Ikos Dassia Corfu Review – Our Family Holiday
Here is our family review of the IKOS Dassia resort in Corfu Greece…
When searching for holidays, my criteria for a relaxing break away together, is generally an all inclusive resort in Europe with good food, big swimming pools and nice accommodation. This was our first time visiting an Ikos resort and as it was by far the best resort we’ve ever stayed at in Greece, I wanted to share a full review of our holiday – focusing on what the Ikos Dassia is like when you are visiting with children in the summer holidays.
First up we went in August 2023 as a family of four (our children were nine & eleven) and we booked through Jet2 Holidays who offer the Ikos Dassia resort, as part of one of their Indulgent Escape packages. (We went for one week flying out of Stansted, London.)
What do you get extra on a Jet2 Indulgent Escape flight?
First up a bit about the Indulgent escape package…
We’ve done a few Jet2 Holidays before, but this was our first Indulgent Escape package. I assumed it was just the name they gave the bookings to the more luxurious and high end holidays, but there’s also some extras on the flight included as part of the Indulgent Escape flight too. I didn’t realise any of this, so it was a nice surprise when we arrived at the airport that firstly we had fast track through security included in our package. We’ve never paid for fast track before and couldn’t believe how quick it makes it all. We were through Stansted security in ten minutes, yet could see the standard queue was massive, looking like it probably would have taken us at least three quarters of an hour if we’d gone the normal way.
On top of that, you also then get some vouchers to use on the plane. We were sent to the Jet2 customer services desk after we dropped our cases off to collect these and they explained that you need the voucher downloaded on your phone that’s in the Jet2 app. The first voucher is for a drink on the flight for each person (the only thing to remember is that you have one voucher per party per flight, rather than per person, so you all need to order your drinks at the same time. Not that it’s a problem being such a short flight anyway.)
You also then get a £10 voucher to spend on the flight per person too. At first I assumed this was for food or drink but it’s actually for the duty free. There’s not a lot you can get for £10, so it was good there’s also the option to put it all together, so I had a nice time on the flight looking through the magazine choosing a treat from the cosmetic section to use on our holiday. One thing I’m considering doing for our next trip is ordering Custom Luggage Tags – with kids in tow, anything that makes baggage claim quicker is a win. Plus, they’re such a fun way to add a bit of personality (and practicality!) to our suitcases.
Onto the holiday itself – on arrival at Corfu airport, it was all nice and simple with a Jet2 rep meeting us in arrivals and our private transfer car arriving less than ten minutes later to take us to the resort. The journey took about half an hour and we arrived at the resort late evening.
What’s the Ikos Dassia Corfu Resort like?
After a long busy day of travelling, feeling tired and over all the busyness and crowds, walking through the doors into the hotel, felt heavenly – the lobby and bar are beautiful, spacious and calm. It has a contemporary yet luxurious feel, with lots of earthy warm tones contrasting with the cream marble flooring and seating areas. As with all the Ikos resorts it also has its own unique smell, gently scenting wherever you are, giving a spa feel throughout.
What are the swimming pools like at Ikos Dassia corfu?
Ikos Dassia Corfu has a great range of swimming pools, from the calm and tranquil adult ones to the two large pools that snake around the front of the two main buildings (Sky and Sea) Although I’ve described the adult ones as calm what actually really struck me about all of the Ikos Dassia swimming pools in general, is that all of them had a chilled out atmosphere – never feeling too busy or loud as some other family resorts can do that we’ve visited before.
These main pools were never full and we always had lots of space around us when swimming and playing. Both have a graduated entrance at one end and had a large area around a metre deep, so plenty of space for children to play. There’s also a nice little area on one side with an infinity effect, with a pretty view over the beachfront and sea. The pools are also heated to a nice temperature, so you don’t get a nasty shock when you jump in. Inflatables are allowed, although they don’t sell them on the resort, but there’s a few shops straight across the road to the main entrance where you can buy them. As well as the big pools they have a splash park area with fountains, guns and buckets that tip over next to the ice cream stands.
How easy is it to get sun loungers at the Ikos resorts?
The short answer is very! There’s no rush to claim them and although we did pop our stuff down on beds by around 9.30am each day as we were on our way into breakfast – this was more because we wanted to choose nice ones with sea views we’d enjoyed the day before. The truth is they were all nice and it was never full. Whatever time of day we wanted sun loungers, we could get them. There’s also food and drink waiter service around the swimming pool, with plenty of waiting staff always walking round to come and take your orders. They have a great drinks menu with quality spirits and cocktails that we loved – my favs were the sweet iced lattes (perfect to enjoy while watching the kids in the pool) before moving onto their fab selection of wines or pina coladas in the afternoon. They also have a good range of mocktails that my kids loved too.
What is the food like at Ikos Dassia?
Now this is where the all inclusive came into its own at Ikos, I was so impressed with the range and quality of food on offer and choice of restaurants. I’d read before coming that as part of the all inclusive package you could make three dinner reservations, so I emailed the resort a couple of weeks before arrival.
They were really helpful and came back quickly with a list of restaurants I could choose from. I then assumed we’d be going to the buffet restaurant on the other evenings, but once we were there the concierge team got in touch and asked if we’d like to make some more reservations too.
We loved all the restaurants, they had beautiful décor and great service, yet it also never felt too formal, so we were relaxed being there with children. The menus have been designed by top chefs and had some great flavour combinations to try. There was also a children’s menu in each which always had some standard kiddy friendly items added so if the kids were not feeling adventurous to try something new, then they could have a burger or pizza instead.
If you are looking which restaurants to book in advance at Ikos Dassia then our favourite by far was the Asian Fusion restaurant in the Sea main building called Anaya. We all tried different dishes that we loved and they have seating on a beautiful balcony looking out over the beach.
For breakfasts and lunches we were also impressed with the amount of variety on offer in the buffet restaurants too.
What’s included on the all inclusive at Ikos resorts?
As this can vary from place to place, I thought I’d share what was included in our Ikos all Inclusive package. All the meals obviously – but what I liked was as previously mentioned is that the restaurant reservations were not limited and there were no surcharges for any types of drinks or menu dishes. As I’m talking drinks its probably also worth mentioning the wine. Now I’m no wine exeprt, so we probably didn’t take full advantage or what we had on offer – it was such good quality with the resort having wine cellars with the wine on display for each restaurant, all housing a huge variety of choice with even a free wine tasting session available as part of our all inclusive. We did really enjoy sampling the different ones on offer each evening though at dinner and beyond.
We only ordered from the room service once, as we arrived so late in the evening on the first night – the food was quick to come and tasted fresh, I’d really recommend the chicken gyro, it was delicious and felt a perfect first taste of a Greek holiday! We didn’t spend a lot of time in the bedroom, so didn’t have the need to use it again, but if our children were younger and so needing to go back in the day for naps etc. we would have used it lots. Another little perk of the all inclusive that we did make use of in the rooms, was a newly stocked mini bar each day. You just have to leave the empties on the unit on top of the fridge to have them replenished by house keeping.
In terms of activities included in the All Inclusive package, there were some on the beach you could try for free, such as paddleboarding and pedalos and then a couple that you do need to pay extra for. These were jet boat inflatables rides and also parasailing. I paid to do the parasailing on our last day with my son and it was well worth the extra – the experience of feeling like we were flying over the ocean was magical, my son said it was something he will remember forever. There’s also one free excursion included – the sunset cruise and again I’d say its well worth it. You get picked up from the jetty right by the hotel on a small traditional boat for the tour of the coast with a glass of wine for about an hour prior to dinner.
Inside the resort there were also lots of sports available that you could book for free. With it being so hot when we went we didn’t make as much use of this as we could have, but did book a tennis court a couple of times that was easy to do at reception and my son also enjoyed going to the football club for an hour each evening that was just turn up and play.
Bedroom Review Ikos Corfu
The bedrooms at the Ikos are a calm and beautiful space. Ours was a mix of blue and neutral tones and a good size to fit our family of four. We tend to have a lot of stuff on holidays, I struggle to pack light and then we tend to accumulate stuff every day (like giant inflatable pizzas and flamingos for the pool!) and our bedrooms can often turn into chaos quickly. Our bedroom here though was nice and roomy with lots of space. There was a double sofa bed one end and then another big double the other with a large sideboard, wardrobes and dressing table along the side to house all our stuff. The room also opened out onto a pretty balcony with table and chairs with a fab view of the resort and the crystal blue sea stretching out ahead.
We had a fantastic week with what felt to us just the right amount of relaxation and fun. if you are after an easy and luxurious all inclusive resort in Greece then I’d highly recommend Ikos Dassia Corfu.
