Ikos Andalusia: who it suits, and who it does not

It is the most cosmopolitan resort in the Ikos portfolio. Nine restaurants, nine pools, twenty-one acres of gardens dropping down to an exclusively serviced beach, and the broadest room ladder of any Ikos property with eleven Deluxe Collection categories plus villas. It sits in Estepona on the Costa del Sol, close to Marbella and less than an hour from Malaga airport.

That combination is exactly right for some people and exactly wrong for others. So rather than describe it, here is who it is for.

What it does better than any other Ikos

Choice. Nine restaurants is more than any other resort we recommend, and they are not variations on a theme. Ouzo is Greek, Fresco is Italian with menus by Michelin-starred Ettore Botrini, Oliva is Spanish by two-Michelin-starred Andoni Luis Aduriz, Anaya is Asian by Chef Thiou, Provence is French by Pascal Barbot, and there is Flavors, Seasons, Chiringuito and the Beach Club besides.

If you are staying ten nights, or if you are a family where nobody agrees on dinner, that breadth genuinely matters. On a four-night stay you will not get near all of it.

Room options. Eleven Deluxe Collection categories is real flexibility rather than a long list of near-identical rooms. You can go in at 55m² in the Deluxe Junior Suite, which Ikos describe as suiting two adults and a child, and the ladder runs through four one-bedroom variants, four two-bedroom variants including two penthouses, a three-bedroom at 125m² with a private pool, and a four-bedroom villa sleeping eight.

The four two-bedroom options are worth noting. Most Ikos resorts have one or two. If you are four adults rather than a family, Andalusia has the most rooms designed for you.

Getting out. Under an hour from Malaga, close to Marbella, with whitewashed villages and national parks nearby. Every Ikos guest gets a complimentary electric MINI Countryman for a day, and Deluxe Collection guests get two, plus a Culture Pass for museums and sites and the Dine Out programme for dinner at local restaurants. Of the resorts we recommend, Andalusia is the one where that is most worth using. There is genuinely somewhere to go.

The villa, if you need it. The Deluxe Four Bedroom Villa Private Pool is 260m² for eight, and it is the only villa across either brand with a barbecue in the garden and a private indoor gym.

Who it suits

— Larger groups and multi-generational families, because of the room ladder. Eleven categories means there is almost always something workable, and the two-bedroom and three-bedroom options are properly separated rather than interconnecting doors between smaller units.

— Longer stays, for the same reason as the restaurants. Ten nights here does not repeat itself.

— People who want the destination as well as the resort. Andalusia rewards leaving the property more than a resort on a remote bay does. If you like the idea of two days with a car, a village lunch and a museum, this is the one.

— Families with children across a wide age range. There is a Heroes Crèche, a Heroes Kids Club, a Teens Club and a new Heroes Village, which is broader age provision than most.

— Couples who want somewhere to retreat to. The Deluxe Collection pool is secluded from the rest of the resort, there is an exclusive beach area with more space between the sunbeds, a Deluxe bar, and exclusive access to Seasons restaurant. There is also an adults-only Cocktail Bar on the beachfront for sundowners.

Who it does not suit

This is the part that matters, and we would rather say it here than have you find out on arrival.

— People looking for a quiet, secluded resort. Andalusia is busy. Nine restaurants and nine pools implies scale, and scale is what you get. It is a lively, sociable, family-heavy resort in a lively part of Spain, and in high season it feels like it. If your mental image is a hushed bay with a handful of loungers, Ikos Porto Petro in Mallorca is the resort you actually want, set between two sandy coves beside a national park, low rise and deliberately understated.

— People who want an adults-oriented atmosphere. The only adults-only venue at Andalusia is the beachfront Cocktail Bar. There is no adults-only restaurant, pool or accommodation wing, and the Deluxe areas are restricted by room tier rather than by age, which means children are in them. If a grown-up atmosphere is the priority, look at Sani Dunes, which is built around exactly that and has the largest heated lagoon pool in Greece.

— People who want a short transfer. Under an hour from Malaga is perfectly reasonable, but Ikos Odisia in Corfu is twenty minutes from the airport and Ikos Aria in Kos is twenty minutes too. With small children, forty minutes of difference at each end of a holiday is not nothing.

— Anyone who needs to sleep more than eight in one room. The villa is the ceiling. Beyond eight, the answer is two categories or a different resort.

— People coming primarily for water provision for children. Nine pools sounds like a lot until you compare it. Ikos Odisia has ten heated pools plus separate splash parks for children, which is a different level of provision. If the holiday is essentially about keeping children in water for six hours a day, Odisia is the stronger call.

In short

Ikos Andalusia is the most optionality in the Ikos portfolio: the most restaurants, the most room categories, and the best position for getting out and seeing something. That makes it the safest recommendation we can give for a longer stay, a mixed group, or anyone who does not want to be confined to a property for a week.

It is not the resort to book if you want quiet, if you want an adult-skewed atmosphere, or if you want the shortest possible transfer. Ikos has eight resorts and three of the others do those things better.

We book Andalusia in the Deluxe Collection, and the reason is set out in detail in our piece on what the Deluxe Collection actually includes. The short version: a dedicated concierge who books every dinner in advance rather than three, a secluded pool to retreat to, and complimentary access to the Heroes Supper Club so that children aged 4 to 12 have their own evening and you get one back.

If Andalusia sounds like your resort, tell us who is travelling. If it does not, we will point you at the one that does.