Which Ikos resort

[Adviceplease123456]

Hello,
looking to book a multi generational trip next year and the Ikos resorts look perfect. But I can’t work out which one is best!
kids range from 1 years - 8 years old, and then age 75 plus grandparents.

probably looking at June but potentially May half term to avoid skipping school!

if anyone has any personal experience on which they would recommend it would be appreciated!

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If you’ve landed here looking for recommendations, we've put together a handy guide to the best Ikos Resorts according to Mumsnetters featuring recommendations from families that have tried and tested each hotel. Ikos Dassia in Corfu tops the charts for its food, facilities, service and views. Hope you find it useful! 😎

Rachel - Travel Content Editor, MNHQ

they vary substantially in price

what is your budget?

Budget isn’t so much of an issue as it’s for the grandparents big birthdays - in a “last big holiday” kind of way, so they haven’t got a set budget, but I had in my head £25-£30k for 12 people…is that achievable? We’d go out of school holidays to help, and 6 of those are kids.

in school holidays? not. a. chance.

outside of school holidays…. unlikely.

definitely only b&b with that budget

£25k
12 people

that’s £2k per person

for ikos… that won’t scratch the surface

We have booked Ikos in Mallorca for around £1400 pp for two in October. We were waiting for a deal and pounced when we saw one.

It's definitely doable for a week outside of school holidays, possibly 10 days, if you go early or late in the season. Not possible in school holidays.

I would look at Andalusia. Better choice of flights to Malaga and weather is generally good in April/May or October.

I looked on Jet2 holidays and got a week all inclusive in 3 rooms in late June with flights for £22k so it’s possible! Wed prob want to upgrade rooms but would still be well under £30k.

more interested in which resort is better. If we need to add £5-£10k to budget then that’s fine too.

Fab thanks!! Will research more

We’ve been to Olivia previously and are going to Oceania over Easter. Olivia was really lovely, it’s quite flat so easy for little ones to get around and anyone older who might have mobility issues. It tends to be one of the cheaper ones too which may mean you can upgrade to deluxe if that’s what you want (but we were not deluxe at Olivia and didn’t feel we were missing out in any way). I found it cheapest to book flights myself and then book direct online with Ikos.

12 people in 3 rooms? who will the grandparents be sharing with??

good luck op! would love to know what final cost is!

I've been to Olivia oceana and Dassia
I loved them all but Dassia was the nicest for me because of the setting/ views access to Corfu town.
But in all honesty they weee all great

We’re paying £3300 total at Olivia for two adults and a baby in May so it might be doable! we’ve booked Olivia mainly because it came out at the best price, but the option to go to Thessaloniki is appealing as we love it there.

We’ve done Aria deluxe previously and loved it. A beautiful modern resort and more room types available. My only complaint was that the main bar was a bit dead in the evenings but if you’re a big group that probably won’t matter.

There’s an IKOS Facebook group where you’ll probably get more responses and more insight into each of the resorts.

We've been to a few of them, also on multi generation large family holidays. They vary in price- the Spanish ones being a bit pricier in general. This year Dassia and Olivia were bookable for a week in June at 1.6k per room. Andalusia was closer to 3k for the same dates/room type.

Interestingly, Sani resorts (also a popular ultra luxe all inclusive) had very good deals on this year with week stays including flights for £500 in May. So, it does help to look around all the various booking sites for the best deals.

We have been to Dassia twice and off to Oceania in two weeks .
I definitely think you should get something for your budget . A week definitely and especially if many under 12 .
The Spanish ones are dearer .

Grandparents on their own and 2 couple each in a one bed with 3 kids each - as I said we’re happy to upgrade rooms which they showed the costs of and even with 2 bed suites for each of 2 families it came in under £30k. I’m very happy to share with the kids - my parents are being extremely generous, if we have to share one small room so be it!!

anyway this is beside the point, if it came in at £40k so be it!

Oh thank you! We looked at Sani and prices seemed very reasonable but I’m terrified of the “extras” there as I’ve heard that drinks are extortionate so o thought an all inclusive may be safer!

Thank you so much everyone! I think Olivia and Dassia sound like front runners - I’ll let you know what we book (and costs if anyone is interested!)

Ikos aria. Very lovely. You do need to book kids club in advance if you need it though.

OP we are doing Ikos Aria at the end of June, multi-gen trip 7 of us age 2-73 and can't wait! Came in at c15k. We've done Dassia and Olivia before. Loved them both for different reasons - Olivia is definitely extremely family focused. Everyone there including ourselves had babies / toddlers with them which was perfect for us. Dassia was amazing, we loved that as a couple pre-baby. To be honest the quality at both were incredible and I'm confident Aria will be the same. We fancied a different resort this year. Ruled out Oceania as it's very hilly which isn't great for my mum (they do have buggies that operate up and down the hill to the beach). Basically you won't go wrong with an Ikos IMO, so just sharing where I've chosen for a similar trip. The setting looks stunning!

They do have some all inclusive options. This was what I looked at.

If it is any help, I love Ikos resorts. They are quite understated luxe, and not super snobby. One of the relatives who comes on our trips prefers Sani, she is very much in to her high end designer labels and being seen at the right places. I've enjoyed both brands of resort though!

I've been to Aria and Andalusia in the last 18 months. Very different, Andalusia is far more compact, better food and service but beach/sea are pretty grim.

Aria is a beautiful setting, lovely to snorkel around the island but same category rooms were a fair bit smaller and sea views were more of rooftops than the sea. Didn't think the food and service was quite as good.

I love Ikos but we paid £3k and £7k for our weeks (accommodation only) and I wouldn't pay more than £8k for a family of three/four as I don't think it's worth more than that.

Sani isn’t all inclusive - the most you can get is full board (which isn’t worth it). It is a gorgeous place however with loads to do with the kids. Drinks are pricey though.

Although I haven’t been to Ikos, I researched them all previously and if you are going out of the peak summer season, weather likely to be best in Aria and Dassia. They also seemed to have biggest choice of restaurants etc.

such fond memories of Sani. 3x returned. So perfect with young children.

now with tween and teen… no way would it be worth it.

£25k-30k is circa £2250 per person (6 children 1-8… majority will need their own flight seat) so if that’s including flights too… and the op did mention ideally in half term (but i think now accepted no chance) then definitely a pretty tight budget. but if planning to take children out of school, then will need to be not the week before or after half term because prices also very inflated then!)

how did you get on with this booking op?