Ikaros Beach Resort & Spa — Hotel in Municipality of Chersonissos

Ikaros Beach Resort and Spa is a fantastic resort with beautiful scenery located on the Aegean sea. The resort is a perfect size and has many beautiful pathways covered in flowers and trees. These pathways lead to pools, beaches, bars and restaurants all located on the resort. There are also many relaxing places to sit throughout the many nooks and crannies of the resort. But what really makes this resort stand out other than the various amenities is the service! While you are relaxing at the pool there are many kind and friendly waiters walking around ready to serve you whatever you desire. The cleaning staff are some of the most pleasant people I have ever met (thanks Katarina!) and the resort administrators are very generous and will do anything to make your stay as wonderful as possible!

In total on the resort, there are 5 pools: 1 adult-only pool, 3 general pools and 1 kids pool that has various slides and water spouts. At every pool, there is a bar close by so drinks and food are never too far away! The beach is covered in chairs for sunbathing in, all provided by the resort of course. The ocean is very warm (I was here in July) and bluey-green with a nice sandy beach. On the beach, you can pay to do various water sports like parasailing and other such things. Close to the beach are 2 of the 5 restaurants located on the resort, En Lefko, a fusion restaurant and Ouzeri, a Greek restaurant. I only dined at Ouzeri where I had lamb souvlaki that was exceptional. What can be said about both is that the restaurants are located very close to the ocean giving them great views for dining! The other restaurants are Ayeri, a Mediterranean high-class restaurant, Veranda, a relaxed dining experience and Sunset, an Asian restaurant. Ayeri is a restaurant with a dress code so make sure you are dressed nicely and men must wear long pants. However, with the quality of the food at Ayeri, you feel as though you have to be dressed up because it really is exceptional. I had the cuttlefish risotto with truffle oil which may be one of the better risottos I have ever had. There are also fantastic ocean views and an overall great atmosphere to the restaurant. Finally, there is a buffet hosted by the resort in their main hall that has great food and is a very casual experience if you just want a nice quick bite to eat.

Other than restaurants the resort has a few other great amenities. There is a decent-sized gym perfect for doing some workouts on vacation as well as a spa. The spa does massages, facials, manicures, pedicures and other relaxing services. There are also a few shops on the resort, a small market, a clothing store and a jewely store. For the location, the resort is situated outside of the town of Malia. Just off the resort, there are many taverns and nice restaurants to sit down and eat with friends and family. There are also many tourist type excursions that you can sign up for near the resort such as driving around ATV's and other types of tours.

In conclusion, if you are looking for a resort beach holiday with your friends and family in Crete, look no further. From the excellent views to the delicious food options this resort has it all! You really feel that 5-star experience! The staff are so kind and friendly making every part of this resort about relaxing and enjoying yourself. Highly recommended for a group of friends, and families...

My wife and I stayed for our honeymoon and it was by far the nicest place we’ve ever been too. It exceeded all expectations. The resort is set up like an old world village with stone facades, and archways with gorgeous flowering shrubs and trees everywhere between the buildings. We were upgraded to a much nicer room than what we reserved that had access to a semi private pool shared with a few other units. The beach area was very convenient and had white sand with clear blue water. The bar was a short walk from the loungers. This isn’t necessarily an Ikaros issue but if you want to get a front row lounger you have to get there before 0830 because people drop towels off early and walk away. The food was by far my favorite part. I was a little nervous after reading some reviews that it was repetitive but after staying for 6 days I can assure you there is ample diversity in the buffet if you like all types of food. Plus it was all so healthy with a large variety of vegetables, meats/fish, dairy, and some rice/pasta/bread. The one section did serve fries and pasta with sauce every day so if you have a picky eater there are options. The service in the buffet is a little odd because it’s self serve food but waiters for drinks. It causes a little lag in the service because the food was quick to get but if the waiters were busy you might not even get a drink until you’ve finished eating. Also if you buy the all inclusive package you get to eat at the other restaurants one time each but make sure you contact the resort a few weeks in advance or you might not get a reservation. We waited until we got to the resort and the Asian restaurant was booked up for the whole week. We dined at the Italian restaurant which had great food and great views. We also did the private dinner overlooking the ocean which was €125-€175 per person depending on the selected meal but was definitely worth the views and service. The all inclusive package drink menu received some negative reviews but overall I think it was great. Sure a few different fruity beach cocktails were not included but there were plenty of options available. I’m sure they would send you a menu if you reached out. Our favorites with the spicy lover, mango caiproska, and of course the freddo cappuccino was the perfect coffee drink for the hot days. They had a nice selection of liquors included as well. If you don’t like cocktails then I would agree the beer and wine options were a little limited— only 1 type of beer included and 1 each of the house white, red, rose, and sparking wines. The communication and services were excellent. There are no Ubers in the area but the front desk will request taxi service for you. They recommended a tour of a local olive grove for an olive oil and wine tasting that was amazing. The pool areas had an array of seating and lounging options. The bean bags overlooking the ocean were our favorite but they had loungers and day beds as well as some tables to eat from the pool bar. The pool bar closed around 1700/1730 but the main bar near the beach and other pool was basically always open.

Overall we absolutely loved every second of our stay and have already discussed coming back...

We stayed for a week on an all inclusive basis, travelling with Jet2 and booked a Bungalow with garden view.||We arrived very late at night but there were some salad items available in the restaurant which was lovely and welcomed.||The next morning we quickly realised that our room, while described as a garden view, actually looked out onto other rooms, certainly no garden. We enquired if there were any other rooms we could pay to upgrade to but were told only the executive sea view rooms at €70 per night was an option. This was quite baffling as we could have booked any type of room on Booking.com and on the hotel website for the duration of our stay! We didn’t follow this up but it was disappointing. The room was comfortable with tea and coffee provided and a large bottle of water each day.||The main restaurant is big, beautiful and airy. We never struggled to get a table though we do tend to eat quite late. Morning omelettes were delicious as were lunch and dinner options. We were a little confused by the ‘international’ menus as on Oriental night there was definitely nothing oriental served. On our last night we ate at Ammos and the food was delicious, the service excellent.||We aren’t beach lovers so our days were spent at the pool where Pegvy, with her superb service and lovely smile, provided us with drinks. There were ample sun beds at all the pools at any time of day though this may be different as the season progresses.||Twice we visited the Dedalos bar - both times late afternoon and were really disappointed with the complete lack of interest by staff. On the second occasion, there were 5 staff members behind the bar. After 10 minutes, with no one coming to us, I went to the bar to order drinks which were served in plastic cups - there were 6 or 7 other tables occupied at the time, all with their drinks served in glasses along with snacks and waiters taking orders at their tables - we didn’t visit this bar again! ||On an evening we tended to use the Ikaros bar. The garden setting is a beautiful space and the staff very friendly - always served our drinks with a smile.||There seemed to be a bit of confusion at checkout with guests given different cards despite being on the same board and Reception seeming a little unsure about it all. ||For guests staying beyond check out, the spa can be used for showering and lockers with keys are available.||We got the local bus to Agios Nikolaos which was beautiful - definitely worth a visit and the buses were modern, clean and comfortable.||This is the first year the hotel is adult only.||How would I sum up our holiday? The hotel is beautiful, the food is excellent, the pools are amazing. The younger staff should take so much credit for their friendliness to guests. Some of the more mature staff, certainly not all, should observe these younger staff members and learn from them - they are the hotels future and if they continue as they are now they will be the best ambassadors for Ikaros. Older is not always wiser. Despite a few small disappointments during this stay, we would return...