Ikos Andalusia

We have just returned from a most wonderful trip to Andalusia in Southern Spain. The trip was arranged through Tours Andalusia, a British company run by Mr Gary Montagu in London. We emailed him many times before the trip, and his responses were always timely, provided a lot of useful information and details, and we were thoroughly satisfied not only with our communications with him, but also with all the arrangements he described, which were, in fact, carried out more than satisfactorily. We would recommend Andalusia Tours wholeheartedly and without any reservations whatsoever to future travelers. ANDALUSIAtours is a small company that usually runs a very limited number of small tours of varying length each week during the season. Each of their vans accommodates six people and a driver cum guide, plus their luggage. All reservations for overnight accommodation in four-star hotels are taken care of. Mr Montagu will run a tour even if fewer than six people sign up. We were lucky that no one else signed up for our tour, so we had a vehicle and driver all to ourselves. Nothing could have been grander. Our driver was named Javi. He is a most wonderful person, an excellent driver, one who knows the whole area really well, personable, kind, concerned for the welfare of all tourists under his charge, and extremely helpful and resourceful in all ways. The first thing that happened to me on arrival from Madrid to Malaga, from where the tour started, was that I lost my passport. javi met us at the airport, helped me lodge a police report, and facilitated my entrance into all the monuments without a passport, which is generally required. He showed us parts of cities which many tourists generally don’t get to see, gave us excellent directions for our own self-guided tours and places to dine, and was always punctual to the minute, waiting for us at prearranged meeting places. But he never hurried us; rather, he let us have as much time to explore as we wanted. A better tour leader, guide and driver cannot be imagined. We spent one to two nights in each of the major cities we visited, Malaga, Cadiz. Granada, Cordoba, Seville, and Antiquera, which we used as a base for visiting several Pueblo blancos, very attractive towns where all buildings are painted white. We were dazzled by the architectural details of the cathedrals of Cordoba, Seville, and especially Granada, impressed by Columbus’s tomb there, and those of Ferdinand and Isabella in the Royal Chapel nearby, charmed by modern cities, and quite amazed by the Alhambra in Granada, where very early Christian churches were expanded into magnificent mosques by the Moors from the 10th to 12th or 13th centuries, which in turn were incorporated into Christian cathedrals in the 15th to 16th centuries, and now coexist happily without any sense of incongruity in modern, commercial, dynamic and traffic clogged streets with very pleasing architectural styles of their own, but with a respectful nod to the earlier styles. A true palimpsest of architectural styles and history! The tour took us to fine meals in quaint inns and restaurants, and one evening we saw a perfectly amazing flamenco performance preceded by a fine dinner in Granada. Our tour, which lasted thirteen days, ended in Malaga. The next day we took a bus to Madrid where, over the weekend, we did a bit of exploring before I presented myself at the American Embassy on Monday morning. the Consular staff were extremely helpful, understanding, and kind; and because I had the requisite documents, I had been issued an emergency travel document by that afternoon. That enabled me to return home safely and without further mishaps. I cannot praise the Consular staff and the work they do enough. Thus ended a most perfect holuday in Andalusia. I would be failing in my duty if I did not end with a word of the heartiest thanks to those who made it possible: Javi, a wonderful driver, a perfect guide, and most helpful traveling companion, Gary Montagu, who runs Andalusia Tours so perfectly, and the Cobsular staff of the American Embassy in Madriswho were the soul of courtesy, professionalism, and efficiency, and who facilitated my safe return home.

We visited Andalusia in the last week of its opening in Nov 2025 and we had really lovely weather. This was our 15th IKOS holiday and our first out of Greece. We were not disappointed it was everything that the Greek resorts give us and it was nice to explore the Spanish coastline both by using the cycle hire and the car hire for the day. We truly had a wonderful holiday. We had a great wine tasting by the brilliant Alicia and also met Jose Antonio the sommelier who both looked after us extremely well throughout our trip. Thank you 🙏 both. We are coming back in 2026 so hopefully will see you again. Zuzana in the main bar was a superstar and we really enjoyed chatting with her. We also booked the cocktail class and the man who did that was great 👍 along with the man who worked in the cocktail bar in the evening. Both wonderful cocktail makers. We had some wonderful food in all the restaurants and were lucky enough to dine in them all throughout our stay. Thank you to Dimitris and Asteris in the Italian, we had a wonderful evening meal. What made our stay so memorable was meeting Martha Karamaus the Reception manager who we had heard about from our dear friend Katerina who is a manager at IKOS Dassia and Martha is a relative of hers. She is a beautiful person and we really loved meeting her at Andalusia and when we re visit this year we hope to see her again. Thank you so much for looking after us.

We had the most amazing stay at Ikos Andalusia. The service felt genuinely warm, the food was outstanding (every restaurant was a hit), and the whole place has this relaxed, luxurious vibe without feeling stuffy. Waking up to sea views, spending the day by the pool, and ending with dinner at sunset — it just felt easy and special. We left already wanting to come back.

This was our 3rd Ikos stay, having previously visited Dassia and Porto Petro. We were in a Party of four. Our staying in standard and my husband's sister in Deluxe. The main theme of this review is about the service, which is (for us) what sets Ikos apart and is why we happily pay the premium price. If this review was purely about service is would be 3 stars. The four stars recognise the whole holiday. The service at Ikos Andalusia was simply sub (previous) Ikos standards we experienced Each service issue in isolation was minor. It was the regularity of them that became annoying, including after we had left. When... We were at the airport for our flight home when my husband got a call from his brother in law, as there was an outstanding balance against his room - the booking being made by my husband. They went through every payment and date to find the error (made by Ikos) as there was no balance to pay. The worst thing being that it was the exact same error and exercise gone through the day before, when my husband went to settle up and had to go through every detail and date to correct an Ikos error. Pool service was consistently poor with staff focusing on busier areas. Many times we had long waits, eventually giving up and going to the nearest bar for water. Dinner service was not to usual high standards. Some examples follow. At one meal (with 2 service staff) one waiter asked if we would like top ups (correct drinks), the other rushed in putting still water in my sparkling water and the wrong wine. Another time I ordered dishes that did not arrive. Another where drinks were left outside (having moved us inside due to strong winds), with no staff available my husband went to collect them - suddenly descended upon by staff recognising what was happening. The most disappointing thing was simply the lack of personal interaction with waiting staff which we greatly enjoyed on our other Ikos visits. The friendliness was simply not there. I can only assume there was a combination of a lack of staff and some training issues. The front office staff kindly gave us a couple of complimentary offers as an apology, but it didn't take away the many small disappointments we simply didn't expect. This paled compared to my sister/brother in laws problems. They moved room twice, ending up in a Deluxe 2 bedroom villa!. Their 1st room had electrical issues, their 2nd bird excrement on the balcony. With one incident where my brother in law was fully lathered up in the shower when the power and water was turned off (for maintenance work) without their being told. One (near) whole holiday annoyance for them was the Whats App concierge calling him by my husbands surname in all conversations. The check in staff having put in the wrong details for standard and deluxe guest on arrival. After multiple requests to fix this, they did so on day 6 of 7. Their highlight was the service in the deluxe area and they still had a great time. Our highlight was the food which was great in every restaurant. I would also encourage anyone thinking of visiting to combine it with a stay in one of the many amazing cities and towns in this part of Spain. Seville, Cadiz, Granada, etc etc. We had a wider family stay in Seville and Cordoba before heading to Ikos.

We recently returned from our second stay at Ikos Andalusia and while we still had a very enjoyable holiday overall, there were some noticeable differences from our first visit that are worth highlighting. The resort itself remains beautiful, immaculately maintained and set in a fantastic location. Many of the staff are warm and welcoming and the all inclusive concept continues to be one of the strongest in the market. However, service levels felt less consistent this time around and in some areas there has been a clear decline. Most notably, the room service food was extremely disappointing. On multiple occasions it was tasteless, poorly presented and often arrived undercooked. This was not a one off experience but a repeated issue throughout our stay. For a resort positioning itself as a premium luxury offering, the standard of in room dining felt far below expectations and quite frankly grim at times. It is an area that requires urgent attention as it significantly impacts the overall guest experience, particularly for families who rely on this option. Restaurant reservations have also become far more difficult to secure. Despite attempting to book well in advance, including months prior to arrival, we were unable to obtain a single reservation at the Asian restaurant for any evening during our stay. This was frustrating and detracted from the seamless experience we remembered from our first visit. There also appears to be a widening gap between what is offered to Deluxe Collection guests and those on the standard package. It is fully understood that paying for a premium tier should provide additional benefits. However the standard package is already very expensive and should still feel accessible and premium in its own right. At times it felt as though availability and service were weighted more heavily toward Deluxe guests, which is something worth considering when positioning the different packages. We share this feedback constructively. Ikos Andalusia remains a wonderful resort in many respects and we did have a lovely holiday. However there has been a noticeable shift since our first stay and we hope these points are helpful in ensuring the experience remains aligned with the premium pricing and reputation of the Ikos brand.