"We stayed at Oceania 25th Oct to 1st Nov for the last week of the season and half term. We struck lucky with the weather this week with only one morning of rain the rest of the week it was just perfect sunshine!
Alexander, Mary, Igor, Anna and Lazaria always responded in a timely fashion and made sure we had everything booked and in our room that I requested for on arrival. Nothing was too much trouble and they were all extremely helpful. They have the email and WhatsApp service spot on.
Check in was smooth and quick, as it was very busy and a lot of people were checking in for the last week of the season and half term, we were taken through to the lounge area where we had a cold towel and welcome drink. Maria explained everything we needed to know about the resort. We were then taken to our room via a buggy with all our cases. We were very happy with our room we had a sea view deluxe room 5315 and the view was beautiful. A lot of people have commented about rooms being dated and tired but we didn’t feel this was the case at all and we were very happy.
We ate at all the restaurants and found the food, drink and service were of high quality. Ouzo we found breakfast and lunch a bit chaotic for us and quite a few wasps so we only did each of these once during the week but for dinner it was calm and we really enjoyed it we had a lovely evening. Provence was our least favourite for breakfast, lunch and dinner but this was just down to personal taste so again only visited once for each of these. Anaya and fresco for dinner were fantastic. We ate at fresco on our last evening and as it is my birthday next week we celebrated early, they decorated the table for me and brought out a birthday cake and sung happy birthday which I thought was a lovely touch. There was even a bottle of bubbly, a note and some flowers in my room that evening which was a lovely surprise and even a personal visit from Dimitris at dinner too! We ate in the beach club for lunch and dinner and we really enjoyed this too a lovely view of the sea. We also had dinner on the beach for our first night and this was a nice experience. We ate regularly in flavours for breakfast and lunch with dinner on our last evening before we left for the airport. Although we felt like there were less choice at the buffet than ikos Olivia and sometimes a bit repetitive everything was of high quality and we enjoyed everything we had and the service was very good. Having stayed at Olivia in May I would say the food quality was better at Oceania across all restaurants. We also used room service and ordered food at the deluxe pool and deluxe beach area and again everything was of good quality. Again all the bar areas that we visited the service and drinks were of high quality so no complaints there. Really couldn’t fault the food and drink here!
We used the deluxe pool area a lot, Despina, Alex and the whole team are a credit to this hotel. They are friendly, efficient and nothing is too much trouble. They go the extra mile to make sure everyone is having q wonderful stay. From drying off sunbeds after the morning of rain, to making fabulous cocktails we couldn’t have asked for more. We loved the deluxe pool area at Oceania. Although smaller than Olivia it had amazing views of the sea and it was very calm and quiet.
We also used the deluxe beach area a lot, we did (along with others) have a few issues with the service down in this area at the start of our holiday which wasn’t on par with the deluxe pool area. We struggled to get towels and order food and drinks but Antigoni and Dimitris addressed this issue quickly after some feedback and the QR codes were back out and the service was much better after this. What makes IKOS hotels stand out from others is this attention to detail, Antigoni and Dimitris personally come to speak to us at the beach after I provided some feedback and addressed the issue immediately. What I thought was an amazing touch was there was a cocktail called hey you that we had at ikos Olivia in May and they sourced the ingredients for us so I could have them in the beach club and on the beach during our holiday. This was extremely appreciated and such a lovely surprise! Many thanks to Dimitris, Antigoni and Asmina for arranging this. The other thing that we brought up when we spoke to Antigoni and Dimitris was that we were struggling with getting the wines that we wanted across the whole resort the entire week and after providing some feedback this did get slightly better as my husband was then able to get some wines that he wanted but both of us still struggled, not sure if this is because it is the last week of the season and they were in short supply but this does need to be addressed going forward so all wines are available for the entire season, we didn’t experience this in May at Olivia and was a little surprised that a lot of wines were not available across all of the resort. We did also hear others struggling with this too.
My husband and I did the wine tasting on our first afternoon and it was quite a large group of people, we tried three wines. It was good and informative but not as good as at Ikos Olivia but we enjoyed it and would recommend doing it.
We used the spa for one morning and I had a bespoke facial which was wonderful. Vasaliki kindly let me swap mine and my husbands free deluxe massage for this treatment. I would highly recommend as I come out of there so relaxed. My husband used the pool, sauna and steam room and also said it was very enjoyable. It was so quiet and peaceful in there, a lovely experience!
We hired the Tesla for the day and visited Afytos as we love the feel of this little village and the views are beautiful. We then stopped off at Ikos Olivia for a couple of hours and used the deluxe beach area and pool area. I do prefer the deluxe beach area at Olivia as the beach is cleaner and feels more spaced out as Oceania feels a little bit more on top of each other where it is a smaller beach. The pool area is also bigger at Olivia but the views are not as good as at Oceania. The service at Olivia was very good and again they didn’t have the hey you cocktail on the menu but they sourced the ingredients for me which was lovely of them!
We used the watersports quite a few times on the beach, paddle boarding, canoeing and the pedalo and my daughter had a go on the crazy couch and loved it! We really like that you can use these each day.
My nearly 13 year old daughter used the teens club everyday and loved Mary. She did some exciting activities and made lots of friends. She actually preferred the teens club here to ikos Olivia. My 7 year old son loved hero’s club everyday and again made lots of friends and did lots of fun activities. All of the staff at the kids clubs are a credit to the hotel as they are so lovely! The entire week was Halloween themed which the kids loved and they even had a Halloween party on the Friday evening but sadly I don’t think this was advertised very well as no one really attended it so it would be good to add this to the schedule in future so people are aware it’s happening.
My husband and son hired some bikes and had a lovely bike ride along the beach road. We also walked in both directions on the beach and the road everyday in the morning after breakfast and although nothing around it was very peaceful.
We visited the local market on Wednesday which was a nice couple of hours out, we walked there and back and didn’t take the shuttle but we highly recommend visiting for olive oil, olives, honey etc as lots of local sellers and so cheap!
We didn’t watch any of the evening shows or entertainment as we don’t really do this while away so can’t comment on that.
Overall we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this hotel and just as Ikos Olivia we will be returning. I think Oceania has the edge for me as the food quality, personal service and views are better. We liked that there was less younger children here than at Olivia too. My husband likes that Olivia was flatter but I actually like all the steps and slopes at Oceania as after all that wonderful food and drink it got you moving! A lot of people comment that Oceania is not as modern and shiny as other ikos resorts but if they were all the same where would the fun be in that and I also think this is reflected in the price too. I think they are all different in their own right and so far Olivia and Oceania have been fantastic, it’s personal choice what is better for some than others. We all had a wonderful holiday and are very grateful to all the staff that work so hard, thank you to all at Oceania!
Now on the countdown to Odisia and Aria next year but we will be back!"
