Ikos Andalusia
Ikos Andalusia is the Spanish resort in the Ikos group, a flat seafront site between Estepona and Marbella on the Costa del Sol, where the restaurants, branded drinks and children's clubs all sit in one premium all-inclusive price. The gardens are level enough to cross with a pram, and the pools are heated right through the season.
On this page
Is it worth it?
The quick read before the detail: who this resort suits, what is folded into the price and the facts to skim first.
Ikos Andalusia is one of the more expensive family all-inclusives in Spain. The price covers à la carte restaurants, premium wine and spirits, 24-hour room service and a day's car hire, with no per-restaurant supplements and little upselling. It sits on a large seafront site near Marbella. You'll get the most from it if you'd otherwise pay separately for good dinners, childcare and a hire car. The crèche and the evening supper club cost extra on top.
Best for
You want à la carte restaurants, a splash pad and a crèche from six months.
Maybe not for
You're set on a calm, gently shelving swimming beach, you're on a tight budget or you need childcare for a baby under six months.
Best ages
Babies upwards. Paid crèche from six months, a free club from four, plus babysitting for an adult dinner.
What stands out
A day's car hire and a round of golf included, on top of the restaurants and bars.
What to check
The crèche age floor for a young baby, and the beach conditions for a toddler paddle.
Where is it?
On the beach at Guadalmansa, between Estepona and Marbella on the Costa del Sol, about 50 minutes from Málaga airport.
Quick facts for families
The resort and its setting
Where Andalusia sits, how it runs flat along its bay and what that means for getting around with a pram.
Andalusia sits on the beach at Playa de Guadalmansa, on the stretch of coast between Estepona town and Marbella in the province of Málaga, southern Spain. It opened in 2021 in a converted former hotel, the first Ikos outside Greece, and it runs flat along its bay across around 21 acres of landscaped gardens, palms and lawns, with a central boulevard and a reflecting pool leading down to the sea. The ground is level throughout, which makes it the easiest Ikos to get around with a pushchair. It's a large site, so there are golf buggies, the electric carts that shuttle guests around on call, for the longer runs from a far room to the beach. For how the Ikos brand and its Infinite Lifestyle all-inclusive works across the group, see our guide to Ikos and the group behind it, and for the wider coast our Costa del Sol guide.
Every restaurant and bar
All nine dining rooms, the eight bars and how the à la carte booking actually works.
Andalusia has nine restaurants, the most of any Ikos resort, and eight bars, all included with no per-restaurant supplement and no charge for the wine. The buffet runs all day and takes walk-ins; the à la carte dinners need a reservation. A few of the menus are designed by chefs who hold Michelin stars at their own restaurants elsewhere, though the resort's kitchens aren't themselves starred.
Flavors is the Mediterranean buffet, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and it doesn't need a reservation. It's the most practical room with young children, with broad choice, no fixed sitting and children's menus, so you can walk in whenever your toddler is ready to eat.
Oliva is the Spanish and Andalusian restaurant, and its menus are curated by Andoni Luis Aduriz, whose Basque restaurant Mugaritz holds two Michelin stars. The cooking leans Andalusian, with rice dishes and grilled fish, and there's a children's menu.
Ouzo is the group's Greek restaurant, looking out to the beach. Mezze plates to share suit grazing toddlers, and there's a children's menu.
Fresco is the Italian. Its menus are designed by Ettore Botrini, who holds one Michelin star at his Athens restaurant, Botrini's. The pasta makes it an easy choice with children.
Provence is the French restaurant, with menus by Pascal Barbot, whose Paris restaurant L'Astrance holds one Michelin star in the current Guide. The cooking is the most formal of the rooms, better suited to an evening without a restless toddler than a quick family dinner.
Anaya is the Asian restaurant, Chinese, Indian and Thai, with menus by the Paris Thai chef Thiou. It's the hardest table to get, so book as soon as your window opens.
Seasons is a second Mediterranean restaurant, open to Deluxe Collection guests only, which is one of the things the Deluxe tier buys.
Chiringuito is the beachfront Spanish spot for tapas and a casual daytime lunch by the sand, and the Beach Club is the other beachfront restaurant, casual by day with an à la carte dinner that needs a booking. Both are easy places to feed a family without leaving the beach.
Dress code
At dinner, shorts and flip-flops aren't allowed in any of the restaurants, the buffet included. Days are casual, including lunch by the pool and beach.
The eight bars
The bars are the Main Bar, the Lobby Bar, the Cocktail Bar, the Pool Bar, the Beach Club Bar, the Teatro Bar by the theatre, a Night Club and a Deluxe Bar for Deluxe Collection guests. All the drinks, including the wine list and Taittinger Champagne, are part of the price.
How restaurant booking works
You choose your à la carte dinners when you book the holiday. A standard room comes with up to three pre-booked dinners; Deluxe Collection guests can pre-book every night. The early-evening sittings that suit small children fill first, so pick those when you book. The rest you arrange on the Ikos app once you arrive, where tables free up through the week. Walk-ins to the à la carte rooms are rarely possible, so Flavors and the daytime beachfront spots are the no-booking fallbacks. Anaya and the Deluxe-only Seasons are the hardest to land.
Rooms and suites
Every room category with its official size, the nine heated pools and splash pad, and the sandy beach below the gardens.
Where you'll sleep
There are twenty-one room categories across two tiers, nine standard and twelve in the Deluxe Collection. Many face the sea, so the choice is mainly about space and layout. The table below is the full line-up with the official sizes; the guidance after it is which suit a family with a baby or toddler.
| Room | Size | Sleeps |
|---|---|---|
| Double Room | 34 m² | 2 |
| Superior Double Room | 34 m² | 2 |
| Superior Double Room Pool View | 34 m² | 2 |
| Junior Suite | 48 m² | 3 |
| Junior Suite Pool View | 48 m² | 3 |
| Family Room | 70 m² | 4 |
| One Bedroom Suite | 70 m² | 4 |
| One Bedroom Suite Private Garden | 70 m² | 4 |
| Family Suite | 100 m² | 5 |
| Deluxe Junior Suite | 55 m² | 3 |
| Deluxe Junior Suite Private Pool | 55 m² | 3 |
| Deluxe One Bedroom Suite | 70 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe One Bedroom Suite Sea Front View | 70 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe One Bedroom Suite Private Pool | 70 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe One Bedroom Penthouse Suite | 70 m² | 2 |
| Deluxe Two Bedroom Suite | 130 m² | 5 |
| Deluxe Two Bedroom Suite Private Pool | 130 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe Two Bedroom Penthouse Suite | 99 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe Two Bedroom Grand Penthouse | 110 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe Three Bedroom Suite Private Pool | 125 m² | 6 |
| Deluxe Four Bedroom Villa Private Pool | 260 m² | 8 |
Tap a room name to see its photos and floor plan in the gallery.
For families, the choice comes down to whether you need a door to close on a napping baby. The Doubles at 34 m² sleep two and aren't family rooms, so skip them with a child in tow. The 48 m² Junior Suites are larger but open-plan, workable with one small child though tight once a cot and an active toddler share the floor. The first rooms with a separate bedroom you can shut off are the Family Room and the One Bedroom Suite, both 70 m²: the Family Room sleeps four with a pool view, and the One Bedroom Suite has a bedroom and a separate living room, so there's a door to close at bedtime. For two children in their own rooms, or to bring grandparents, the Family Suite at 100 m² sleeps five, and the Deluxe two and three-bedroom suites go further.
Some categories carry a Private Garden, which gives you a ground-floor garden you step straight out into, the easier choice with a pushchair and a toddler you'd rather let out without stairs. Others have a private pool, a balcony or a terrace, trading that ground-floor access for the view from above. At the top of the range, the Deluxe Four Bedroom Villa at 260 m² has its own pool, gym and garden and is the largest accommodation in the Ikos group. Interconnecting rooms and cots are arranged at booking rather than on arrival, so flag what you need when you reserve.
The rooms are finished to a high standard, with private terraces, balconies, gardens or pools. The Deluxe Two Bedroom suites have a space-themed children's room, and the Heroes Village kids' areas carry the same look.
What the Deluxe Collection adds
For families, the most useful thing Deluxe adds is the dinner booking. Deluxe guests can pre-book every à la carte dinner rather than a capped few, so you don't compete for the early sittings each day. On top of that, Deluxe brings a dedicated Deluxe pool and Deluxe Bar, a private beach section, access to the Seasons restaurant, in-suite check-in and concierge, two complimentary spa treatments per suite, a second day with the car and the airport transfer. Standard guests get the same clubs, splash pad, beach and main restaurants, so Deluxe mainly buys space, a quieter pool and booking certainty.
The pools
The resort has nine pools, all heated through the season, spread across the gardens rather than gathered in one spot. The centrepiece is a large main pool that runs toward the sea, with sunbeds and umbrellas around it. The useful one for young children is the shallow children's pool, with a splash pad alongside, a low-jet water-play area that the older Greek Ikos resorts don't have. Adults who want a child-free corner during family hours have a separate adults-only pool, and Deluxe guests have their own pool with the Deluxe Bar. Inside the spa there's an indoor heated pool, but under-16s can only use it during Splash Hours, mornings from April to October and with an adult, so a young child can't use it in the afternoons or evenings. The children's pool can be short of shade in high summer, so take a parasol or swim earlier in the day.
The beach
The beach is Playa de Guadalmansa, a wide stretch of golden, darker Costa del Sol sand below the gardens, with a serviced section of sunbeds, umbrellas, towels and food and drink to your spot. The dry sand is fine for digging and building, but the water's edge can be stony along this coast, so water shoes save sore feet at the paddle. Kitesurfers use it, so it catches the wind, and spring and autumn afternoons can bring a swell. It is not a Blue Flag beach. Estepona left the scheme around 2020 and hasn't rejoined, so no beach in the town carries the flag. Marbella's Blue Flag swimming beaches are a short drive east if a calm, gently shelving paddle is what you're after. For most days with little ones, the pools are the easier place to swim than the sea.
Babies and toddlers
The crèche and clubs from six months up, everything that fills a family day, and the days out beyond the gate.
The crèche, clubs and the baby kit
The Heroes Crèche takes children from six months to four years for an extra charge, run to UK Ofsted standards in small groups: one carer to three for babies from six to twenty-three months, one to four for two year olds and one to six from three years. Sessions run 10:00 to 13:00, 13:00 to 15:00 and 15:00 to 18:00, charged per session. Spaces fill fast, so book by email before you travel through [email protected].
The free Heroes Village club covers four to twelve year olds through the day, running 10:30 to 13:00, 13:00 to 15:00 and 15:30 to 18:00, with an outdoor playground and activities. There's a Just4Teens club for over-twelves with a 1:12 ratio, and a Heroes Supper Club for four to twelves in the evening, 19:00 to 22:00 for an extra charge, which gives parents an evening to dine alone. Under-fours aren't eligible for the supper club, so for a baby or toddler the evening options are an early Flavors or 24-hour room service. For an adult dinner without the children, the resort offers a professional babysitting service for an extra charge, subject to availability and best booked in advance.
The room can be set up for a baby or toddler if you ask in advance: a baby monitor, a baby bath tub and toilet adapters, with cots arranged at booking and nappy-changing facilities through the public areas. The kitchens make fresh baby food on request, and there's a children's menu everywhere. Pram hire is available on request if you'd rather not bring your own, and the mini-market stocks baby basics, though at resort prices.
Things to do
Plenty is included with no extra charge. On the sports side there are tennis, five-a-side football, basketball, beach volleyball and table tennis, along with non-motorised water sports, canoeing, paddleboarding and pedalos, each bookable once a day for a short slot. Bike hire is free for the whole family, including a guided coastal ride to Estepona, and there's giant chess, board games, darts and karaoke for downtime. The fitness and wellness side runs an outdoor cardio gym, spinning, Zumba, aqua aerobics, stretching, Pilates and beginners' yoga.
Several academies and excursions cost extra. There's a Football Academy, a five-day coaching programme for five to fifteen year olds run by professional coaches with kit, a medal and a certificate, plus Tennis and Swimming academies. Motorised water sports such as jet skis and water-skiing, and private boat hire, are paid extras. The spa has treatment rooms and the indoor heated pool, with two complimentary treatments per suite for Deluxe guests; the daily entertainment programme covers live music, shows at the resort theatre, an early-evening children's show and mini disco, and a night club.
A few included extras take you off the resort. Your stay comes with a complimentary day with an electric MINI Countryman, two days for Deluxe guests, which makes a day out under your own steam easy without committing to a week's hire. It also includes a Culture Pass, a free ticket to one of Málaga's museums of your choice from the Picasso Museum, his birthplace house, the Centre Pompidou and the Automobile and Fashion Museum, and a complimentary Dine Out scheme covering dinner at selected local restaurants in Marbella and Estepona old town. The golf comes with conditions: a round per adult at Los Naranjos in Nueva Andalucía, with a shared buggy in the price, though you'll need a current handicap certificate, limited to 27 for men and 35 for women, and you pay separately for the transfer to the course and for club hire.
The area and days out
Estepona is the closest town, a short drive west: a working Spanish town with a cobbled, flower-filled old town, a marina and the eateries the Dine Out scheme uses, good for a low-key family afternoon. Marbella and Puerto Banús are about 15 minutes east, for Marbella old town, the Puerto Banús marina and the nearest Blue Flag swimming beaches. For supplies, the resort mini-market is dear, so a week's worth of nappies, formula and sunscreen is cheaper from the supermarkets in Estepona or San Pedro, and worth bringing or stocking up early.
Further afield needs the car; the included day, or your own hire, covers it. Málaga city is about 50 minutes, for the Picasso museums on the Culture Pass, the old town and the port, a full day with walking toddlers. Ronda, the white town on its gorge, is around an hour, Gibraltar about 45 minutes to an hour, and Mijas Pueblo, a white hill village, around half an hour. Closer to home, Selwo Aventura safari park and the Orchidarium in Estepona suit younger children, though it's worth checking opening times before you set out. For the wider coast, its towns and seasons, see our Costa del Sol guide.
Loves and gripes
What guests rate and what frustrated them, how it stacks up against its sisters, the journey in and the weather by month.
What families love, and the gripes
What families love
- The food across the restaurants, and the range of nine to choose from.
- The splash pad for water-loving toddlers.
- The warmth and attentiveness of the staff, the crèche and kids' teams especially.
- The grounds and rooms, finished to a high standard.
- The longer, warmer Costa del Sol season.
Common gripes
- The beach, with wind and a stony edge at the water.
- Limited shade at the children's pool in high summer.
- The top-end price, with the crèche and supper club extra on top.
- Popular tables, Anaya in particular, hard to book without moving fast.
How it compares
Within the group, Andalusia is the Spain option and one of the newer resorts. The format, the food and the service run much the same across the brand, so the real differences are the ground, the beach, the water play and the flight. This is the flattest Ikos and the easiest with a pram, with the Costa del Sol staying warm later into autumn. Where it gives ground is the beach, so if a calm swimming beach matters most to you, the Greek resorts usually do better, Corfu's Dassia in particular. Our Ikos guide goes into the whole group in more depth.
From the airportGetting there
Málaga airport is the arrival point, about 50 minutes away by road. With a pushchair, luggage and car seats a private transfer beats a coach, and you arrange it rather than it being laid on automatically: a complimentary airport transfer comes with Deluxe Collection stays of five nights or more and must be requested at least 14 days before you travel. Most bookings carry a five-night minimum stay.
When to goWeather, April to November
Ikos Andalusia runs a longer season than the Greek properties, roughly April to mid-November, helped by the mild Costa del Sol climate, and the figures below are long-term averages for this coast. The warm, low-rain window for a family is broadly June to September, when days sit in the high twenties to low thirties and rain is rare. The gentlest weeks with little ones are late May into June and September, warm enough to swim but short of the July and August peak for heat, crowds and price. April and early November are cooler, but all the pools are heated, so the shoulder months are an easier prospect here than at a Greek resort.
| Month | Daytime high | Overnight low | Rain | Wet days | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 21° | 12.5° | 41 mm | 4 | 16° |
| May | 24.5° | 15° | 23 mm | 3 | 18° |
| June | 28° | 18.5° | 4 mm | 1 | 18° |
| July | 30.5° | 21.5° | 0 mm | 0 | 21° |
| August | 31° | 22.5° | 3 mm | 0 | 23° |
| September | 28° | 20° | 25 mm | 2 | 21° |
| October | 24° | 16° | 61 mm | 4 | 20° |
| November | 20° | 11.5° | 77 mm | 5 | 17° |
Typical monthly averages from weather-station records. Sea temperature is the open-water figure, so a sheltered bay can feel a degree or two warmer.
Questions
The things families ask most, the official pages worth a bookmark and when this guide was last refreshed.
How young will the crèche take a baby?
From six months. The morning sessions cost less and fill first; the email to reserve a place is [email protected]. Under six months, the in-room babysitting service is the fallback.
Can a toddler swim safely here?
Keep a young one to the children's pool and splash pad, and treat the sea as a paddle rather than a swim. Bring water shoes for the stony edge. For a calm, shelving swimming beach, Marbella's are about fifteen minutes east.
Is it flat enough for a pushchair?
Yes, entirely level. Ground-floor garden suites give step-free access, but rooms are allocated in advance, so flag the preference at booking. The resort's golf buggies take you and a pram on the longer runs.
Do we need to hire a car?
A complimentary transfer comes with Deluxe Collection stays of five nights or more (requested 14 days ahead); standard bookings may include transfers depending on your operator. The included MINI day covers one day out; hire your own only if you want several separate days to Ronda, Gibraltar or Málaga.
Is the food really by Michelin chefs?
The menus at several of the restaurants are designed by chefs who hold Michelin stars at their own places elsewhere, among them Andoni Luis Aduriz of the two-star Mugaritz. The chefs don't cook here and the resort kitchens aren't themselves starred, so what you get is their menus cooked by the resort's teams, not a starred restaurant.
How does it compare with a Greek Ikos?
The brand format is consistent across the group, so the food, service and clubs feel familiar. The differences are the ground, the beach and the calendar. Andalusia is the flattest Ikos for a pushchair where the Halkidiki resorts are hillside, its beach is stonier and breezier than Corfu's sheltered Dassia bay, and the Spanish season runs warm into November when the Greek resorts have closed.
When is the best time to go with little ones?
Late May, June and September are warm enough to swim while staying clear of the busiest, hottest and dearest weeks. If you're tied to the school summer holiday, plan around the midday heat with a shaded room or balcony, pool time in the morning and the hottest hours indoors or at the kids' club.
See more resort photos
Open the photo gallery →
Useful links
- Ikos Andalusia: the resort's own site for rooms, what's included and the children's clubs.
- GOV.UK Spain travel advice: entry rules and safety updates before you travel.
- The Costa del Sol with little ones: our guide to the wider coast, its towns and when to go.
Last updated 22 June 2026.
