Well this is still an IKOS, the overall experience is still at the very top end of all-inclusives but for what they are charging and their massive profit margins they should not slip up as often as they do.
The setting at Porto Petro is great, stunning views over harbour and bays, well laid out, plenty of room in beach and patio areas, modern finish, great staff, chill feel, comfy room, food great especially in the Spanish but overall not up to standard of other IKOS resorts. The resort does try hard and will always try to respond to the WhatsApp e-concierge asap but sometimes the issues are beyond a simple action.
Biggest gripe: The day before one of my children was due to leave, I went to reception to confirm that all of our departure dates were correct and to make it clear that I would be settling the bill for all three rooms upon my own departure. Reception checked and tweaked the information in the system and confirmed this payment arrangement.
However, the following day, when my daughter was leaving, staff insisted that she settle her account herself. They even stopped her transfer car and brought her back to reception. I arrived shortly afterwards, only to be told that I needed to pay for her room immediately. This was despite the staff member I had spoken with earlier trying to explain to his colleagues our agreement that I would be paying when I left.
It was eventually resolved, but the experience was extremely upsetting. The failure of internal communication and the way the situation was handled were unacceptable, and it put a massive damper on the end of our holiday
Pretty poor: We found hair in our food on three separate occasions, and we spoke with other guests who had experienced the same. This is simply unacceptable for a resort of this standard.
Cheapskating: My children enjoy Monkey Gin, yet we caught a barman pouring Bombay Sapphire as a substitute. He claimed he had misread the order, but he had done exactly the same thing with my wife’s drink only ten minutes earlier.
Later, when I asked for a malt whisky, I was told these were only available to deluxe guests. Not the same at Dassia. Also silly as lower end malts are the same price as Jack Daniels which is available.
The resort does not replace toiletries (buds, pads, etc.) when they run out. On one absurd occasion, the maid arranged clearly empty packets neatly on the toiletries tray.
Then onto the niggles. Some of these may sound a little petty but for what you are paying....
No water offered during the airport transfer.
No face towels on arrival (though we saw others receiving them, so we assume we were simply forgotten).
Our bags were sent to the wrong rooms.
Our daughter, who arrived later, asked to be notified when her bags reached her room so she could get the children’s swimming things — she was never informed.
One of our rooms was not serviced at all one day.
Another day we requested late service, which was done, but the mini-bar and more importantly drinking water were not refreshed. Housekeeping carry no spare water, so getting some in a hurry via room service was unnecessarily difficult.
The dressing gowns are labelled “L” but are far too small for an adult. We requested two XXL robes; they managed to find only one. XXL is a snug fit for a UK 40" chest.
The irons supplied are non-steam and largely ineffective. When we requested a steam iron, housekeeping kindly found a hand steamer, but it wasn’t really a substitute.
Food & beverage frustrations:
In the buffet, meat is kept on hotplates— an unfortunate choice. The lamb chops, for example, were so tough they were inedible - couldn't cut them with a knife or make any inroads with teeth.
One morning at breakfast the buffet coffee machine was broken, and it took 25 minutes to get a coffee. Later, when we went to one of the bars to make up for the lack of caffeine, the coffee there was undrinkable — we assume owing to botched cleaning.
Our shower drain was blocked and overflowed into the bathroom. It was fixed when requested, but this should have been avoided through routine maintenance.
The roof on the terrace bar leaks badly, rendering the central seating area unusable when it rains. It then takes a while for the seating to dry out.
The golf-buggy shuttle usually works well, but on two or three occasions we gave up after waiting more than ten minutes.
On multiple occasions we walked away from bars and restaurants because drinks simply never arrived.
We did raise the most significant issues with the resort, and although compensation was provided, we never really recovered from what my children described as “being treated like criminals.”
This was our fifth outing with IKOS in as many years, heading back to Greece next time.
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