Ikos Andalusia

We’ve been going to IKOS annually for the last 5 years. We’ve had exceptional experiences (with one notable exception when we went to Odissia just after it opened - this was resolved to our satisfaction and we’ve since returned and had an excellent stay) however Andalusia was poor and we will not be returning.

The restaurants, food and service were not a patch on those we’ve experienced at other resorts.

Our son also cut his feet up on the bottom of the pool (this happened three times before we realised what was happening). When we reported this to staff at the pool their response was that they’d already let maintenance know and were waiting for them to do something about it. When we spoke to other families, we weren’t the only ones this had happened to.

My husband and son also fell ill during our stay, and whilst it’s impossible to pin this on something specific, we had been at the hotel without leaving the grounds for several days, so it was something that had to have occurred at the hotel. My husband was in bed for over a day and couldn’t get up, and my 7 year old son was physically sick several times during the night, and required multiple changes of bedsheets. Despite this when my husband asked to see the onsite doctor, he was told he’d need to pay for the consultation. There was no enquiry about our son, and the following day, the room attendants didn’t mop the floor.

There were constant examples of us enquiring about things, or asking for things that were never completed or responded to, and whilst they were all small things, once they are all combined, it really begins to grate on you e.g. asking for more coat hangers that we had to chase, checking restaurant bookings had been changed, requesting details of the itinerary of the kids club that was supposed to be sent to us so that we could make sure he had suitable clothing, constantly following up on food and drinks orders at restaurants and pool e.g. my husband had to ask four times for a coffee at the pool before it arrived 40mins later.

The breakfast options were poor. There was only one buffet style breakfast dining room that was very dark and canteen like, unless you were on the terrace (which was rare due to the small number of tables there) there were long queues for breakfast every morning. The layout of the room meant you were navigating around people all the time due to narrow walkways e.g. when leaving the dining room, you walked straight into the queue of people waiting for tables (it was too narrow for a queue and a flow of traffic). I don’t understand why the other restaurants didn’t offer a buffet to alleviate the queues and provide a nicer environment to eat.

Equally we had some really poor a la carte breakfasts which is why we kept going for the buffet. As an example, on one occasion we ordered soft boiled eggs (we make these all the time at home and really don’t understand why this was such a challenging request. The menu requests that guests specify the time they’d like the eggs to be cooked for. The time varies based on the size and temperature of the eggs, but not knowing either, we had to guess. The eggs which were for our son, and they didn’t arrive with the rest of the breakfast and we had to chase them (which after the constant chasing of food and drinks through the holiday left us deflated). Then the eggs we received were not soft boiled, and by this point with all of the other issues we’d experienced, we couldn’t be bothered explaining anymore what had gone wrong because no one seemed to care or be able to put things right.

Another issue here that we’ve not experienced at other IKOS is that if you have kids (unless you eat at 8:30 or later) then you’re in the half of the dining room (and this is for breakfast, lunch or dinner) that has the very young children dining. We’ve been there, our kids are crying, they’re throwing food over the floor and they’re noisy, and we don’t want to ruin anyone else’s dining experience…… but once your kids are old enough not to do this, you want to dine in a calmer environment….unfortunately Andalusia doesn’t cater for kids that won’t impact on anyone else’s experience.

There were some good things e.g. when we’d booked the 4-7 heroes club and realised that the friends our son had made were in the older group, they were very happy to accommodate us switching sessions. I’m honestly struggling to recall the good things because of the issues we encountered. We did raise our major issues with them and were offered another room ( I haven’t talked about this issue but given we were offered alternatives and chose to remain in our room I feel we resolved this).

I could honestly go on, but I won’t because it’s been so disappointing having spent our precious holidays at this resort. We are planning to return to IKOS because when they get it right, it’s great, but we won’t be heading back to Andalusia.

I should also say that we did talk to them about many of the issues and received compensation, however, I’d rather not receive compensation and have the experience we expected. Unfortunately it wasn’t the case and my impression is that this IKOS is not well managed.

This is our third holiday with the Sani/Ikos Group, and having previously enjoyed our experiences, we had high expectations for our stay at Ikos Andalusia. Unfortunately, what should have been a relaxing and enjoyable family holiday has been overshadowed by an unnecessarily stressful booking process, inconsistent information, considerable additional expense and disappointing customer service.

We originally booked our holiday through Jet2 for myself and our two children, with the possibility of my husband joining us for part of our stay.

Our Jet2 representative contacted Ikos in advance and was advised that my husband could be added for approximately £400 per night.

When I subsequently contacted Ikos directly, I was quoted approximately £2,100 to add my husband to our booking. We were happy to pay this amount and agreed to proceed. However, when we attempted to confirm the arrangement, Ikos informed us that the amendment needed to be made through Jet2.

To this day, I do not understand why we were unable to proceed with adding my husband when we had contacted Ikos directly, received a quotation of £2,100 and agreed to pay it. What should have been a straightforward transaction became an unnecessarily complicated and frustrating ordeal.

What followed was a process of being passed backwards and forwards between Jet2 and Ikos, with contradictory information about who was responsible for arranging the additional booking.

At one stage, the quotation increased to approximately €4,500. Despite extensive correspondence, obtaining a consistent price and a straightforward solution proved unnecessarily difficult.

Eventually, we paid approximately €2,500 for my husband to join us.

For a luxury resort, I found the entire process surprisingly disorganised and stressful.

We are staying in a Junior Suite with Sea View, while my husband has been allocated an accessible room in a completely different part of the resort, approximately five minutes' walk away.

Although we knew separate accommodation had ultimately been arranged, the reality has been extremely disappointing.

Our junior suite has ample physical space, and it is frustrating that we have paid such a substantial additional amount only to find ourselves separated as a family.

This arrangement has genuinely ruined our holiday experience. After spending time with friends, we returned to the resort only to have to split up as a family, with my husband walking back to his room in a different part of the resort while I returned to our suite with the children. It is upsetting that, despite paying so much for a family holiday, we cannot even return to our accommodation together at the end of the evening.

I appreciate that hotels have occupancy restrictions, but I would have expected clearer explanations of the available options and greater efforts to accommodate us together, or at least in rooms closer to one another.

Unfortunately, the problems have continued since our arrival.

We were not sent the restaurant reservation link we were expecting, leaving us struggling to arrange dinner reservations. We subsequently encountered difficulties finding availability at the restaurants.

One helpful member of staff did eventually secure a reservation for us, which we appreciated.

However, guests paying premium prices should not have to repeatedly chase arrangements that ought to be straightforward.

What has disappointed me most is the impression that maximising additional charges takes priority over the experience of guests. Having paid a considerable amount for this holiday, and then a further €2,500 for my husband to join us, I would have expected much more consideration for our family and a genuine effort to find a practical solution.

Instead, the entire experience has left me feeling that the financial aspect of the booking mattered more than our comfort, convenience or enjoyment of the holiday.

Needless to say, after three holidays with the Sani/Ikos Group, we will not be booking with them again.

I think most of the reviewers have summed it up perfectly. For us this was an exceptional visit and can’t wait to return to other locations. 2 small things to look out for. Booking restaurants for the times you want is a struggle. Some we couldn’t even get to in our two week stay which was disappointing. So many small families which we expected but meal times could be a s*it show at times. I could and have forgiven both these small things as everything else just exceeded my expectations which is very rare for me