Ikos Andalusia

We had a fantastic stay but I mostly wanted to share how pleased and grateful we were with our babysitter at the hotel, Lydia. Lydia did dinner time and bath time with the kids so that we could join friends in the evening and she was utterly brilliant. The kids loved her and looked forward to their evenings with her. We couldn't have asked for more. Thank you Lydia.

IKOS Andalusia did not fail to provide the excellent holiday experience for which the IKOS brand is renowned. Everything about the resort met the highest standards, from the rooms, the restaurants - 7 a la carte and 1 buffet style - to the pools and bars. The staff throughout the resort are amazing, always smiling and happy to help. There was always someone available to deal with any queries. The restaurants provide exceptional food and drinks and we ate every night, and some lunchtimes, in one of the seven a la carte restaurants. We lunched twice at Chiringuito on the beach and Darko ensured we were well looked after. Darko also looked after us in Flavors where we chose to have our breakfast every morning. The pools were very well managed with lots of sunbeds, towels and constant drinks and snacks available. You even had your sunglasses cleaned. We did use the spa on one occasion and were disappointed the steam room was not hot enough and there was no jacuzzi but these are the only shortcomings I can think of and they did not spoil our enjoyment during our six night stay. I would definitely recommend IKOS Andalusia.

Positives: beautiful hotel and landscapes, impeccably clean, great amount of activities to do. Room spacious and bed comfy, staff all extremely friendly. Negatives: the most pertinent thing that I must highlight is that my mother (in cancer remission), my sister and I all came down with food poisoning during our stay. We weren’t sure if it was food poisoning or a stomach bug, but having seen a similar experience recounted in a review posted a moment ago, it seems likely that it was the former. I understand that these things happen during mass cooking, but these are not the hygiene standards you expect from a five star hotel. We informed the hotel staff and they confirmed that no other cases had been reported, but we now know this not to be true given the review just posted. I am just thankful that my 85-year-old grandmother didn’t also contract it. While the hotel was luxurious, it did feel manic at times with restaurants being understaffed. Additionally, I was in building 3 and found that at night there was a constant whirring of a generator, not making for a peaceful night’s sleep. It is also true that there were a lot of children but this was perhaps due to it being the Easter holidays, and there were spaces and activities dedicated to children so not sure one can complain (unless hotel advertised as tranquil environment). Lastly, I would have liked to have seen greater transparency regarding the hotel’s commitment to sustainability. I was conscious of the excessive amount of towels being handed out at pools, and thus the general scale of laundering the hotel must require in a region that suffers yearly droughts and water shortages. Additionally, while I understand that it is an international hotel chain and I do appreciate the effort of the staff to speak English, I got the impression that this was almost a pre-requisite for employment. I speak Spanish myself but the staff always resorted to speaking English. This is obviously great for a clientele that is largely British, but I hope that the hotel conducts a sustainable model in caring for the social wellbeing of its staff, particularly in light of the issues that Spain is facing due to mass tourism.