The facilities are great but the food (and the service) is rather patchy / low quality. In terms of drinks, you have to pay for everything (incl. still water while dining)

For a 5 star hotel I expected more. The room was clean, nice decor and spacious but the air con didn’t work, the plug sockets on one side of the room didn’t work and the pressure to the hot tap was not great. We also found the beds too soft. The door to the toilet was broken and there were no tea bags. They also allow smoking in all areas outside so we often had cigarette smoke drifting into our room. The food for the buffet was quite bland and the breakfast was definitely better than the evening. Very limited if you are lactose or gluten free. The themes add variety of an evening. Online the perk was having multiple restaurants to dine at but only the buffet is included in half board, 3 restaurants are subsidised and the rest are full price. All restaurants other than the buffet require booking. And there is a dress code that is not communicated on any of the sites. Men have to wear trousers despite how hot it is. We had to buy trousers for 50 euros to eat in a buffet restaurant! My husband wore tailored shorts and a shirt on the first night and we had five members of staff surround us about dress code, and humiliate us in the dining hall then place us near the exit. The following day we enter the dining hall with trousers and we see people wearing flip flops, ripped jeans, gym gear so it’s really inconsistent. this happened the first night we arrived so it left a lasting impression. As for location, it’s quiet and a little removed from the main strip,l. Plus the rooms are off the main road. Having a little beach accessible from the complex was good. The pools are not heated except the indoor pool. It’s not very well explained when you arrive where to find everything. Even on the last day you stumble across ping pong rooms etc so it would be great for the full facilities to be explained on arrival to make the most of the hotel. Spa treatments are really overpriced. It’s also a family friendly hotel so watch out if you choose hotels for being adult themed. It’s very far from popular excursions so expect a good 2-3 hour drive for major trips.

Great 5* hotel with friendly service - 4th time was there and after covid small changes are visible. Most of the staff are new, not all foods have an allergen code, they try to play tricks with the rooms (sea view), the fridge in the room is now empty, after the renovation the remote controls not working for the ambient led lights or water is leaking from the shower. Overall, it is still a very good hotel, but the standards has unfortunately dropped a bit.

We had a great summer vacation in 2021. The hotel is very nice, looking like an ancient town. It is directly connected to the beach. The rooms are clean and well designed. We could definitely relax, the spa center was also great.

The hotel is very clean, modern yet charming. It has a “small old rural village” feel, so you can just stroll around in the evening. Very romantic and atmospheric and calming. The service was okay overall, some staff was very kind (especially housekeeping, the PR staff that greets you in the restaurant, spa), some staff not so much (only certain individuals in the restaurant). I would recommend the hotel, but with just a few small touches, the experience could be even more elevated.

We stayed at your hotel from 3 to 14 of June, we really enjoyed our stay a lot, everything was perfect, very nice and caring employees. A big + to the SPA, fantastic treatments ! But I was disappointed when I asked if next time we could book a specific bungalow, as we saw one that we liked a lot, the answer was no, We can only book categories not a specific bungalow. I found it quit bad in a 5 star luxury hotel as yours, not to be able to book the bungalow we want! I think in that case we will not come back again, it’s really a pity !

Absolutely amazing place. Whilst at a wedding the buffet area on the 2nd floor looking over the sea was amazing. The wedding reception room was just fantastic with panoramic views and incredible service. Lovely pool and areas to relax in private.

Didn't stay at this hotel but used the beach and hotel restaurant. Food good but staff a bit surly when they knew we weren't staying at the hotel. Seemed like they paid more attention to others. Can't fault the food tho. Was really good.

Nothing like it was promoted. Not enough Food, they cleaned the Buffet 20min before ending! Even not enough Beach Towels, everyone was annoyed of everything when we asked something. Our room was next to the service room so we woke up with every cleaning shift. All in all not a pleasure. Very disappointing.

Really wonderful Hotel to spend a vacation with the family. Shout out to the outstanding staff, especially at the bars and restaurants. If there is one thing we didn't like, it was the food and atmosphere at the buffet style dinner. Fortunately you can choose to eat at one of the table service restaurants instead, which is a much better and fitting experience. Also, more food options during the day at the bars would be really nice. Other than that, impeccably well kept grounds, really nice pools and cute little beach with a wonderful slowly sloping shore, so you can go into the water with kids.

Probably the most beautiful resort I‘ve ever been to... Recommended by TUI travel agency I planned this year's beach trip to Malia, Crete and found a true paradise. Especially in comparison to other resorts nearby, Ikaros Beach Luxury Resort is outstanding regarding to location, cleanliness, calmness, facilites, diversity of food and leisure time activities like folklore dancing, tennis lessons, yoga and aqua zumba. What stroke me most, however, was the authentically friendly way of being serviced by the staff, be it in Spa Area, in t restaurants or in evenig bars. All the good-humoured men and women seemed like acutally having fun with their jobs which infers to obviously good employment standards. The resort involves 2 accesses to the beach, 3 pools, one main and 3 theme restaurants, a tennis court, fitness area, indoor pool and Spa Area with sauna and massage opportunities included. You will also find 2 shops for daily goods, postcards, souvenirs and clothing. Guests rooms are mainly designed as small stone bungalows, all air-conditioned and mostly with an outstandig view. The only deficit coming to my mind is a missing wardrobe in the admittetly not too spacious rooms. However, worth it‘s price and worth the adjecitve „luxury“. Definite recommendation!

Everything was great, the room it’s alright, pity that the food make it not perfect. Always cold special at dinner buffet. The drinks during the day so expensive and 0 qualified.

I would have rated this hotel 5\5 unless we had an unfortunate event which was handled quite poorly by the hotel staff. We were four friends staying in Ikaros for 4 nights in total. In the last few nights we all experienced a severe rash on our entire bodies. In the 3rd night only one of the group experienced this, but after the last night we all got this severe rash. We immediately went to the reception in the last morning to let the management know about this situation. After we showed them videos of bugs under our sheets, they responded by saying "these are not bed bugs, and we didn't bring it to the hotel", suggesting it's our fault. We went to talk with the general manager, which had the same answer. He suggested we go to get an examination at the local medical center. The doctor there said it's an allergy and was very rude to us. We didn't get a serious diagnosis, and we went back to the hotel (The official diagnosis from our doctors in our home country was an allergy caused by bed bugs). We had to demand a compensation from the manager after the hotel tried to avoid taking responsibility for this unfortunate event. After some persuasion we got our money back only for the last night, and were not charged for late checkout. I am very sorry that we had to prove that it's not our fault that we got a rash from bed bugs! This isn't how a respectful place should treat its guests. This could have been handled differently and I would give the hotel 5 stars easily, because everything else was really good - The food, the general ambience and feeling in the hotel.

The hotel is very beautiful located and has a private beach included which is very long. The rooms are clean, modern and pretty. There is air-conditionning. The ressort is like a little village with two different outdoor swimming Pools and one indoor and sauna. My personal highlight and biggest surprise was the definitively the food! The antipasti, the regional olives, fish and the pastry. It was absolutely amazing. Fresh, tasty and very good service. It isn't a classy child hotel, but there is animation programm for children. I felt comfortable the people around me, there was a good mixture of guest types. The only point to mention is, that you need a taxi /journey bus to go there from Heraklion.

The place is really beautiful with nice view, great food, really clean and green. I give only 4 stars because the beach had mountains of seaweed and wasnt cleaned even if the beach is private, so i used the swimming pools, which were pretty nice.

full disclosure: I wan't the one who planned this vacation, and we travelled with two kids and a baby - so it was rough. this review has been toned down, after I blew of some steam. service was amazing and everyone very friendly, no doubt about it (except for very rare occasions) entertainment staff was exceptionally great. rooms are cleaned, tidied and resupplied regularly. there are lots of activities available. in the resort and its pretty self-contained yet there are things about the design and maintenance and overall concept that made me uncomfortable :It not very accessible far from the airport, extra time/money/stress for transport and the hotel Trasport doesn't seem better than airport taxis. Malia is a bit remote but sort of generic as.. it goes for Comercial tourism You don't really need to get out of the resort but the surrounding, if even reachable is debatable moving around the resort: Depending on your room, you may find yourself disoriented to get around the resort we usually had to make detours the parking lot or a long winding road through the lobby (which was always well equipped with free refreshments) Places that should be easily accessible like the beach, kid facilities, some of the pools, spa and most restaurants are usually walled behind one or more stairs , which is a very bad design choice. BEAUTIFUL BUT TEDIOUS and IMPRACTICAL rooms: Some Rooms are modeled in an open space aesthetic. so there's not much bathroom privacy. And. the lights might disturb your family at night. .other rooms are much better sepereated the room floors are slick and slippery when wet, very dangerous in a beach resort. the resort does proud itself on being green and eco-firendly but ants everywhere. my room was often overrun by ants (they are HARMLESS) no matter how clean it was, and there are a few mosquitos. The place IS very beautiful, and the service IS top notch, yet i have more rants about a lot of small things and it end up being STERSSFUL. They need to fix a few issues for the resort to fully live to it luxury and prestige, but at least they listen and take it into account.

One of the best hotels we have ever stayed in. Food fantastic, service superb. Very friendly staff that could not do enough for their guests.

After spending 6 nights in another 5-star hotel in the area and getting transferred to Ikaros Beach Resort for our final night the difference is astronomical. This is what 5-stars is and should always be. It's a shame that we only got a chance to be here for a single night, not enough time to experience everything that Ikaros had to offer, however this is definitely going to be my pick in future.

Seriously! One of the best hotels I’ve ever been to! Service, food, the nicely done bungalows, the view on the sea, the spa area. If you want to spend a week at the seaside and want to relax, come here. Amazing

We had an amazing stay at Ikaros Beach Resort & SPA. The staff is so friendly and the place is amazing !! A warm thank you to the Guest Relation Manager, we had a lovely diner with sea view, one of the best during our holidays. Finally the Hotel is peaceful with cute little cosy places from where you can enjoy an incredible view of the ocean. Don’t hesitate to book your stay in this hotel !

This hotel is simply magical, highly recommend the sea front suite with pool..so private and serene

I went to the restaurant to celebrate a birthday and the staff was very nice, they let us stay there after closing hours to keep on celebrating and they gave us dessert for free.

Nice hotel with lots of bungalows, good amenities, diverse buffet, and pleasant service. Bar tender George (Giorgos) is the best dude in Malia, knows where to go, keeps you happy all the time, and went any extra mile possible. Clear recommendation and thank you George!

We had our wedding at the resort and it was absolutely perfect and magical. Michalis and team were beyond exceptional. The resort is beautiful, the beach has powder sand and the sea is crystal clear. The food was excellent and everyone was incredibly friendly and accommodating. Planning our wedding from so far away (Canada) was nowhere near as difficult as I thought it would be. Michalis was so attentive and so responsive to my multiple emails working through the details. Thank you to all the staff for making our wedding day and entire stay so special for us.

Great hotel with good service, good food( but don't expect real local specialties), but most of all clean. Rooms are modernized. Pools are nice with every good lying chairs. Bit cold though. Private hotel beach.

This wonderful is a perfect place for relax & enjoy, also with baby/kids. The photos of the location tell everything, it's just stunning. Beside the great location we can underline a true 5 star service. Reception, room service, restaurant... everybody is reading your needs and wishes. Big thank you especially for Mrs. Κυριακή and her team who took care with best food for our Little. We can absoutely recommend a stay!

Ikaros is the best possible place to destress and come back to life. Here’s what we loved about our stay: - incredible hospitality from the entire staff! We would especially thank the hotel management Mr. Nikos, Mr. Stelios - who made our stay very special and gave us personal attention to make us comfortable. - the resort itself is huge with gorgeous landscaped gardens, terraces and pools. We loved walking around and discovering little nooks to relax in. - there are 6 restaurants and 3 bars, with different styles, providing great variety and quality of food and drinks. Breakfast was great too with lots of options. - our room was a bungalow with a private pool - providing ultimate luxury and relaxation. The facilities and amenities were comfortable, modern and very clean. - Ikaros’s own beach was easily accessible and clean. Food and drinks were nearby at all times. There were enough sun beds and umbrellas. Overall, we did not want to leave this property throughout our stay. It is indeed a little village by itself with everything you need and want for your perfect holiday!

Amazing resort. 4 fabulous restaurants and close to excellent restaurants in Malia.

I have visited Ikaros Beach on multiple occasions over multiple years and phases of my life. As a child, as a teenager and finally as an adult. This place has remained incredible, with high levels of professionalism and standards. Every staff member is friendly and ready to accommodate you, and the services provided are always excellent. The pools are very nice, clean and calm. Everything has a relaxed vibe here, it trully is like stepping into another world here. The beach is also very clean and well maintained, and follows suit with a relaxed and laid back atmosphere. And the food. Oh the food. No words. Always tasty and with various themes per night in the main buffet it is bound to keep anyone's taste buds satisfied. Just an incredible experience. Can't stress enough how awesome it is.

Very nice place. Friendly staff, well-maintained premises and rooms. We had a sea view bungalow and all inclusive. The buffet was excellent. All-inclusive sometimes lacks quality, not so here. Recommended for all, couples and families with small children.

5 star all inclusive in a beautiful location. Very chilled out and anyone can drop in for a food and/or drink which is what we did.

We‘ve stayed in the Ikaros Beach Hotel for 10 days. It was a really great experience. The staff was always very nice and courteous, the rooms were beautiful with a great view at the ocean, they had a well equipped gym and the food was always delicious. I especially recommend to book an evening dinner in the Asian Restaurant, which had a nice ambience. All in all, we‘ve had a great time and I‘d really recommend staying here for vacation.

Great staff, very friendly and good service. Excellent sea view from the restaurants and bars. Room inside was very nice. Sea view was a little obstructed but after seeing some other rooms, we kept our room. Excellent spa, Maria was very nice and helpful. Good quality of massage.

We stayed dozen times at Ikaros for 15 years. We got married there. It has always been perfect. One of the most welcoming hotel we knew. Really. Adults only : worst error ever. Ikaros has started loosing its soul the day it has been bought by S Resorts group a few years ago. Everything began to be expensive and less local. Big shame for the best hotel it used to be ! Last years decisions are really poor management, and please don’t answer to this comment telling me you have other hotels for children. So sad 😩 and I hope it reverse someday.