Ikos Olivia

"Everything you could want from an all inclusive holiday. Amazing staff, perfect setting and fabulous service where the focus is very much on the guests."

"Overall, we had a great stay and would return to Ikos if the price was right. However, there were certain things that didn't give the 'wow factor' that we expected before arriving, given the great reputation Ikos have. The good We stayed in a one bedroom bungalow with private garden. This room was a great size with a lovely big garden. Our room was serviced twice a day and mini bar stocked up everyday. We asked for some drinks on arrival, which was in our room. We also made use of room service and for delivery of bottles of wine to our room, which was also done promptly. The pools were great and there were always sunbeds available. Ordering to your sunbed was great as they were sometimes a bit short staffed to take your order themselves. Drinks and food arrived promptly and were, on the whole, good. The heated pools were also a lifesaver given we had a few colder days. Ice cream parlour was delicious and women who served there were always friendly. The food, drink, ambiance and staff in potami were great and overall my favourite bar to chill in. Food and drink - overall, everything we ate and drink was lovely. It was great having your own bottle when you ordered a wine off the menu, but did sometimes put me off changing my drink part way through as I felt obliged to keep drinking the same drink given it was my own bottle. Service - again on the whole was good. Staff were friendly and attentive. The only time it wasn't as great was at breakfast where there were sometimes queues to get in and coffee not being brought out for 20 minutes or so, by time you're nearly finished your breakfast. Our favourite restaurant, both in terms of food and service was the Asian. Not so good Communication - we were unfortunate to have had some bad weather when we were there which meant some activities were either moved or cancelled. However, there was absolutely no communication about this at all, despite having an app and everyone's WhatsApp to make mass announcements. There was an occasion when I double checked the location of yoga at reception 5 minutes before it was due to start, to be told the wrong place and I then missed this. I know in grand scheme of things, it is very minor, but given a hotel that prides itself on service, it did fall a bit short. We also did the wine tasting, that, due to a couple having booked at reception that morning and this not being communicated to the wine tasting, meant it started late as they had to readjust the table and setup. 'Kids entertainment ' - I put this in quotation marks as the so called kids entertainment was probably the worst I've ever experienced in a hotel. It was the same 2 shows rotates each night that was just the dancers dancing to chart music or minions music (depending on the night). Not saying the dancers weren't good, but there was little interaction with the kids and the random songs meant the dancefloor was empty until the bubbles came out the the last song. The hotel really needs to reconsider this in future years and play more child friendly mini disco style music that the kids can join in with. I was lucky in the sense that my daughter is a toddler so just happy with any music, but I don't see an older child expecting more to enjoy it. The show only lasted 30 minutes and was in the theatre, which was quite a bit away from the other bars. I am unsure why they don't have more music or shows on in the theatre as it seems strange for such a nice place to only be used 30 minutes a day. After which, you either have to walk a bit to go to another bar, or just call it a night. And finally, related again to the mini disco. As mentioned, we were unlucky that we didn't have great weather, so the mini disco ended up being cancelled 4 of the nights we were there. 2 times, the cancellation was very last minute (as in not even told until you get there and realise it must be off because the lights are off...see communication) and other times were because we specifically WhatsApp'd them to ask given the previous nights. Some of the cancellations came after only 10 minutes of rain and hour earlier, which seemed strange. I get that it must be health and safety, but I would strongly encourage Ikos to have mitigations in place for this e.g. it being moved indoors, or a roof being put over the stage. To have 0 kids entertainment 5 of 7 nights (the other night was their day off) when the majority of the clientele were families with young children was not good in my opinion. Especially when there also isn't much to do when the weather isn't great during the day. Overall, despite the negatives, we did have a great stay and thoroughly enjoyed our food and drink. We would return again if the price was right and while our daughter is still young. However, I'm not sure I would consider here when my child reaches school age given the increase in price in school holiday times and the lack of entertainment for slightly older children"

"We visited for a week as a couple. We've stayed at Ikos before, amongst other higher end all inclusive resorts. Our stay at the Ikos Dassia last year was possibly the best stay we've ever had at an all inclusive resort. We're well aware they're very family friendly resorts, this doesn't bother us in the slightest, but the resorts also attract adults for an indulgent week away. We had a transfer booked through Ikos, we arrived and were promptly shown to our car with bottles of water. We arrived at the hotel, got sat down given a glass of fizz and checked in by Smaro, one of the Deluxe concierges. She was lovely! The check in process was friendly and efficient, then we were shown to a golf buggy and whisked to our room. It's not a huge resort compared to some of the newer Ikos, but the grounds are lovely and well maintained. We had a Deluxe 1 Bed Suite with a pool, it was worth the upgrade! The newly renovated rooms are lovely, minimal but stylish and comfortable. We were also a very short walk from the Deluxe pool. We didn't love the bed, but that's personal preference. The hotel was spotlessly clean, the room was cleaned daily and also turned down in an evening. The room cleaning staff were so lovely too! On the whole, the food was fantastic as always. Anaya was a favourite, but we didn't have a bad meal anywhere. We generally ate lunch around the pool but did try Ouzo and Flavors as well. The service around the deluxe pool was really good, both bar staff and the beach buddies. The QR codes made things very easy at times, and the duck sliders were a favourite for lunch! There were however a few things that let the hotel down and took the shine off what should have been a relaxing and luxurious week away. The service on the whole was fantastic, but there were a few service hiccups at times. However, all the staff worked extremely hard and were always very pleasant. Another issue is that some nights entertainment got cancelled with little to no notice, this left parents sitting around in the lobby bar and Potami, with kids running wild. I'm not bothered by kids being about enjoying their holiday, but left without something to do of an evening it seemed they had to burn off their energy somehow. Whilst I certainly don't want families and kids to sit quietly, it wasn't always a great experience with kids bombing through the sofa/table you were sat at almost knocking a drink out of your hand. Part of issue here is the hotel provided little variety between family activities or activities for couples at night, so people didn't have much of a choice of something to do - whether that be a lively bar or quiet cocktail somewhere, unless you went back to your room. I will say though that the management at the Ikos Olivia are very receptive to feedback, and went above and beyond to put right any issues we had, even though they didn't ruin the holiday. This shows how seriously they take the customer experience! Would I return? Yes... but I'd like to try some of the other Ikos' first. They're not cheap hotels, but you get what you pay for. The Olivia is a lovely hotel with outstanding staff, but we would like to see some of the other hotels before we return. If you're a family then you'll absolutely love it, here's so much to do in the day for kids. If you're a couple you'll also likely love it, maybe we just had a bit of an off week!"