Ikos Kissamos
Ikos Kissamos is the group's newest resort and its first on Crete, opened in spring 2026 on 600 metres of sandy beach in the quiet northwest of the island, with olive groves and the western mountains behind it. Restaurants, branded drinks, the children's clubs and a day's car hire are all in the one premium price, with eight pools, a splash pad and a crèche from six months.
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 Kissamos is one of the more expensive family all-inclusives in Greece, with à la carte restaurants, premium wine and spirits, room service, childcare and a day's car hire all folded into the price and no per-restaurant supplements. It sits along its own beach rather than up a hillside, on flat ground at sea level. It's brand new, the first Ikos on Crete, so you're booking on its opening months rather than the years of reviews the older resorts have. You'll get the most from it if you'd otherwise pay separately for good dinners, childcare and a hire car, and you want the quieter northwest of the island.
Best for
You want à la carte restaurants, a long sandy beach and flat, pram-friendly ground.
Maybe not for
You're on a tight budget, you want a hillside resort with sea views from the room, or you need a sheltered bay in peak summer.
Best ages
Babies upwards. Paid crèche from six months, a free club from four, plus babysitting for an adult dinner.
What stands out
A splash pad that Ikos Oceania doesn't have, and à la carte dinners with no supplement.
What to check
That you're flying to Chania, not Heraklion, and that the crèche has space for a young baby in your week.
Where is it?
On Kissamos Bay in the quiet northwest of Crete, about 45 minutes to Chania and around an hour from Chania airport.
Quick facts for families
The resort and its setting
Where Kissamos sits, how the flat beachfront site is laid out and what that means for getting around.
Kissamos sits in the northwest corner of Crete, on the Gulf of Kissamos, one of the quieter, less built-up corners of the island. It's a 53-acre site, with olive groves and low hills behind. Kissamos itself, a working fishing and market town, is about 1 mile (2 km) away; the city of Chania, with its Venetian harbour and old town, is roughly 45 minutes by road. The resort holds 420 rooms, suites and bungalows arranged in four villages, and the ground is largely flat and at sea level, so the walk between your room, the pools and the beach is easier with a pram than at the group's hillside resorts. There are golf buggies too, the electric carts you can call for a lift across the site when the walk's too far with a tired toddler. 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 island our Crete guide.
Every restaurant and bar
The six restaurants and the market, the four bars and how the à la carte booking actually works.
Every restaurant is included with no per-restaurant supplement, and so is the wine. There are six à la carte restaurants plus The Market, a market-style all-day venue, and four bars. Your stay also includes Dine Out, complimentary dinners at selected local Cretan tavernas with transport arranged. The Market takes walk-ins through the day; the à la carte dinners need a reservation. The menus at three of the restaurants are designed by Michelin-starred chefs: Ettore Botrini, who holds one star at Botrini's in Athens, oversees Kriti and Fresco, and Pascal Barbot, who holds one star at L'Astrance in Paris, oversees La Plage. The kitchens here aren't themselves starred, and the other rooms have no Michelin connection.
The Market is the all-day venue, with à la minute dishes cooked to order alongside a buffet, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and taking walk-ins. It's the most practical room with a baby or toddler, with broad choice, no fixed sitting and high chairs, so you eat whenever a small appetite arrives.
Kriti is the Cretan and Greek restaurant, à la carte for dinner with a reservation, its menus designed by Ettore Botrini. An early sitting suits small children best.
Fresco is the Italian, à la carte with a reservation, also overseen by Ettore Botrini.
La Plage is the French restaurant, à la carte for dinner with a reservation, its menus designed by Pascal Barbot.
Anaya is the Asian restaurant, Thai, Chinese and Indian, à la carte for dinner with a reservation. Its menus are by the Paris chef Thiou, whose own restaurant is listed in the Michelin Guide though it doesn't hold a star.
Azul is the open-air Peruvian restaurant, à la carte for dinner with a reservation, with no named chef.
Beach Club is the beachfront restaurant, casual Mediterranean and the easiest place for a family lunch by the sand, à la carte with a reservation at dinner.
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 four bars
The Lobby Bar is the main one, for coffees by day and cocktails late. The Pool Bar serves the pools through the day, the Beach Bar handles drinks down on the sand, and there's a separate Deluxe Pool Bar for Deluxe Collection guests. Food trucks serve ice cream and snacks around the grounds. All the drinks, including the wine list, are included.
How restaurant booking works
You reserve your à la carte dinners through the Ikos app. The early-evening sittings that suit small children fill first, so book those as soon as you can, and tables free up through the week as plans change. The Market and the daytime Beach Club are the no-booking fallbacks if you can't get the table you want.
Rooms and suites
Every room category with its official size, the eight pools and splash pad, and the sandy Kissamos Bay beach.
Where you'll sleep
There are sixteen room categories across two tiers, eight standard and eight in the Deluxe Collection. No room is smaller than 40 m², and the range runs all the way up to a 182 m² three-bedroom suite. 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 | 40 m² | 2 |
| Superior Double Room | 40 m² | 3 |
| Superior Double Room Private Garden | 40 m² | 3 |
| Family Room | 80 m² | 5 |
| Family Room Private Garden | 80 m² | 5 |
| Junior Suite | 46 m² | 4 |
| Junior Suite Private Garden | 46 m² | 4 |
| One Bedroom Suite Private Garden | 78 m² | 5 |
| Deluxe Junior Suite | 60 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe Junior Suite Private Garden | 60 m² | 4 |
| Deluxe One Bedroom Suite | 90 m² | 5 |
| Deluxe One Bedroom Suite Private Garden | 90 m² | 5 |
| Deluxe One Bedroom Suite Private Pool | 90 m² | 5 |
| Deluxe Two Bedroom Suite Private Garden | 128 m² | 6 |
| Deluxe Two Bedroom Suite Private Pool | 128 m² | 6 |
| Deluxe Three Bedroom Suite Private Pool | 182 m² | 7 |
Tap a room name to see its photos in the gallery.
For families, the choice comes down to whether you need a door to close on a napping baby. The 40 m² Double sleeps two and isn't a family room, so skip it with a child in tow; a Superior Double at the same size sleeps three and works for two adults and a small child with a cot, though it's snug. The cheapest room with a separate sleeping space you can shut off is the Family Room at 80 m², which is two interconnected superior doubles sleeping five, so the children can sleep apart from you at a standard-tier price. For a separate lounge as well, the One Bedroom Suite Private Garden at 78 m² sleeps five. For two children in their own rooms, or to bring grandparents, the Deluxe Two Bedroom Suite at 128 m² sleeps six, and the Deluxe Three Bedroom Suite at 182 m² sleeps seven.
Several categories come in a Private Garden version, which gives you a ground-floor garden you step straight out into, the easier choice with a pushchair and a child you'd rather let out without stairs. The Deluxe tier also has Private Pool suites, with a small pool of your own off the terrace. A private pool suits older children, but it needs constant watching with a toddler. The four villages, Main, River, Dunes and Sea, spread across the site, with the Deluxe suites in the Dunes and Sea villages and the Sea village closest to the beach. If where you are on the site matters to you, say so when you book.
What the Deluxe Collection adds
Deluxe brings more space and the option of a private garden or a private pool off the room, plus a dedicated Deluxe pool and the Deluxe Pool Bar, two complimentary 25-minute massages per stay and, on the brand's usual pattern, a second day with the electric car. Standard guests get the same clubs, beach and restaurants.
The pools
The resort has eight pools spread across the grounds: main swimming pools, separate, shallower children's pools (what you'll actually use with a toddler), the Deluxe Collection pool and an indoor heated pool in the spa. There's also a splash pad, a shallow water-play area for younger children. The adults-only spa adds a thermal suite with a sauna, steam room, salt wall and ice room, open to guests of sixteen and over, so a young child can't use it.
The beach
The resort sits on 600 metres of fine sand on Kissamos Bay, with sunbeds, umbrellas and drinks brought to your spot and the sea a level walk from the rooms. The bay shelves gently, though there can be a patch of shingle at the water's edge, so water shoes are a sensible precaution. The Blue Flag here belongs to the adjoining public town beach, Mavros Molos, rather than the resort's own frontage. The main caveat is wind: this northwest corner of Crete is more exposed to the summer Meltemi than the sheltered bays further east, so in July and August the water can turn choppy on a breezy afternoon, when the pools are the calmer choice. Canoeing, paddleboarding and pedalos are included, each bookable once a day for a short slot. Motorised water sports and diving cost extra.
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: roughly one carer to three for the six-to-twenty-three-month babies, one to four for two-year-olds and one to six for three-year-olds. Sessions run 10:00 to 13:00, 13:00 to 15:00 and 15:00 to 18:00, charged per session, and pre-booking a session costs less than walking in. Email the resort to hold places before you travel, as the crèche is the only organised group childcare below the four-and-up kids' club and spaces are limited.
The free Heroes Kids 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 eco activities, water games, sports and crafts. There's a Just4Teens club for over-twelves, 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. Complimentary beach childcare runs in short sessions for children of four and over. For an adult dinner without the children, the resort offers a babysitting service for an extra charge, subject to availability and best booked in advance.
The room is set up for a baby or toddler before you arrive if you ask in advance: a cot, a baby bath, a monitor, toilet-seat adapters and small tables and chairs, with nappy-changing facilities through the public areas and high chairs and children's menus in every restaurant. Pram hire is available for a charge if you'd rather not bring your own, and the on-site mini-market stocks baby necessities and baby food. There's an outdoor playground with adventure equipment for between-times.
On resortThings to do
Plenty is included with no extra charge. The water sports off the beach are free, with canoeing, paddleboarding and pedalos each bookable once a day for a short slot. On dry land the included sports cover four tennis courts with sea views, padel courts, a five-a-side football pitch, a gym with a cardio room, and complimentary bikes for the coast road and the villages. There's daily al-fresco yoga and Pilates, including a Reformer Pilates programme, with stretching and beginners' classes. The daily programme runs live music, entertainment shows, early-evening children's shows and a cinema option, and your booking includes a Culture Pass for Cretan heritage sites and a complimentary car for one day to explore the island.
Several things cost extra. There's a paid Football Escapes academy with ex-professional and UEFA-licensed coaches, running roughly two hours a day for children from about five, plus tennis lessons, scuba lessons, and private boat and yacht trips, including day trips out to Balos lagoon and Gramvousa island. The Ikos Spa, by Anne Semonin of Paris, has eleven treatment rooms and a thermal suite with a sauna, steam room, salt wall and ice room. It's adults only, with complimentary access for guests of sixteen and over and a teen spa menu for over-twelves, so it's not for younger children; treatments are charged on top, and Deluxe guests get two complimentary short massages per stay.
The area and days out
Kissamos, the working fishing and market town about 1 mile (2 km) away, is where you'll find supermarkets, bakeries, pharmacies and tavernas for nappies, formula, sunscreen and snacks at normal Greek prices rather than the resort mini-market's. The town beach, Mavros Molos, holds a Blue Flag and has shallow water for paddling. Chania, about 45 minutes' drive, is the cultural half-day, with its Venetian harbour, old town and larger shops, and it suits a walking toddler more than a baby in a pram on the cobbles.
The northwest is the right base for the western beaches, and you can reach them on the included car day or with a hire car. Falassarna, a wide sandy beach that is exposed to the wind, is about 20 minutes away. Balos lagoon, a shallow turquoise lagoon, is about 40 minutes to the trailhead and then a rough track down on foot, or a boat from Kissamos port; it's very shallow when calm, but the access and the heat make it a demanding outing with a baby. Elafonisi, around an hour away, has pink-tinged sand and a very shallow lagoon that suits toddlers, though it's a busy full day in peak season. For the wider island, its regions and when to go, see our Crete guide.
Loves and gripes
What early guests rate and what frustrated them, how it stacks up against its sisters, the journey in and the weather by month.
What families like, and the gripes
What families like
- The food and the range across the restaurants.
- The long sandy beach and the calm, shallow bay on a settled day.
- Short, walkable distances from the rooms to the pools and beach.
- The splash pad and children's pools for younger children.
- The quiet, less-developed northwest setting.
Common gripes
- Some early service delays and unfinished planting as the resort settled in.
- Afternoon Meltemi on this exposed coast, with choppy water on breezy days.
- The top-end price, with the crèche an added cost on top.
- A thin review base, with no settled track record to weigh against the established resorts.
How it compares
Within the group, Kissamos is the only one on Crete. Against the hillside Ikos Oceania it has a splash pad Oceania lacks, plus shallower dedicated children's pools. The trade-off is its newness. Oceania and the other established resorts have years of guest reviews behind them, while Kissamos has only its first months. The food and service feel much the same across the brand. For how the whole group works, our Ikos guide goes into the brand in more depth.
From the airportGetting there
Fly to Chania, not Heraklion. Chania airport is the right one, around an hour away by road; Heraklion is on the other side of the island, about two and a half hours, and is the wrong choice for this resort. With a pushchair, luggage and car seats a private transfer beats a coach, and you arrange it yourself rather than it being laid on automatically: request it through Ikos or your operator at least a couple of weeks before you travel, with child seats on request. It's complimentary on direct bookings of five nights or more, including Deluxe Collection bookings; that five-night figure is the threshold for the free transfer, not a minimum stay to book. Your stay also includes a day with an electric car, enough for the run into Kissamos town and a beach trip, with child seats on request.
When to goWeather, April to October
Ikos Kissamos is open from spring to late autumn, and the figures below, long-term averages for nearby Chania, cover that season. The warm, dry window for a family is roughly June to September, when days sit in the mid to high twenties, the sea reaches 22 to 25°C and rain is rare. The gentlest weeks with young children are late May into June and September, warm enough to swim but short of the July and August peak for heat and crowds. April is cool, with a sea still too cold for small swimmers.
| Month | Daytime high | Overnight low | Rain | Wet days | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| April | 20.5° | 12° | 22 mm | 3 | 17° |
| May | 24° | 15.5° | 11 mm | 2 | 20° |
| June | 27.5° | 19.5° | 4 mm | 0 | 23° |
| July | 29.5° | 22.5° | 1 mm | 0 | 26° |
| August | 29.5° | 22.5° | 2 mm | 0 | 27° |
| September | 27° | 20° | 13 mm | 1 | 26° |
| October | 24° | 17° | 54 mm | 4 | 23° |
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 than walking in and go first, so email the resort to hold a place as soon as you book. If a place falls through, the in-room babysitting service is the fallback.
Is the beach safe for a toddler to paddle?
Mornings are calmest. The afternoon breeze builds on this exposed coast in July and August, so plan beach time for the morning.
Which room works best with a baby or toddler?
A Private Garden category gives you a ground-floor step-out with no stairs, whatever the tier, and the child has a small enclosed garden. The Family Room at 80 m² is the cheapest with a separate sleeping space for a napping baby. The One Bedroom Suite Private Garden at 78 m² adds a lounge as well.
Do you need to hire a car?
Only book your own car if you're planning several separate days out, since the western beaches are a fair drive apart and one included car day won't cover them all. For one or two outings, the included day is enough.
Is there much for older children and teens?
Plenty past toddler age. The free club covers most of the day for fours to twelves, there's a separate club for over-twelves, and the paid coaching academies and included water sports give an older child a full day.
When should I book to get a quieter, easier week?
Book outside the school summer holidays if you can, because the early-evening crèche sessions and the children's restaurant sittings fill up when the resort is full, and they're far easier to get in a quieter week. Late May into June or September gives you that without giving up the warm weather.
See more resort photos
Open the photo gallery →Useful links
- Ikos Kissamos: the resort's own site for rooms, what's included and the children's clubs.
- GOV.UK Greece travel advice: entry rules and safety updates before you travel.
- Crete with little ones: our guide to the wider island, its beaches and when to go.
Last updated 21 June 2026.
