Holidays with a toddler and how IKOS resorts saved the day!
We've now been back from Greece for just over a week and I am still pining for IKOS Oceania! This post is going to have a little about holidaying with a toddler, a little about IKOS resorts and a little about my holiday outfits, hopefully some or all of that will be of interest! Be warned - my photos don't do it justice!
We booked our holiday to Halkidiki back in September/October as I was desperate to have a holiday in the diary, and I was super keen on this resort last year but didn't fancy the 5.55am Gatwick flight with a 9 month old, but this year was feeling much braver!
We booked with Kuoni, this is now the 4th holiday we have booked with them and we have never looked back. We know they are going to make the process of choosing and booking a holiday really easy and fun and we also know that when we get there the resort is going to be amazing. Kuoni also take care of everything, private transfers, car seats, travel cots, excursion bookings - EVERYTHING! They are also really competitive when you compare to other agents and what you get for your money, we highly, highly recommend that you check them out (if you're Cardiff side ask for Adele).
Back to the holiday, I was so ready to go, the cases were packed, the passports in hand and Rose was actually great at all of the travelling bar take off and landing. I now know why they have their own seat at 2- it's because they can reach everything they're not supposed to! Rose is 22 months old and so was on my lap and was obsessed with the window shade and tray table and when she wasn't allowed to touch them during take off and landing I had to wrestle her kicking and screaming and got head-butt in the face I don't know how many times. Snacks and the iPad definitely helped.
This aside, we arrived at IKOS Oceania (30 mins from the airport) and all travel stresses melted away instantly. We were met from our car, luggage whisked away, and taken to a bar with incredible sea views and handed a glass of chilled sparkling wine whilst we checked in. As we were quite early in the day our room wasn't ready and so we went straight to the a la carte Greek restaurant for lunch.
View from check in.
Happy mummy!
View from check in
I had underestimated the size of the resort, it was huge, several pools, 4 a la carte restaurants, the main hotel with reception, bars, a club and the buffet restaurant (saying buffet doesn't do it justice), and the spa, creche etc. Everything was beautifully designed and pure luxury, the atmosphere was very chilled and nothing seemed too much trouble. I gave in and booked a facial on the last day and it was pricey but worth it.
Stepping back a sec, the resort is all inclusive, and I mean ALL inclusive, products, mini bar (including wine and spirits), all drinks, snacks and meals, towels at the beach, towels at the pool, and they don't scrimp on anything. It was quite a bump coming home! The one thing I would recommend is booking the a la carte restaurants in advance, they are all great and two of them offer breakfast and lunch which you don't need to book for, but if you haven't booked in advance for the evening meals you may struggle to get in. The food everywhere is brilliant.
Despite the resort being full of kids under 5 it was still extremely calm, there is plenty of space and entertainment available to them and the team there are fantastic with children, Rose had the time of her life.
Everywhere is also exceptionally clean and there are baby change stations in both the women and men's toilets. In the restaurants the baby change is in the disabled loo, again spacious and very clean. Plastic cutlery and cups are provided everywhere, folded within a cloth napkin which I thought was adorable!
For us, it was hard work, relaxing and wonderful, but hard work. Rose is desperate to explore every minute that she's awake and so we spent much of the week saying 'your turn' so that we could alternately get some R&R. The hardest part was mealtimes as Rose didn't want to eat anything but chips, when she is usually a brilliant eater at home, but it sounds like this is the same for everyone and things were much better towards the end of the week. With all of the fresh air and pool time Rose had a great 2-3 hour nap every day - this is AMAZING!!! Liam likes the shade so was happy to sit on the balcony whilst she napped and I could happily bake by the pool with my books, it was perfect!
Things for kids - outdoor play area, play room (huge), creche, toddler disco, babysitting service, help on the beach, shallow pools, you don't need to take buckets and spades these are all provided on the beach.
Things for adults - wine! Adult only sections of restaurants, adult only pools, club, the entertainment all starts pretty late, a lot of water sports, gym and Spa.
View from the french restaurant ^
There is a sea view bar the other side of the doors you can see in the above pic and one evening we were in there they had live music.
There is a shop on site that sells anything you may have forgotten, our main purchase was a blow up barbie boat!!
The weather forecast before we went was a lot of rain and thunderstorms with intermittent sunshine but the weather was amazing all week, the last couple of days were boiling so I think May is definitely the right time for us. I had panicked when I saw the forecast and threw in some last minute cardigans, none of which were needed. It was a pair of shorts and t shirt every day and a jumpsuit every eve, perfect for chasing a small person around the beach and from room to room!
Old ASOS jumpsuit, Bikini current ASOS (£20), Sunnies Prada
Playsuit old ASOS but never worn until this holiday
T Shirt Fmlystore.com, shorts current Tesco £12, sunnies current ASOS £12
Green and black leaf jumpsuit current season Primark - £13 (everything Liam wore on the holiday was probably Joules or Next).
All in all, a fantastic week and much needed break. Even with the 3 hour flight delay coming home we still came back feeling rested and happy and I would definitely stay at an IKOS resort again.
It isn't the same as holidaying pre children but when you see their little faces light up at the sight of the sea, and their Barbie blow up boat, and an all inclusive buffet you know it's totally worth it!!!!
Any questions on the resort just let me know!
We booked our holiday to Halkidiki back in September/October as I was desperate to have a holiday in the diary, and I was super keen on this resort last year but didn't fancy the 5.55am Gatwick flight with a 9 month old, but this year was feeling much braver!
We booked with Kuoni, this is now the 4th holiday we have booked with them and we have never looked back. We know they are going to make the process of choosing and booking a holiday really easy and fun and we also know that when we get there the resort is going to be amazing. Kuoni also take care of everything, private transfers, car seats, travel cots, excursion bookings - EVERYTHING! They are also really competitive when you compare to other agents and what you get for your money, we highly, highly recommend that you check them out (if you're Cardiff side ask for Adele).
Back to the holiday, I was so ready to go, the cases were packed, the passports in hand and Rose was actually great at all of the travelling bar take off and landing. I now know why they have their own seat at 2- it's because they can reach everything they're not supposed to! Rose is 22 months old and so was on my lap and was obsessed with the window shade and tray table and when she wasn't allowed to touch them during take off and landing I had to wrestle her kicking and screaming and got head-butt in the face I don't know how many times. Snacks and the iPad definitely helped.
This aside, we arrived at IKOS Oceania (30 mins from the airport) and all travel stresses melted away instantly. We were met from our car, luggage whisked away, and taken to a bar with incredible sea views and handed a glass of chilled sparkling wine whilst we checked in. As we were quite early in the day our room wasn't ready and so we went straight to the a la carte Greek restaurant for lunch.
View from check in.
Happy mummy!
View from check in
I had underestimated the size of the resort, it was huge, several pools, 4 a la carte restaurants, the main hotel with reception, bars, a club and the buffet restaurant (saying buffet doesn't do it justice), and the spa, creche etc. Everything was beautifully designed and pure luxury, the atmosphere was very chilled and nothing seemed too much trouble. I gave in and booked a facial on the last day and it was pricey but worth it.
Stepping back a sec, the resort is all inclusive, and I mean ALL inclusive, products, mini bar (including wine and spirits), all drinks, snacks and meals, towels at the beach, towels at the pool, and they don't scrimp on anything. It was quite a bump coming home! The one thing I would recommend is booking the a la carte restaurants in advance, they are all great and two of them offer breakfast and lunch which you don't need to book for, but if you haven't booked in advance for the evening meals you may struggle to get in. The food everywhere is brilliant.
Despite the resort being full of kids under 5 it was still extremely calm, there is plenty of space and entertainment available to them and the team there are fantastic with children, Rose had the time of her life.
Everywhere is also exceptionally clean and there are baby change stations in both the women and men's toilets. In the restaurants the baby change is in the disabled loo, again spacious and very clean. Plastic cutlery and cups are provided everywhere, folded within a cloth napkin which I thought was adorable!
For us, it was hard work, relaxing and wonderful, but hard work. Rose is desperate to explore every minute that she's awake and so we spent much of the week saying 'your turn' so that we could alternately get some R&R. The hardest part was mealtimes as Rose didn't want to eat anything but chips, when she is usually a brilliant eater at home, but it sounds like this is the same for everyone and things were much better towards the end of the week. With all of the fresh air and pool time Rose had a great 2-3 hour nap every day - this is AMAZING!!! Liam likes the shade so was happy to sit on the balcony whilst she napped and I could happily bake by the pool with my books, it was perfect!
Things for kids - outdoor play area, play room (huge), creche, toddler disco, babysitting service, help on the beach, shallow pools, you don't need to take buckets and spades these are all provided on the beach.
Things for adults - wine! Adult only sections of restaurants, adult only pools, club, the entertainment all starts pretty late, a lot of water sports, gym and Spa.
View from the french restaurant ^
There is a sea view bar the other side of the doors you can see in the above pic and one evening we were in there they had live music.
There is a shop on site that sells anything you may have forgotten, our main purchase was a blow up barbie boat!!
The weather forecast before we went was a lot of rain and thunderstorms with intermittent sunshine but the weather was amazing all week, the last couple of days were boiling so I think May is definitely the right time for us. I had panicked when I saw the forecast and threw in some last minute cardigans, none of which were needed. It was a pair of shorts and t shirt every day and a jumpsuit every eve, perfect for chasing a small person around the beach and from room to room!
Old ASOS jumpsuit, Bikini current ASOS (£20), Sunnies Prada
Jumpsuit (£13) and earrings (£1.56) both current eBay
Playsuit old ASOS but never worn until this holiday
Floral Jumpsuit, this season ASOS £35
T Shirt Fmlystore.com, shorts current Tesco £12, sunnies current ASOS £12
All in all, a fantastic week and much needed break. Even with the 3 hour flight delay coming home we still came back feeling rested and happy and I would definitely stay at an IKOS resort again.
It isn't the same as holidaying pre children but when you see their little faces light up at the sight of the sea, and their Barbie blow up boat, and an all inclusive buffet you know it's totally worth it!!!!
Any questions on the resort just let me know!
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