Review: Ikos Dassia with kids, Corfu

Staying at an all-inclusive resort is something which divides people. Easy with kids, yes, but could restrict your choices and persuade you not to explore the destination. Except… that’s not quite true. At least not of Ikos Dassia.

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I’d heard about the European all-inclusive resorts before – the group has several on the Halkidiki peninsula. Ikos Dassia is their first on one of the Greek islands, on Corfu, with another resort (Ikos Aria) on Kos and Ikos Andalusia, their first outside Greece, which opened in Spain in 2021.

And there’s a good reason for all this expansion. Because Ikos seems to have the perfect balance of all the best of all-inclusive resorts – and a clever approach which solves the downsides too. Wondering how? Read on for my review of Ikos Dassia with kids.

Ikos Dassia: Vital statistics

Set around half an hour from Corfu Town (and half an hour from the airport), Ikos Dassia’s 411 rooms and suites are divided across two sides of the 26 acre site – Sea, which is slightly closer to the beachfront, and Sky, which is slightly higher up.

Each acts almost as a mirror image of the other, with a similar number and style of restaurants, pools, bars, a spa and so on, with facilities such as the kids’ club in between.

Both sides are open to all guests, along with a few separate areas – such as a section of beach – for those in the Deluxe Collection rooms. And even walking from one end to the other, along paths through the white buildings or on the beachfront boardwalk, you’re never more than a short stroll from anywhere else.

Buggies can also take guests from one side to the other though (useful if you arrive in an autumn thunderstorm as we did).

Check out my guide to Greece with kids for more tips on planning a family holiday

Ikos Dassia: The good

The choice

One of the biggest downsides of an all-inclusive resort is that you’re limited to what’s on site. After all, there’s no point paying for all-inclusive then eating out every night, right?

Here, there was so much choice, from pools to restaurants, bars to areas to chill out, activities, facilities, things to do, try and taste, that even after a dedicated effort to fit in as much as possible (and still leave time to chill out by the pool), there was more we could have done if we’d stayed for longer.

The restaurants

Six a la carte restaurants plus a buffet restaurant on each half of the site, two gelaterias, snacks brought to you by the pool… it all adds up to more food than you can possibly try during a week. I know this because we tried.

In the end, I think there were only a couple of restaurants we didn’t get to (Provence and Anaya) simply because I can only eat one dinner per day. Partly stomach size, partly because it would be frowned upon to have more!

You do have to book dinner in advance but you can make up to three reservations before you arrive (worth doing), and then it depends on the availability once you arrive. Most restaurants are also open for lunch (and often for breakfast) so if you can’t get a booking for dinner, you can always turn up at lunchtime to try it out.

Both the Sea and Sky halves of the resort have their own ‘Flavours’ buffet – Sea has the best views so it’s worth the wander across if you’re staying in Sky, and both have occasional themed evenings.

It’s only the beginning of the impressively extensive choice but both had some fantastic food so you could very happily eat there several nights of your stay.

Each side also has a beachfront restaurants, Ouzo and Kerkyra, with traditional Corfiot dishes. Ouzo, on our Sky side, quickly became one of our favourites, starting the day with breakfast looking out to the beach, nipping in for lunch several times (including mouthwatering souvlaki) and dinner of Greek specialities on another night.

Fresco, with its Italian menu and freshly cooked pizza, was one of my daughter’s favourites – and the bar outside also had one of my favourite wines. There are 300 on offer across all the bars and restaurants on site. And no, I didn’t manage to try them all…

For French food, Provence seemed one of the more adult-focused restaurants – although each one has a children’s menu, so you can book in anywhere in the knowledge there’ll be kid-friendly options including pizza, not to mention high chairs galore. My daughter developed a taste for sea bass, one of the other options, as well!

Last but not least, Asian food at Anaya and more Greek food at Ergon Deli – adults-only for lunch, as it opens onto an adults-only pool, but then welcomes families in the evening, with some of the friendliest staff we met. And that was quite a competition, as you’ll see if you read on.

Long story short, if you love your food, you’re going to be very happy. And very full.

Dine out

With so many restaurants on site, you don’t have to leave Ikos Dassia to eat to your heart’s content. But it’s one of the downsides of all-inclusives that you miss out on the experience of eating at local restaurants if you don’t, quite apart from supporting local businesses.

So the Ikos resorts have agreements with various restaurants where you can book in (must be done in advance) and eat there as part of your all-inclusive deal – part of the ‘Infinite Lifestyle’ ethos.

At Dassia, there were three choices – a local taverna near the resort, another restaurant on an island reached by boat (sounded amazing but I was a bit wary of sailing out in late October weather) and third restaurant, Rex, in Corfu Town itself. Which is where we went.

There is a set menu for Ikos guests… but still with more choice than most ordinary restaurants. Sitting outside under the heat lamps (this was October, remember) we could watch people wander the town’s pedestrian streets, as well as taking a little amble ourselves before dinner as Corfu Town prepared for evening.

It’s a part of a holiday that I always enjoy, and the fact Ikos encourages guests is a big plus point.

The pools

If you think you’re spoiled for choice with restaurants, that’s before you’ve started counting up the pools. A grand total of seven to splash around in, including two adults-only pools, a kids’ pool next to the Splash zone, two main pools, an indoor-outdoor pool in one spa that’s open to families…

If you wanted to spend the entire week in the water, you could. They’re well designed too, with deeper areas if you want to swim and sloping shallower areas if you’ve got kids or new swimmers, not to mention the shallower kids’ pools which tended to stay warmer.

While the resort was quieter in October half-term than I imagine it gets in summer, there are loungers galore as well and towels to collect from the poolside, as well as staff taking orders from the lounger for drinks and snacks (and on one occasion bringing around hot chocolate when a breeze got up).

The extras

So far, so normal you might think (if rather more restaurants and pools than your average). But where Ikos Resorts is a bit different is in the extras, especially the fact that they actively encourage you to get out and explore.

At Ikos Dassia, you can book a Mini Cooper – one of a fleet of 20 identical blue branded cars – for the day. Petrol is the only cost, unless you want the additional insurance or an additional driver and then the island is yours.

We weaved up and down twisting island roads, ventured over to Corfu’s west coast and made our way down to the south west in search of more beach, sand dunes which appeared in a Bond film, and possibly a sight of flamingos by the nearby lake.

An over-optimistic approach to how much we could fit into one day meant we abandoned the tentative plan to visit Empress Elisabeth of Austria’s summer home too…

If you don’t fancy driving yourself, there’s also a free shuttle bus to Corfu Town which runs every half hour, apart from a gap of several hours in the middle of the day.

The resort is around half an hour from Corfu Town, and if the first bus fills up (which I expect it would in peak season), another is brought out as an extra. Having said that, I’d recommend getting there in advance and heading to ‘Sea’ where it picks up first to have more chance of a seat.

You can also get free tickets to a couple of different attractions around the island – only one set each, but the choices include ‘living museum’ Casa Parlante in Corfu Town.

Actually peopled by moving waxworks, it’s frozen in time from the 19th century, not long after the end of Venetian rule on the island, with a guide talking us through how life would have been lived at the time.

It’s usually 6 Euros to get in (for adults, 4 Euros for children five and above) but I suspect we might not event have known about it without the free Ikos tickets, compared to better known attractions like the Old Venetian fortress.

And if you want two wheels rather than four, there are bikes to borrow including kids’ versions, ones with stabilisers or other child options such as seats to go on the back of adult bikes.

The facilities

There are plenty of competing temptations on the resort site too, including 600m of beach, a separate covered playground and two spas (kids are welcome in the pool of the one in Sea but not Sky), plus free, fast Wifi that works pretty much everywhere with no faffing.

And for families, there’s also a kids club and football academy (which does have a separate charge for the two-hour per day sessions). The kids club itself is free for ages four to 12, split into two age groups with the usual UK care ratios – babies and toddlers from four months to three years also have two separate creches, again divided by age, with varying charges.

There’s a variety of activities, from crafts to visits to the play area and splashzone but what really stood out for me was the fantastic staff.

As usual, my daughter was distinctly nervous of going into a room full of people she didn’t know, but she was immediately scooped up by one of the kids club staff, reassured and bounced out happily talking about the new friends she’d made by the end of the session.

By the end of her second session, she was grumbling that I hadn’t booked her into more!

The rooms

If you’ve ever spent a week falling over your suitcase because there’s barely room for more than a bed in the hotel room, you will love the sheer space here.

Our junior suite (sleeping up to three) had a huge squashy bed, separate living area (with a sofa bed), mini kitchenette with a kettle, Nespresso machine and full stocked minibar fridge, table, chairs and desk, another mini room with wardrobes and plenty of storage space for the three of us…

Not to mention the big bathroom with a great shower, plus a balcony with table and chairs (would have been wonderful for the long summer nights but by late October, sitting outdoors after dark is a little chilly – we did still pop out a few times during the day).

You can also get baby sets and other baby paraphernalia on request so you needn’t pack all your own kit for the flight.

The one thing I did think would have been useful was some kind of divider between the bedroom and living space. Fortunately my daughter’s fairly good at going to sleep while I sit in the other half of the room (and in summer, you could escape out onto the balcony) but if you like to have the separation while kids are asleep, it’s not an option in the Junior Suite – although there are other rooms, including the family room and larger suites which have more division.

The style

All cool whites, blues and neutral browns with occasional details to catch the eye, there’s something very restful about the decor at Ikos Dassia.

All the chairs seem designed to tempt you to sink into them, all the pools are cleverly thought out with long curves and infinity style sections, plus little bridges to take you over some of the bigger ones rather than walking around the side.

There’s enough to stop it being bland though – I loved the octopus on the walls at Ouzo, for example, and the cut-out areas which let you peek through to get as many glimpses of the sea as possible.

The balance

What struck me about Ikos Dassia is that there’s something for everyone, and it’s all been set up to ensure you have a wonderful holiday whether you’re visiting with kids or not, whether you want privacy for your family (or to escape other people’s kids), whether you want to be active, relaxed, enjoy a stylish meal or grab a quick snack.

Most of the restaurants are subtly divided so couples aren’t disturbed by families eating (and I could work through some of those 300 wines on offer without worrying that every enthusiastic utterance from my daughter was disturbing a dinner a deux).

There are pools for all the family, pools designed specifically for kids and pools which are for adults only, so you can always find one to suit. If you wanted to splash out, the Deluxe collection rooms have access to a separate pool and section of the beach plus some other upgrades, while some of the bungalows have their own small pool.

The staff

Wherever you stay, service can make or break the experience. But as you might expect from a resort like this, it’s all but faultless. Helpful, friendly, one member even lent us her own ipad charger when we discovered ours had stayed at home. There’s a glass of champagne when you check-in too.

Ikos Dassia: The not so good

Better when you plan in advance

Honestly, I’m really struggling for a downside to our stay. Normally there’s a niggle or two with any accommodation but Ikos Dassia seems to have solved pretty much all of them.

Perhaps the only one is a result of its unsurprising popularity: the restaurants and kids club do get booked up well in advance – it’s something you should be told when you make your reservation, but isn’t always the case with all tour operators so it’s worth knowing if you don’t book direct.

There is an app to download so you can put all your requests in as soon as you’ve confirmed the holiday booking, but if you’re snapping up a last-minute deal, for example, you might find kids’ clubs are already full.

Really, it’s not that tricky to plan in advance, even for a last-minuter like me. You can book three restaurants for dinner before you go, and then it’s all down to availability – but you can visit any of them for lunch if they’re full at night (except Ergon Deli which is adults only during the day, while Anaya and Provence are evenings only).

The same goes for the shuttle bus to Corfu Town – as I mentioned, there’s a gap of several hours in the middle of the day. But the timetable is easily available, it’s not hard to plan around it and there is an ordinary bus if you desperately wanted to get in during the break.

As I said, I’m struggling to find anything to pick out!

Ikos Dassia: The verdict

If you’re looking for a chilled-out family holiday with sun, sea, sand, delicious food and the chance to explore, this ticks all the boxes. (If you’re not looking for those things, why not? It makes for a great holiday with kids!)

You’re simply spoiled for choice – and I do like to be spoiled now and then. But best of all, while there’s plenty to tempt kids, from the pools, kids club, activities and ice cream on tap, there’s plenty that makes it perfect for adults too.

And while there’s still the indulgence of an all-inclusive stay, rather than only vegging out on a lounger, I came back feeling that I’d had chance to discover a little of Corfu as well

Book your stay at Ikos Dassia with Booking.com and TUI

PIN FOR LATER: REVIEW OF IKOS DASSIA WITH KIDS

Disclosure: part of my stay was complimentary for the purposes of review, but I paid for the remaining nights and flights myself. All opinions on visiting Ikos Dassia with kids, and ability to get lost on Corfu’s twisty roads are my own. This post contains affiliate links – any purchases you make are unaffected but I may receive a small commission

Images copyright MummyTravels

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