We had come to Malta on a time share 'fly buy'holiday. After one night in the adjoining 4 star hotel which wasnt up to scratch ( in our opinion barely reaching 3 star by northern/central european standards) we complained to the time share staff located on the 12th floor of the adjoining 5 star tower block called the Fortina Spa Resort Hotel. They showed us rooms in the 5 star - which varied considerably in quality - from barely reaching 4 star (or a good 3 star) to spa rooms on the 17th floor of the tower block which were worthy of 5 star standard. They also showed us a 5 star Garden spa room which had no seaview - these rooms were located above the restaurants shared by the 4 and 5 star guests and directly behind the 4 star hotel - both properties were separated by a pool area and swim up bar called the garden area but these 5 star garden rooms did have their own mini pool on the roof -directly above the room up a narrow wobbly spiral stair case on the balcony. The pool in the garden area and the 5 star roof pools in the last week in October certainly didnt get any sun and I would expect sun would only shine on these pool areas mid summer due to the height of the 4 star fortina building in front of them. The 5 star spa rooms on the 17th (top) floor were lovely - we saw two of them - brilliant view - lovely spacious bathrooms, modern design and big jacuzzi whirlpool baths in the bedroom or on the balcony (these were in addition to the regular jacuzzi baths in the bathroom). I was told that the 14th floor was similarly furnished although slightly older than the 17th floor but still of very good standard. We were bowled over and instead of pursuing the fact that we didnt get the room category we had paid for -delux 4 star- which would have been perfectly adequate had that been what we had received we decided to treat ourselves and upgrade for the 6 remaining nights to the adjoining 5 star Fortina Spa Resort Hotel - thinking we would get a spa room with a mini pool with no sun or an amazing seaview room on the 17th floor. We paid our money to upgrade and again were disappointed - we got a disabled room in the tower block on the 7th floor - looking on to the shopping centre although we could see the sea if we looked around the extremely narrow balcony corner. This room was not even 4 star by central/northern european standards! We complained again but we were told there were no other rooms available but on the upside it was certainly cleaner and of better standard than where we had stayed the previous night. All this complaining collectively took up another 3hrs in addition to the 3 hrs time share talk whch was just supposed to take 1.5hrs. We persisted: the room was tiny - we had now paid for 5 star - but the main reason was due to the fact that my short legs dangled from the disabled toilet. The seat dug in uncomfortably to my legs and as the sink was about half a metre off the ground we both got back ache trying to clean our teeth. The interesting thing was that this bathroom was kitted out for a disabled person yet the large mirror above the sink was positioned so high up that a disabled person would be unable to use it. Our persistence paid off - and for the last 3 nights we were put in a spa room on the 2nd floor of the tower block - no seaview - only a view to the shopping centre -but the room was large and comfortable with a whirlpool in the room and a jacuzzi bath, small steam room/shower which they called a thermovarium as there were 6 horizontal jets on a fixed push button timer as well as the overhead shower which was also on a timer. However this really was a nuisance when you washed your hair as typically when soaped up the shower stopped. There was also a laconium in the bathroom - shell thing you get into with vibrating bed, steam and it appeared infra-red heat lights but we werent sure how to use this safely. We did use use the whirpool in the room which was nice and my husband used the shower as a steam room which he thought was ok. But there were no instructions provided for any of the room spa equipment.
Hotel Restaurants - Well ....they were not 5 star! - they were basic to mid range - a japanese, a thai, an indian a pizzeria and a regular restaurant were all located in the garden area between the 4 star and 5 star hotels. We tried 3 of them - the Thai, Japanese and Pizzeria - the Pizzeria was actually fine and as expected but the asian restaurants were not very authentic - and certainly not the quality of what one expects affilliated to a 5 star or even 4 star hotel. We even wondered if the two asian restaurants shared the one kitchen - identical 'bought in' deserts on both menus (a mango type cup and a nutella type cup - not exactly typical asian cuisine!). We ended up just eating out - better value and more choice locally and in the nearby towns. It transpired that the 14th and 17th floors are used for the time shares as are the rooms with the roof pools although I was told that occasionally when the are not occupied they are rented to guests on a short 1-2 night basis.

The daytime reception staff were frequently not there so guests were just hanging around in the foyer waiting - this was particularly noticeable around check out time in the morning when queues of people were gathered in the foyer. Eventually someone would arrive [complete with coffee cup - no guesses what she had been doing ] - but with a disinterested/couldn't be bothered/ unhelpful attitude -definitely not what one expects at a 5 star reception! However she could learn a lot from the very friendly and helpful man on reception in the evening who did his job well or one may even say 'as expected'

The 5 star SPA was actually very expensive but price-wise en par with other 5 star spas in europe - they did have some on going special offers -basically the more treatments you booked upfront the better the price. Also one free entry for each adult room occupant was given gratis to the steam rooms /sauna and large whirlpool and to the morning hydrotherapy session. We also received free Captain Morgan cruise tickets for a boat trip around Maltas many harbours which was very nice.

There is a car park underneath the hotel (think its mainly for the TIGNE POINT shopping centre which also has a supermarket but the fortina has spaces allocated there too!). The daytime reception staff told us there was no hotel parking but another told us we could use the hotel parking underneath the hotel in the tigne point centre for free! - we did manage to park there for free a couple of nights and the duty manager gave us a pass to get out - it was very convenient as there is a lift directly to the tower block hotel rooms and makes things easy if you are carrying shopping or beach stuff up to the room instead of having to walk out onto the road down the street and in the main hotel entrance - the downside is that the lift entry area from the car park is a bit smelly as the laundry and rubbish bins are located in this area - which is why they maybe dont publicise this parking. Limited parking is also available for free on the same side of the main road as the hotel - if you use the opposite side of the road you can only park for a maximum of 1 hr - if you over stay then you would get a ticket as the traffic wardens are very meticulous. If you end up paying for parking in the TIGNE POINT shopping centre next to the 5 star hotel, the 24hr rates are relatively cheap compared to north/central europe.

Would we return? - No! The tower block 17th floor rooms are certainly of 5 star standard and the view form the tower block if you are lucky enough to have a room facing valetta is lovely but the infrastructure to support this 5 star hotel most definitely is not. In our opinion this 5 star hotel is overall barely worthy of a 4 star classification compared to 4 stars in UK or northern /central europe. Further the ambience could considerably be improved if the daytime reception staff received some training in customer relations. Service with a smile always helps!