Gzira Hotels with Airport pickup service

The hotel is relatively old, but it is in the first row by the sea. The room has a small balcony, facing the yacht marina. There is a small supermarket downstairs. You need to take the bus to the ancient city. The station is also downstairs. It is very convenient.

From before the arrival the communication with the hotel was perfect. The agent Ejay from Trip.com confirmed with Nigel from reception our late arrival. Nigel gave us all the information needed at the check in and greeted us every evening he was on shift, he's a great guy to have on reception. The staff on duty during the daytime was very friendly and perceptive of guests needs as well. The ones who excelled during our stay were the ones working in housekeeping and breakfast: friendly, kind, quick, they're an amazing team! I loved my holidays at Malta but without any doubt the stay at this hotel played a big part on this.

We thought we would pay the extra and treat ourselves to a suite, based on the hotel website photos which show a sofa, chairs and coffee table. We were pretty disappointed with the room we were allocated. Although the room was large, the suite I was expecting only had a chair, footstool and a large round something! The view from the balcony was restricted as our room was at the side of the hotel and we overlooked the hotel outside bar rather than having a full sea view. It rained heavily on our first full day and it would have been nice to not have to sit on the bed while passing the time. I requested a room change, even to be downgraded but was told that the hotel was fully booked and nothing could be done. I had already checked the hotel website and various booking agencies which all showed availability. I met a manager later in the week, in the lift, who was shocked when I gave a negative to the question about enjoying my room. I got the usual response that they could have done something if only they had known. By then, our stay was almost over and I suggest that the front desk staff are trained to look for solutions rather than to just ignore requests. The room (suite) overall looked a little tired with lots of marks on the walls and the air conditioning was so loud that I had to wear earplugs in order to sleep. There was plenty of storage and a coffee machine but no folder with general hotel info. We therefore took a couple of attempts before successfully operating the coffee machine and failed miserably to quieten down the aircon. The bathroom had a shower, no bath but the water was hot when required. There was however, no space to put anything such as a toiletry bag. Breakfast was a bit haphazard in that food items were not replenished at times. Coffee could be made to order as well as omelettes, poached eggs etc but if you requested the orange juice dispenser be refilled or asked for a teaspoon, you were left waiting a while. I got the impression that the staff were trying to look busy rather than being well managed. The location of the hotel is ideal for bars and restaurants but not if you want a quiet area. The bus service around the island is pretty good and the water taxi to Valletta excellent.