Ikaros Beach Luxury Resort and Spa

We have just returned from a week stay at Ikaros. All I can say was it was excellent, we could not fault a thing. We chose to pay for the private taxi to and from the airport and arrived at the hotel within about 20 minutes. We had a ground floor bungalow with a shared pool. It was in a lovely location and the bungalow was really nice and very comfortable. It was cleaned every day to a high standard. Bedding and towels were changed daily if you wanted. We were all inclusive so ate in the different restaurants as well as the à la carte buffet. We thoroughly enjoyed all the meals we had and the food was superb. The alcohol, cocktail and mocktail choices were also very good. All the staff were so friendly and really helpful. One evening just as we were about to go to dinner, my husband cut his toe badly. I rang reception and within minutes Nicos drove over in a buggy with some first aid bits and drove us down to the restaurant. He also picked us up when we had finished to save my husband walking. We did not make use of all the swimming pools as we had the shared pool which was lovely. Plenty of sturdy, good quality sunbeds and umbrellas. We both had a couple of massages at the spa whilst we were there. Alexandra, Pi and Aris were excellent and we thoroughly enjoyed being pampered by them. Would we recommend this hotel, definitely. Will we be returning, most definitely.

This hotel is perfect! They constantly put the guest first—the service is top-notch. We arrived via the hotel's shuttle service (which also handled our return trip) and were upgraded to a room with a shared pool. The room was huge and spotless, and it remained clean throughout our entire stay. We were on a half-board basis; there was a wide variety of food, and every evening featured a different theme: Italian, Cretan, Asian, etc. The staff was friendly and always ready to help. We even received a complimentary 30-minute massage—many thanks to Jessi and Pi. Since our flight was in the evening, they kindly granted us a late check-out at no extra cost. The complex boasts several delightful pools—the kind you never want to leave. The hotel also has its own private sandy beach with crystal-clear water. Just outside the hotel, there are two nearby towns (about a 15-minute walk away) lined with restaurants, bars, and shops. Simply perfect. Thank you so much.

A fair review: Positives

• Lovely, clean, village-style resort.
• Rooms are very nice and cleaned to a high standard.
• Food is of good quality and quantity, and nicely presented.
• Good location — just a 15–20 minute walk to either Malia (which I don’t recommend) or Stalis.
• Staff are friendly and polite.
• Nice spa facilities. The massage was of a good standard.
• Fantastic gym.
• Lovely beach, which is well maintained by a dedicated member of staff. He does his job extremely well.
• Fantastic bellboys/porters — very polite and helpful. A great asset to the hotel.

Negatives

• Poor communication and ownership between the kitchen, guest relations, and restaurant teams. Dietary requirements were bounced between staff like a tennis match, with no clear ownership or resolution.
• Not enough staff at the bars. The staff work hard, so please be patient and kind, even if you experience a 15-minute wait.
• Not enough maître d’hotel presence in the restaurant during evening dinner service.
• Restaurant waiting staff appear to still be in training, so expect issues such as missing drinks, incorrect orders, and communication difficulties.
• Too many drinks listed as not AI
• We were initially allocated room 620, next to the car park, motorbike parking, on the main road leading up to the hotel. This was not acceptable and felt like an insult to paying guests. It was extremely noisy, especially from 6am when staff arrived for work. We were moved into the hotel village after complaining and witnessed several other guests being moved as well.
• The spa is a separate business and should not have reviews included on the hotel’s Tripadvisor page, as this creates a misleading impression. The spa staff are polite, but they are there to run a business — selling and upselling treatments. The treatments are also very expensive.
• The hotel manager is not visible enough to guests. He needs to engage more with holidaymakers, gather feedback directly, and be available to address concerns.

Again this didn’t feel like a 5star hotel due to the negatives listed. But this hotel could be if the operational challenges and staffing issues are resolved.