‘Why is the weather so bad?’ was one of the top-searched queries on Google the day before I left for Ikos Odisia, so you can imagine how I, and a large portion of the British public, were feeling about the impending yet ever underwhelming prospect of a British ‘summer’.
Thankfully, three short days later I would be revelling in Corfu sunshine aboard a catamaran, laughing among new friends with a rosé in hand. Smug doesn’t even begin to cover it.
It was the final evening of a short but sweet stay at Ikos Odisia, a luxury resort hotel nestled in a secluded bay along Corfu's Ioanian coast.
Though the resort only launched last year, you'd never know it from the well manicured grounds, high-quality service and extensive range of restaurants and activities that Ikos Odisia provides its guests. An ultra luxurious offering, Ikos has set out to reinvent the all-inclusive beach holiday, with every fine detail accounted for.
Set amid a perfect blend of forest and seaside, Ikos Odisia boasts 60 acres of land filled with towering Cypress trees, a 420m-long sandy beach and 10 pools. It will inevitably take you a few days to familiarise yourself with the entirety of the expansive resort, but in the meantime you can grab a passing buggy at any time to hitch a ride – we often did!
Divided up into four different villages (Garden, Central, Sea and Deluxe), each area of the resort has its own feel and dedicated pool area. The rooms themselves are spacious and designed in chic neutral tones, while floor-to-ceiling doors and windows create a vast sense of space.
My rain shower and wonderfully plush bed were two of my favourite features in my home away from home, while the terrace area outside offered idyllic views of the water and olive trees. Thoughtfully designed, understated decor allows nature to take centre stage here, effortlessly harmonising with its surroundings.
On our first evening at the resort, we found ourselves unwinding for cocktails at Elia – Ikos Odisia's Greek restaurant that offers unbeatable vistas of the sea and beautiful surrounding scenery – before graduating to their delicious dinner menu as the sun went down. Elia's crunchy squid and grilled ‘soutzoukakia’ meatballs proved my personal favourites, though you can't go far wrong with this menu.
With eight restaurant options at the resort including Greek, Spanish, Asian, Peruvian and beyond, there's little opportunity to get bored. Each has its own unique ambience – Fresco offers a sea view set back from the bustle with Italian à la carte options for all tastes, while Ikos' Spanish food offering Oliva proved a favourite dinner spot for its perfectly crisped croquettes and fresh sea bass tiradito. Guests at the resort can enjoy unlimited access to Ikos' restaurants and bars, so truly your only problem will be finding more space to sample their various options.
For the moments in between meal times, there's no shortage of scenic settings to bask in the sunshine. With our room in Sea Village mere seconds from the beachside, in the mornings we'd lounge lazily beside the crystal clear sea, while everything else we could possibly want for was ready to be conjured up by one of the exceptionally-attentive beach staff. All, of course, included as part of the stay.
With a state-of-the-art fitness centre in the resort, guests are also able to try their hand at yoga, pilates, aqua fit, water sports, mountain biking and everything in between. Though truthfully, I was far too busy relaxing on the beach.
When we did eventually manage to pull ourselves away from the sun loungers, we found there to be no better place for some quality R&R than Odisia Spa. Whether you treat yourself to an additional spa treatment or not, be sure to take a moment to pause at the indoor pool and soak up the impressive panoramic views of Dassia Bay. And while you're there, a trip to the steam bath and sauna couldn't hurt either.
Though the beauty of an all-inclusive holiday is arguably the lack of pressure to do anything beyond eat, sun yourself and repeat, those wanting to venture outside the resort have ample opportunity to do so. On our penultimate day we drove to explore the streets of Corfu's charming Old Town, stopping at Achilleion Museum along the way to enjoy its verdant gardens and beautiful neoclassical statues.
Corfu is known as Greece's greenest Island, so it's well worth taking the chance to see what lies beyond Ikos, with the resort offering options to take Teslas on local drives of its surrounding areas. Likewise, private cruises give guests the opportunity to see more of the area's undeniable natural beauty, from the stunning white cliffs and pebbled beach of Erimitis Bay to the seemingly magical rock formations of Canal D'Amour.
Nevertheless, there's plenty of rugged beauty to be taken in even within Ikos Odisia itself, with my lasting memory from the trip being that of a pre-dinner dip in the glimmering Ioanian sea amid the fading light.
British Airways Holidays offers seven nights at the 5* Ikos Odisia, from £1499pp, travelling on selected dates between 1 October - 31 October 2024 inclusive. Includes economy (Euro Traveller) return flights from London Gatwick Airport, 1 checked bag at 23kg per person and accommodation on All Inclusive board basis. Book by 16 June 2024. For reservations visit www.britishairways.com/corfu or call 0344 493 0125.
