I stay in 200 hotels 5 star , 4 star for all the world , but this hotel for me no one

I stayed in Hotel Juliany for a vacation at the beginning of January 2012. I work very hard and travel a lot and was looking for a nice place to enjoy a week of leisure in a sunny place. I made a reservation on-line directly on the hotel's web page and chose a package called "beat the brunch". Anyway, I had troubles with a flight on the day of my departure so my flight was cancelled. Even before knowing whether I could make a new reservation, I sent an e-mail to Juliani and cancelled the booking. Although they could charge me for one night stay as I cancelled it on the day of the arrival, they did not do it. Later during the day I successfully rebooked my flights for the other day and made a new reservation. Beat the crunch package included room with a full breakfast +one free dinner in Zest restaurant + free voucher for Hop on Hop off sightseeing bus + fruit basket in the room + airport pick-up. I made a calculation - if I bought all these separately, it would cost me almost 200 Euro. Anyway, hotel is really sitated centrally, in the heart of Saint Julian with a bus stop opposite the hotel. I did not choose room with a sea view, because it would cost me 200 Euro more and I read some reviews - hotel is actually on the street, the road is in front of it, so it may be noisy. I did not regret it. Hotel is very clean, with contemporary furniture. Service is great, everybody is very friendly. I got a small gift from them - a box of Maltese cookies, which was very nice. Breakfast is very good, there are two options - full English (which is 14 Euro if you don't buy a package) or a selection of local pastries (4,9 Euro). I enjoyed the fruit, cheese selection. Restaurant Zest is a fancy place, little too much, some kind of avangarda of Asian food, I did not like it very much - but as I had free dinner, I tried it once. I read a lot of reviews on this hotel before choosing it - all are true, it depends what are you looking for. It is not cheap, but I liked the position, I liked it because it was not a huge hotel chain with hundreds of rooms, staff was very helpful - answered all my questions and directed me everywhere. It would cost me more if I booked room only, not the package, as breakfast is not included in the regular price. So it worths to look more carefully and find the best option.

My husband and I just returned from a long weekend with a group of friends in Malta. We had 3 rooms booked at Hotel Juliani and ours was the only one with problems. We were moved from our original room due to electrical problems, and our second room had a faulty window, which meant we heard noise all night from garbage trucks and street traffic.
We paid 80 euros a night, which included a food/beverage voucher for what turned out to be our favorite restaurant (Barracuda). The staff was friendly and helpful, but next time I'll go with a chain I know better. This place was good for what we needed, which was very little time spent in the hotel, a clean, comfortable bed and good location for a bus stop. But all that being said it's not a place I'll remember.

I should probably start this review by saying "do not go to Malta on Xmas" unless of course you want to do some photography (my case). Services shut down for the most part, restaurant prices get crazy and the place is a ghost town or should I say a ghost country. If not for the fact that I could take un-obstructuted pictures of the attractions and the lack of annoying tourists, Malta in the winter is a no-no.
Equally, the Juliani has it's pros and cons during the winter season and part of my review may not apply to other seasons. Location may be one of those cases; where it is great on summer but not that great in winter. St. Julians Bay strikes me as a place that is vibrant during summer but during our stay it looked more like the outskirts of a desert town. I would recommend instead the neighborhood of Sliema. On the up side, there is a bus stop right across the street in which every meaningful bus line stops. You can go almost everywhere without having to go to Valetta first to change buses.
Hotel amenities are very good, rooms are clean and modern, internet is free. Breakfast was not included but here is a tip that may sound strange; go to the McDonalds next door! No, it is not your usual McDonalds like in the USA. It is clean, cheap and great coffee.
Back to the hotel, the staff is great, very helpful and polite, and my only complaint is the high pitch noise that water makes going down the external pipes, it is loud, they should fix it.
My last comment about the Juliani is that while it is a boutique hotel, it feels more like a big hotel chain place, whether it is check-in check-out policies, breakfast or services, it quite didin't feel right when compared to other boutique hotels we stayed in the past. I am giving "five stars" because I can't complain about my stay, but deep inside I am not sure I would return to the Juliani. It was too robotic.