Stayed on an "offer" week in January 2012 after reading Tripadvisor reviews and thought maybe the offer wasn't too good to be true. It's actually very good indeed. I agree with most of the positive reviews. The hotel itself is well worth a five star rating although I am not sure whether that would hold good in busy times as service was rather indifferent which seemed to be a feature of Maltese life. Only two speeds and if you don't like slow you certainly won't like the other one! Private beach not really private and the tourist bus commentary says that it gets very busy in the season with beach parties going on into the early hours. In January the hotel was very quiet and probably only a quarter full. The buildings are only about six years old and the rooms equipped and finished to a very high standard. Facilities are also excellent subject to what I say next. Minus points were that the spa facility was small and often not fully working. One day the sauna not hot or not at all, next day the steam room not working. Plenty of lounge space and outside seats and nice sunbeds. Only one restaurant in action at a time plus the bar. The restaurant Agiolio had excellent food at reasonable prices for a five star hotel but we did get a bit fed up with the same menu night after night including the same "specials". Service a bit slow in the restaurant and excellent or very poor in the bar depending on who was on duty. Breakfast (12.90 euros) was an excellent hot and cold buffet with pretty well everything you could think of including sparkling wine. Main disadvantage of the hotel is its location and isolation unless you are content to stay put. There are very cheap public buses but the timetable appears to be a work of fiction. The hotel runs the "Drifter" minibus service to most of the main places on the island but this has to be booked both ways and not exactly cheap. Taxis are not unreasonable but you would be travelling quite a distance to anywhere else. 25 - 30 euros to the airport. Malta is a strange mixture of the fascinating and the repulsive. Valletta is the jewel in the crown and the Cathedral of St John the Baptist is wonderful with its paintings by Carravagio (not open to tourists on Sundays except for services). Other places such as Melleiha and Buggiba are not attractive to say the least. St Pauls and St Julians have shops and plenty of restaurants. Would we go back? Yes we've booked at the normal price for next year. Finally, the timeshare sell was a bit heavy but get real, they give you a cheap deal because they want you to buy. They do have a good product if it suits you bearing in mind the length of the contract and we were quite tempted but they do take no for an answer.
- Radisson Mellieha
- Mellieha Radisson
