IKOS Oceania Hotel Review - in Halkidiki - A family holiday
A family review of Ikos Oceania Hotel in Halkidiki luxury all inclusive resort.
Mum, Dad and 2 children review their 1 week stay at Ikos Oceania Hotel in the Halkidiki, Nea Moudania region, in the beautiful Greece. We love Greece as a country and had never visited Halkidiki so were looking forward to this visit to the luxury all inclusive Oceania Hotel.
In this review about Ikos Oceania we look at:
Our experience as a family on our May visit to Ikos Oceania Hotel
What was the weather like in May in Halkidiki Greece
What the food was like at Ikos Oceania Hotel (our favourite bit)
What the decor was like at Ikos Oceania
We booked our luxury stay at The Ikos Oceania Hotel as a special birthday surprise for Si. Ikos is a luxury group of resorts offering all inclusive.
The prompt was a special birthday. But the holiday marked the start of much more.
Looking down on the pools at Ikos Oceania Hotel in Halkidiki. The Italian restaurant peaking in at the top left.
After the birth of our second baby boy, I had suffered with Post Natal Depression. It came out of blue and hit me like a bolt of lightening. What should have been a lovely first few years, was like living in limbo between trying so hard to be better, wanting to be better, taking two steps forwards and three back into despair. Si had given up his DJ career, no questions, to scoop our family up and help me mend. But it wasn't quick, it held on, long after the baby blues, long after the time where 'she should be better by now' and life did not get back to normal quickly. The holiday to Ikos Oceania in Halkidiki marked the start of the beginning of us 'living' again.
Cheers 'to living' at The Italian Restaurant 'Fresco'.
We chose Ikos because of the food. We LOVE good food & eating out. As a couple before kids, it was 'our thing'. We've eaten at many fine dining & Michelin guide restaurants. And 'good' is our thing. We don't need a fancy label, we just need good quality. And many all inclusive resorts just don't hit the mark sadly where the food is concerned. Ikos is not like other all inclusive resorts.
Choosing what to eat for evening meal at The French restaurant in Ikos Oceania - makes us this happy. Accompanied by a paired wine recommended by the Sommelier. Makes us THIS happy.
As parents, we don't get to eat out near as much as we'd like to and as we don't have family close by, getting a babysitter is just not easy. Dining out stopped during the years prior to this holiday. And when you stop doing something that you truly love, a little piece of you dies with it. We're strong advocates that a happy Mum & Dad is the foundation for happy kids, so doing a little bit of what makes us happy is important in our family dynamics.
At Ikos Halkidiki it was all about the food. And it did not disappoint. From breakfast to lunch to evening meal the food at Ikos Oceania is simply outstanding. And this set the tone for all other aspects of our holiday. If you've ever been to an all inclusive hotel before, you'll know that the meals are mostly buffet style, where you go get your own food. Food at the Ikos is like going to a beautiful restaurant very night, where they have delicious menus to choose from and your food arrives looking like this (below). The standard is like high end restaurant EVERY MEAL. We loved this.
A few of our favourite dishes at Ikos Oceania. It was so hard to choose.
Ikos Halkidiki Resorts is a luxury 5 star all inclusive hotel, with an Infinite Lifestyle Concept. This basically means that instead of your usual all inclusive style of food, you have Michelin-starred menus, 24-hour room service serving hotel standard room service, wines paired with each meal and so much more. And what makes it so very special, is that it’s all included as part of your stay. For us as a family, this meant that we could dine out and be a couple again (of course with kids) but this meant so much to us.
our favourite - the open air Greek à la-carte menu treats guests serving delicious traditional Greek cuisine with a modern twist
Ikos Resorts have 4 destinations (Halkidiki, Corfu, Cos & Marbella) all offering the Ikos signature Infinite Lifestyle Concept. Each one unique in it's own way. We stayed at Ikos Oceania in Halkidiki in May with 2 children. Based on our experience at Oceania, we'd love to try every single one. Staying at Oceania changed our perceptions of all inclusive. And anywhere we've been since just hasn't lived up to this in terms of luxury and quality on offer. Even the drinks here are first rate. Cocktails expertly mixed as though you are paying in a top cocktail bar. Drinks are served in glasses which goes without saying here, but this isn't the case in most all inclusive. And the spirits are branded, and it just wouldn't be any other way. It feels very strange at first, walking away from the bar with drinks in hand, and not paying. They're too good to not pay!
There are five a la carte restaurants (Greek, Italian, French & Asian) to choose from as well as a Mediterranean buffet (Flavors). The buffet is really top class by any all inclusive buffet standard I've ever eaten at. It is not your normal buffet and well worth a visit. We enjoyed it for breakfast, beautiful fresh juices, fruits, yoghurts, honey's, pastrys, cooked breakfast all to super high standard and all excellent quality ingredients. And there is also a Dine Out option where you can dine out in the local town at a restaurant and Ikos cover the cost of that. We felt so spoilt for choice in the resort that we didn't take advantage of the dine out and wished we had done now. But we had found our favourite places and had too many favourites dishes within each of those that we wanted to sample again.
Feeling relaxed in our favourite Ouzo restaurant. Esteemed chef Lefteris Lazarou gained his first Michelin star in 2002 – the first one ever awarded to a chef serving Greek cuisine. Lazarou still holds his star.
We enjoyed Ouzo restaurant so much that we started going for breakfast & lunch here too most days. We just loved the open air aspect and poolside vibe.
The French restaurant (Provence) feels exactly like a French restaurant. It's classic, chic and runs like clockwork. It's the only restaurant where I didn't take many pictures. I was enjoying myself too much. Provence is headed up by Head Chef Anthony Jehanno who won his first Michelin star in 2017. He's worked under the famous Jean Luc-Larvoir at the award-winning L’Auberge in Brittany, next to the two times Michelin-star winner, Stephane Raimbault, to name a few. We know of Anthony from the Greenhouse Restaurant in London (which we love), and he won the Bib Gourmand award at his own restaurant. So it is no wonder. We loved eating at Provence restaurant during our stay at Ikos and it felt like somewhere to get dressed up for. Perfect for a romantic date night. I had a beautiful fillet steak with a crisp white wine paired specially. I love that each restaurant has a sommelier that selects the best wines for you to go with each dish. It feels special. I'm not a big wine drinker, but every selection made by the sommelier was paired beautifully. This is what I need for all my meals going forward ;-)
Eating Alfresco at Fresco The Italian restauarnt at Ikos Oceania. With head chef Hector Botrini who served his apprenticeship under his father, the chef Etrusco Botrini, at Club Med facilities around the world and in the award-winning family restaurant Etrusco in Corfu, which he took on (ranked 68th on the list of the world’s best restaurants). He also worked alongside Alain Ducasse at the Louis XV restaurant in Monaco.
And the Asian restaurant (Anaya) serves authentic Thai, Indian & Chinese food. Under Chef Thiou, famously known as the Master of Thai and Asian cuisine from Paris. Thiou is famed for her hand-made ravioli with crayfish and coconut milk and lime sauce - a must try
The decor all over the hotel is simply beautiful. All rooms are stylish and spacious. The design of the whole resort has been tastefully and stylishly done. From the landscaped gardens and herbaceous planting through to the sun beds and umbrellas on the private beach. Everything is presented to leave a lasting impression on guests and it certainly does.
Ikos Oceania Halkidiki is sat on it's own private beach that's a few steps from the pool. Here you can get very nice drinks brought to you whilst you relax the days away. The beach and pool bar staff are attentive and always on hand to ask if you would like a drink. During the day, they would hand out ice cold towels to refresh with. All the nice touches that made it feel luxurious.
Smile for the camera. Never stays still for the camera.
Pools for everyone – kids pools for toddlers and children and adults infinity pool, as well a s private pools around the resort
Daddy & Lilly enjoying a swim in the infinity pool looking out to the Mediterranean Sea
Kids can get delicious ice creams throughout the day
And for the the children! Well, the children are very well catered for at Ikos Oceania with Kids Club* (ages 4 – 12 yrs) and Teenager Club* (13– 17 yrs/high season) where they play games and activities all day long. The Kids Club is operated by professional UK Ofsted childcare providers.
Ikos Beach Life offers a beach-based child care service where parents can put children in the most capable hands while they take a moment to themselves, maybe lunch at the beach bar as a couple with kids, this was pure luxury.
The level of service is impeccable, which gave us peace of mind to leave the kids at the Kids Club and visit the Spa, as a couple, which is something we never get to do. So good is the standard of care for the children, that we felt safe enough to do this. The spa uses Anne Semonin products that are available in the rooms also and have now become a range that we use at home which takes us right back to Ikos. Something we want to re-live time and time again.
The spa at Ikos Oceania is just amazing. I'm going to leave it there.
All in all Ikos Oceania feels like a very special place. I've recommended it to 3 sets of friends and they're all come back raving about how good it is.
Ikos have got this thing spot on for parents who still want a little luxury & independence with kids. It's a place where Mum & Dad can come away and feel like they've actually had a holiday together. We felt 'together' for the first time in a long time. It's a place where kids are happy and fulfilled.
For the foodies - it's got you. For the luxury hunters - it's got you. For the beach lovers - it's got you. For people that like nice things - It's 100% got you. And it's all parcelled in a beautiful unpretentious bow. We felt very relaxed at Ikos.
We came to Ikos for a special birthday that was celebrated in the best way.
We came to Ikos ready to start living again.
And we left Ikos living life.
The review of Ikos in short: We thoroughly recomend Ikos oceania for families but, although it's kid and family friendly, it's also suitable for couples too. We've also been as a couple since this trip (blog post to follow) and the experience was special. There are private adult only pool and the kids at the hotel each time we've been have been well behaved and looked after.
Food is outstanding, the resort simply beautiful, stylish and tastefully done. The staff are attentive and genuine, without being overbearing. We've recommended Ikos to 3 sets of friends, who all returned with glowing reviews - more glowing than ours! We know you'll love it too. Just go on tripadvisor and read the reviews, we honestly don't know how anybody could complain about Ikos - it's out of this world. And we can not wait for our next visit. And look forward to staying at their other hotels.
EASY LINKS TO BOOK
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Book a stay at Ikos Oceania with Booking.com
Nearest Airport to Ikos Oceania Hotel:
From Manchester to Thessalonika Airport (SKG)
Hotel offer transfers to and from.
Let us know your thoughts if you do book Ikos Oceania, we'd love to hear how your experience went. We've recommended it to foodie friends and all come back absolutely raving about it. We should really work on commission from Ikos ;-) we don't we just love it there and return to the same high standards that we love.
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