Kirsty Johnston, Editor-in-Chief at NI Travel News, caught up with Lee Barker, Regional Director Sales & Marketing at Sani/Ikos Group to hear more about the Ikos ethos, what makes them stand-out and plans for the 10th anniversary celebrations.
Ikos Resorts are renowned for their luxurious accommodations and exceptional service, offering guests a truly unforgettable holiday experience. Guests can indulge in world-class cuisine at a variety of restaurants, unwind in beautifully designed suites, or explore the stunning natural surroundings. Whether you’re lounging by the pool, enjoying a spa treatment, or participating in water sports, Ikos Resorts ensure a memorable stay for all.
Ikos opened the doors to their first resort, Ikos Oceania, on March 27, 2015 and now boasts breathtaking locations across Greece and Spain with upcoming expansions set to include new properties in Crete (2026), Marbella (2027), and Portugal (2028). Ikos is also enhancing family accommodations and introducing cultural passes.
Speaking to NI Travel News, Lee Barker said: “The Sani Ikos group has been around for a while, but Ikos opened its first hotel on 27th of March, 2015, the Ikos Oceania, and Thursday will be our 10th anniversary of the start of the Ikos brand. It’s quite mad really, because it doesn’t feel that long, but it also feels like it’s been around for ages as well.
“It’s been 10 years of pioneering in ultra luxury, all inclusive, and sort of breaking the mould of what’s expected from an all inclusive in Europe. That’s what we’ve been trying to do for, for many years, and we’ve done it very, very well.
“I think, from an Ikos perspective, we like to say unconditional luxury, in the sense that there’s no restrictions from an Ikos perspective. We have, on average, six or seven restaurants in each resort. Only one of them’s a buffet. The rest are a la carte restaurants overseen by Michelin starred chefs. So you’ve got a really high end offering when it comes to the culinary of aspects of Ikos restaurants.
“And there’s no restriction. So there’s many all inclusive resorts you might go to and you get one lunch, one one starter, and one main. That doesn’t exist in Ikos. If you want to try all of the starters on the menu you can. If you want to order every single main course you can. I wouldn’t advise it, because you’d be rolling down to the pool, but you can, we don’t restrict our guests from that perspective. All the drinks in the resort are branded drinks. So if you want a Tanqueray Gin and Fever Tree tonic, absolutely, no problem whatsoever. Freshly made cocktails as well. We don’t hinder the guests in any way. And there’s never a time when we turn around and say, ‘Oh, if you want that, you have to pay extra’. The offerings on the menu, lobsters, steak etc, it’s not going to be €20 on top, because you’re ordering something that that might be a bit more special. So that’s the really nice side of it. There’s no wristbands when you come into our properties either, no strap to say ‘I can drink this’ and ‘I can eat that’. That doesn’t exist,” he added.
“We have 300 wines in the wine cellar, so you have a choice of whatever wines you want,” Lee continued. “A fresh bottle is opened every time you order, so you can taste the wine. Is it to your liking? If it isn’t you can return it, you can order a new wine. That’s all part of the Ikos way. When it comes down to the activities they’re included too. The kids club is for ages four to 12 years and is included. You just need to book them in there. The non-water and motorised water-sports are included as well. We also have amazing shows and entertainment throughout the resorts, all included, even the room service is included at no extra charge. You can order that 24/7, brought to your room. It’s only really when it comes down to spa treatments that you would pay an additional extra when it comes to Ikos and and that’s what makes it so special.
“We have lots and lots of things in play to encourage our guests to experience the destination they’re in as well. So we’ve all been to a hotel and thought, ‘well, I’m on all inclusive, so I’m not going to go into town because I don’t want to spend money on lunch’ or ‘I don’t want to go and see somewhere for dinner’. We encourage our guests to leave the resort, and we do that in a number of ways. We have at least one or two restaurants on our all inclusive that are local restaurants in the local town. So you can go to a local Taverna in Corfu, you can have a beautiful meal, you can walk around Corfu town. You can have a meal. You can drink. And it’s all billed back to us, so it’s included on the all inclusive. So not only do we have the seven restaurants in resort. We also have two restaurants that are available outside of the resort for you to go and visit. All of our guests also get access to our fleet of Teslas that we have for our local drive adventures. We have a fleet of 20 Teslas,” he added.
Lee continued: “I say, go out, fully insured, see the area, experience the destination you’re in. Find a beautiful little beach that’s only for locals, or go and have a drink in a nice, little, quaint town, all of that is available to our guests. And on top of that, we offer cultural passes. So we pre-purchase passes to local cultural attractions and museums etc. We also include green fees at the golf course in our package. So I think all of those aspects, plus this amazing service and Greek hospitality that we deliver through our staff makes us quite unique. And there isn’t really anybody in the market that competes with us head for head at the moment. I’m sure that will change, but at the moment, we’re always changing. We’re always adding new things to resorts. We’re always still top. And that’s quite an accolade for a company that’s only 10 years old, to be changing and evolving and moving with the times all the time, even within the last 10 years. That’s what makes Ikos so special.
“We’re expanding our resorts within Europe. So at the moment, we have seven properties and we are opening a new property next year in Crete, which will be Ikos Kissamos. We will then open Ikos Pinomar in Marbella in 2027 and then finally, we’ve got Ikos Cortesia in Portugal that will open in 2028 so at the moment, we’re planning on expansion. We’re planning on offering new properties in new destinations, and always developing the product that we’ve got.
“We noticed we have many families coming to our properties and for them, the double room doesn’t suit. We know that you need family rooms or you need a suite, so within our properties, we’re always adding in more bigger rooms and bigger suites for our guests. In Andalusia, last year, we introduced another 15 new suites. They’re one two and three bedroom suites with private pool. We have also added two penthouses, and we also added two four bedroom villas with beautiful, big swimming pools and a barbecue area outside. They really bring into play outdoor living for for our guests, but with a secluded, exclusive villa to yourself with having access to the a la carte restaurants in Andalusia, all the tennis courts, the facilities, The spa, the kids club. So it’s quite unique to be able to have a villa with all that offering to the guests and be all inclusive as well.
“This year we will be highlighting the 10th anniversary and we’ll certainly be having a bit of a celebration on the 27th. The Ikos Andalucia will be open on that day and we’re inviting some agents and some press along to celebrate the 10th year with us there, but there’s be little things that we’re doing in the resorts for our guests,” he said.
“It’s really important for us to bring agents along on the journey with us,” Lee continued. “They’ve been so supportive over the last 10 years so we want to give a little bit back and support them as much as we can.
“In Belfast, we’re doing brunches, and we’re inviting our agents along to our branches so they can enjoy the celebrations with us and have some nice food. We’re also running an incentive now for agents, if they book a deluxe collection booking over the next 10 weeks, they’ll get entered into a draw to win a stay at the opening of Ikos Kissamos which will open next year. They’ll be able to bring their partner along with them too to experience the resort. We’re giving 10 of those away over the next 10 weeks, so one a week. It’s a good opportunity to sell when we’ve got availability and get some bookings in this year. But the added side of it is, you’ll go into a draw to win that.
“And then the final thing, the biggest thing really for us, is that we’ve introduced Brendan Mallon, who joined the team three weeks ago.
“Brendan will be coming around, supporting the agents, seeing what we can do. By bringing Brendan in, it’s about saying, ‘look, we’re here, we want to support you more, and we recognise we need somebody in market that’s close to you that can come and do events, do trainings, support you with your marketing, help you grow your business for Sani and Ikos’, and so it’s lovely to have him on board. We’ve been quite a small team up until now, three of us covering the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and having Brenda join the team allows us that real sort of tailored support to the agents in Northern Ireland. So although he’ll look after the Republic of Ireland and Scotland as well, he’s in Northern Ireland, so he’s going to be on hand for everybody as much as possible.
“We just want to thank the agents for their support so far, we really do appreciate it. We’re here if they need anything at all, we’re more than willing to support in any way we can.”
