. And the service around the pool was fabulous -- drinks, snacks, help with towels, help with the umbrellas. Whatever. The restaurants are quite good, the best being the Asian and Italian kitchens. We've already booked our next visit because this resort is worth every euro!