Ikos Aria

This is the first time that I have ever been inclined to post a review about a holiday. We stayed at the new Ikos Aria resort in Kos at the end of August. We are a family of 4 with 2 children aged 7 and 4. We weren't sure what to expect from an all inclusive resort and had concerns that it may not live up to our expectations or may be full of people over-indulging to excess, but Ikos Aria was fantastic. We stayed in a deluxe one bedroom beachfront villa with a separate lounge which converted into a bedroom for the kids. It was perfect for a family of four like us. There are some nice additional services for the deluxe rooms. I wouldn't say the deluxe package was a necessity, but the deluxe pool was lovely and where we spent a lot of our time. Overall the facilities at the hotel are extensive, fantastic and defintely 5* in quality. The rooms and facilities are spread over 50 acres of beachfront land so there was lots of space and a lovely feel to the resort. Quality of the food and drink was excellent. We don't particularly like the experience of buffet restaurants with kids as so often you are up and down from the table and it doesn't lend itself to a relaxed enjoyable meal. However, only one of the restaurants is a buffet (and a very good buffet), with the rest being al la carte with a wonderful wide range of dining options. There is more than enough choice for a week so we didn't take advantage of the dine-out option, but this is a nice touch we we would definitely use if staying for 10 days or a fortnight. We didn't want to hire a car as we planned to spend most of our time in the resort, but the option to take a BMW mini out for a day at no additional charge was great. Our boys only went into the kids club for one morning as we wanted to spend time with them and to activities together. The facilities are good, with a variety of fun activities for them to do throughout the week. It is run by predominantly english staff, who were very friendly. We have stayed at resorts before (5*) where it was difficult to get sunbeds and this added stress to what should be a relaxing holiday. At Ikos Aria we never had any difficulties getting sunbeds at all of the pools and on the beach. Staff were quick to help get you set up and brought drinks and snacks regularly througout the day. The pools were warm, as was the sea at this time of the year. There are lots of activities which you can do at the resort, most of which are at no additional charge. We took out a kayak and a pedallo and my wife had a free scuba diving trial in the swimming pool. We didn't get involved in any of the other activities, nor did we go to any of the evening entertainment, but there is basically always stuff going on and something for everyone. So loads of good stuff to report. However, the icing on the cake and what set Ikos Aria apart from other resports that we have been too was their staff. There are lots of staff, very welcoming, friendly and happy to help. The staff were great with us and the kids and made a good holiday into a truly great holiday. We would definitely return to Ikos Aria and recommend it to our friends.

We stayed at Ikos Oceania a couple of years ago and since then have been lucky enough to stay in some really special 5 star resorts (in the maldives and dubai) all have been wonderful but at the end of each holiday we had the same thoughts - they werent quite up to Ikos standard... We stayed at Ikos Aria with friends at the end of August for 2 weeks, a lot has been said about the service but it truly is exceptional,to give an example, we had arranged a private boat trip and wanted to take some wine with us (The mediterranean Berne Rose is perfect if you are a fan of whispering angel) we sent a whatsapp to the deluxe concierge and the next morning while waiting for a transfer a cool box with 6 bottles was waiting for us, incredible! Each member of staff greeted us every time we saw them, the décor is absolutely beautiful everywhere, every meal was delicious. Around the deluxe pool I would like to mention Maria and Alexandra who gave us fantastic service, and Markella at Seasons restaurant who worked tirelessly to ensure we were having a wonderful time. Our favourite restaurant was probably Ouzo (closely followed by the wonderful Provence) at Ouzo I would like to mention Fabio, Sakis, Georgia, Rania and Yiannis who gave us truly exceptional service. I also had a wonderful treatment in the Spa by Vicky who was fantastic. All in all I have no negatives to report, we would love to come back to Aria and look forward to trying the other Ikos resorts.