Things such as water sports, the items in the mini-mart, and treatments at the spa come at an additional cost. We even saw one family with a cot on the beach. Best Resorts If youre staying in a Deluxe room, transfers are included regardless of where you booked. There are five restaurants, one buffet and four la carte, each with childrens menus as well as Ikos famous dine out programme at selected local dining destinations. Serious luxury. The second Ikos resort is also in Halkidiki, Ikos Oceania, opened in 2017, but it wasn't a new property or asset, it was just revamped to be aligned with the style and offerings of Ikos Olivia. In 2018, two more Ikos resorts opened, Ikos Aria on the Greek island of Kos, and Ikos Dassia on the island of Corfu (where we stayed last September ). Best Resort for Staff & Service: For us, Sani. but others are quite significant and may help you decide which of the two resorts you will want to stay at. Providing dazzling views of the Ionian Sea and beyond, there are also 10 pools to choose from so you can relax under Greeces blazing sun. It is a 5-star resort, so its not really a surprise that its pricey. The seabass was a light and refreshing dish and coupled with a glass of Taittinger you really feel like you are in the lap of luxury. This Asian fusion restaurant had dishes from throughout Asia, with Japanese, Indian, Chinese, and Thai dishes on offer. Its also worth mentioning that three of these pools are infinity edged, the ideal spot to take a new pic for the gram. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Ikos Oceania, Halkidiki Best for redefining resorts The small Ikos groups aim is to reimagine the all-inclusive experience, and it certainly achieves that The worlds most romantic all-inclusive resorts, right in We will still need to pay extra for drinks, but I think we'll survive! So, make sure you make use of this benefit if you are staying in a deluxe room. The Ikos chain of resorts has become the standout chain of resorts over the last number of years in the luxury all-inclusive market and the Ikos Aria lives up to the hype. The second you walk into the resort you will notice its stunning design and decor choices. One of them is reserved for deluxe guests and there is another adult-only bar offering. All Ikos resorts have or are being opened in the last two years with Andalusia opening in the coming season. Best Spa & Wellness Resort In St. Lucia: BodyHoliday. The room offering at the Ikos Aria is pretty refined, which is how we like it. TOGETHER TIME: 12 Best Vacation Spots for Couples in North America 1. You can also order these golf carts wherever you are in the resort. Typically with all-inclusives resorts, there will be one or two house wine selections that will be included in the package and any other bottles of wine will come at a premium. I also hope, perhaps most importantly of all, that regardless of which resort you choose - Sani or Ikos - you now feel reassured you are investing in a wonderful luxury family holiday for you and your family! The island of Kastri is a short distance away from the beach and can be reached by swimming or using a canoe/pedalo that the resort provides. The sand is softer and whiter at Ikos Dassia and during our first stay at Sani Club, there was a storm and we saw actually just how much of an operation it is creating the beach at Sani Club with trucks and tractors moving and spreading sand that had been displaced in the storm. But did one of them deliver more luxury than the other? You really cant go wrong booking your next vacation here. Every member of staff that we had interactions with was keen to help us make our stay run as smoothly as possible. We prefer low rise accommodation, and our stays at Sani have been at Asterias and Dunes which offer this type of accommodation. There is a relatively good drinks selection on offer too with the likes of Absolut Vodka, Bombay Gin, Havana Club, and Campari to name a few. If you have arrived at my blog and would like to support me in buying a coffee - you can donate 3. Alternatively, to dial up the restful levels, visit the spa where a menu of holistic treatments is available from 8am until 8pm daily. This is one of those features that really distinguishes the Ikos as a premium spot for vacations. So if you want more choice of locations - or flying to Thessaloniki (the nearest airport to Halkidiki) is not possible this may mean that an Ikos resort is the best option for you. Though if you prefer to know that everything is paid for beforehand, Ikos would be the best holiday. It was our anniversary one of the nights we stayed and we had organized a private dinner by the beach. Very luxurious, very calming colours, and both Ikos and Sani offer Anne Semonin toiletries in your bathroom. Both resorts offer fantastic luxury family holidays with plenty of things for kids (and adults!) They are all about taking care of the children so the adults can relax too. It can be a little intimidating to decide the right room for you. The Ikos resort has really thought about the physical touchpoints that guests go through on a day in the resort. And speaking of the beach, both resorts have the Babewatch service where kids club/creche staff have a station on the beach or near a swimming pool and you can leave your kid there for up to 30 minutes for free while you go for a swim, a cocktail or a snooze on your sun lounger! This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. They look VERY similar from the resort layout and accommodation decor through to the packages and products they offer. Sani's location in a bay in Halkidiki is easy to get to by car in around 50 minutes, but to be honest it's not very accessible by any other means, and actually walking to and from each hotel in the resort from Sani Club isn't easy. We don't necessarily go on holiday to make friends with the staff or form long-lasting bonds. This alone is the main reason we will keep on returning to Sani and Ikos resorts! Theres even a football academy that runs over the summer holidays. I also talk a bit about how the beach isn't anywhere near as good as Ikos Dassia's beach, so yes, all in all, it's fair to say that Ikos Dassia was in a slightly better location from this angle too. They also offer almost exactly the same kids clubs, creche and babysitter services as they are managed by the UK-registered company Worldwide Kids. Ikos Resorts | Discover Ikos Resorts with British Airways Ikos hotels are outstanding for couples as well as families with children of all ages. Theyre multi award-winning and together the brand has held the number one spot for all-inclusive holidays in the world for the past four consecutive years. Which Ikos resort is best for adults? There is still plenty of activities on offer, such as non motorised watersports, tennis, football, bike hire, gym, table tennis, kids clubs etc, and the best thing is that most activities are included at ikos. Currently based in Amsterdam, Frankie was nomadic for two years before starting a family with her Australian partner. This is the main buffet at the resort and one of the more casual places to dine. One of the issues we heard multiple guests run into before we travelled was getting reservations for restaurants. Although there are ways to put your best foot forward in securing the tables you want. The staff were really good and collected empties once you were finished. See all the winners here. We have recently returned from our 4th visit to Sani (October 2022) and I have written a seperate post about the best restaurants at Sani. We did go to Sani for 2 less nights, though we did have an extra child holidaying with us. This was a close second as our favorite place in the resort. Done! The personal concierge at Sani was more experienced and in general, Sani's reception and customer service staff were quicker to respond to our requests and seemed more knowledgeable. To give you an example, the bill on our last visit to Sani in October 2019 was 402. Although this is not unique to this resort, Fresco again has some stunning views overlooking the pool and the ocean. We have booked into Sani Dunes for 5 nights, and this will be our second time staying at Dunes. All Inclusive Kos holidays In fact, most days we didn't venture further than the kids club or a restaurant in both Sani and Ikos resorts, but if location is important to you in terms of getting there, getting out and about, and having easy ways to explore, then yes, Ikos has the edge. Choosing which of the six family-friendly all-inclusive beach hotels in the Ikos Resorts collection is no easy decision theyre all so appealing! Of course, a guide is also on hand to point you in the right direction. View Foreign Travel Advice for Spain, To discover more on Ikos six resorts or to book your 2023 or 2024Ikos holiday, contact our team of personal travel managers today on 0203 816 0985 or click here to submit an online enquiry. Living in Amsterdam we were able to easily get direct flights to Thessaloniki airport for Sani and to Corfu airport for Ikos Dassia with one of our favourite airlines for kids, Transavia. But I also know that different things matter more for some people than others. Frankie is the, Frances M. Thompson - Copyright 2011 - 2023, Luxury Family Travel: Ikos vs Sani - Which Resort is Better?, at Sani (in Halkidiki on mainland Greece), my review of Sani Resort (we stayed in Sani Club), revamped to be aligned with the style and offerings of Ikos Olivia, Sani Beach Club, a purpose built high-rise hotel, Sani resort does have an adults-only hotel - Sani Dunes, The Best Resorts for Families in the Maldives, World's Best Resorts for Luxury Family Travel, Tips for Helping a Baby or Toddler with Jet-Lag, Packing List for a Ski or Snowboard Holiday with a Toddler, Tips for Visiting Singapore with a Toddler, Travel Activities for Kids (to Do at Home! They are 100% confidently 5-star resorts, and to achieve this when you have several if not hundreds of kids, running around all the time, is definitely something to shout about for them and for parents to fall in love with when they travel to Sani or Ikos. Absolutely brilliant advice. Oh, and five la carte restaurants and one buffet will give you all the energy you need to enjoy this brand-new resort to the fullest. We found the quality of care, professionalism of staff, and range of activities and facilities to be excellent at both Sani and Ikos. WebAt ikos Oceania there is a totally separate adult pool which is better. In fact, my one big bug bear with Sani was that I really begrudged paying for water because it's actually essential to drink only bottled water in Greece and yet they charged us for any bottled water we drank in the restaurants, but they did thankfully give us plenty for our room. As always make sure you shop around and think about the time of year that you are traveling if you want to bag yourself a bargain. The activities are very much centered around fitness at the Aria and all of the Ikos resorts. Theres a host of amenities that you can use throughout the resort. The water is beautiful and warm in both resorts, but at Sani Club it's not possible to swim at all points on the beach, and in fact one of the "beach" sections with loungers is actually a raised up area. Ikos and Sani are actually the same, as in they are owned by the same company. There are plenty of things to There are 5 pools to choose from, the main pool, one adult, one kid, the spa pool, and a deluxe guest-only pool. It is one of the main selling points of the Ikos resorts. Having excellent facilities for children is one of the central pillars of both the Ikos and the Sani brand. In short, we think that the premium is worth it if youre celebrating a special occasion and looking to treat yourself, but its not 100% necessary as the standard rooms have a great level of luxury to them. If you have visited an Ikos resort before you will be familiar with the offering as all of the restaurants are the same throughout. The resort exclusively has 600m of beachfront for you to enjoy, lined with comfortable loungers and umbrellas with plenty of room in between for sandcastle building. WebBest for couples: Island hop in style by combining stays at both Grace Santorini and Grace Mykonos in one trip. So since writing this comparison of the two brands, I've found out that most of the Ikos resorts (if not all) have been launched in buildings that already existed. Drive one of Ikos Oceanias fleet of MINI Coopers to investigate endless coves and unique architectural sites. Currently, for stays in 2021, there are free cancellations up to 2 weeks prior to arrival as well as the full deposit refund too. But to date, there are no plans to launch any other Sani-branded resorts outside of what is already there. Here are our picks for where to check in in 2023. Honestly, there is not much need for the bigger rooms if youre a couple or two friends vacationing together. Whether youre looking for the perfect hotel to host your three-generational trip or an award-winning all-inclusive concept, were here to help plan your luxury Greece holiday today. This is actually one of the strongest benefits. A coastal colour palette, expansive balconies or terraces, separate bedrooms and deluxe bathrooms ensure that these havens offer a warm hug after a busy day soaking up everything Greece and Ikos have to offer. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience. Opened in May 2019, the Ikos Aria is a 5-star all-inclusive resort that is one of the premium options in Europe.