I stayed at the Europa Hotel for five nights in August of 2007 with two others. Here is a summary of our experience:
1. The location of the hotel cannot be faulted - a bus stop, children's playground, supermarket and a host of eateries and bars are all near by. Besides, Sliema is one of the best places to stay on the island, if not THE best.
2. The hotel in general, and the rooms in particular, were not as comfortable or modern as the photographs on the hotel's official website indicate. Technically, everything was as described, but the pictures suggest that the Europa is something much more than it really is. It was a real shock to discover just how far the reality deviated from the hype.
3. I specifically booked a five person room, through a popular hotel booking website, because it was only marginally
more expensive than a double, and because we wanted to enjoy the extra space. However, when we checked in, we were told that, as there were only three of us, we would only be allocated a triple. This, despite the fact that our reservation clearly stated three guests, and the fact that we paid for a five person room.
4. The room, which had a good size shower room attached, was spacious and clean, but also very tired and basic. The A/C consisted of two noisy fans that struggled to cool the room adequately - even with the window open; the TV only tuned into one channel properly; the shower head was completely non-adjustable; one of the two bedside lamps did not work, while the lamp above the desk flickered constantly; the springs in the beds were shot to pieces and creaked noisily each time you turned.
5. The tiny lift took an age to arrive each and every time. Only three people were allowed to use the lift at a time; any more and you ran the risk of being fined MLT20, according to the notice prominently displayed by the lift door in the reception.
6. The breakfast buffet was a tired and uninspiring selection of cornflakes, bread roles, sliced bread, jam, butter, milk, tea, coffee and diluted "orange" juice of the cheapest, nastiest variety. The only bonus was the availability of chocolate spread.
7. Mercifully, the noise from the bar/disco on the ground floor did not reach us. However, this was entirely negated by the unruly, loud and utterly thoughtless behaviour of some young guests staying on our floor, especially by the late-night antics of the group in the room adjoining ours. From what we could work out, a large chunk of the rooms seemed to have been block-booked by a local language tuition company, so the hotel was overrun with adolescents from Europe. The hotel really did not seem to be filled with many families or general guests while we were there, at least not as far as we could see, just brash Euro teenies.
8. The rooms were cleaned each day. The towel we were provided with was clean and white, but it was not changed for the duration of our stay. Ditto our bed sheets, despite the incredibly hot and humid weather.
9. On our penultimate day, two bottles of mineral water disappeared from our room. I kid you not! To their credit, the hotel management compensated us with two more bottles without arguement, and promised to investigate the disappearance. However, it was still a very unnerving experience and made us think twice about leaving our belongings in the room.
10. We were charged MLT5 for depositing a medium size jiffy envelope in the hotel safe for a week; a tad overpriced, I thought.
11. The staff were reasonably friendly, though not a patch on the Maltese people we came across outside the hotel. The management, in particular, gave the impression of being extremely "opportunistic", and only really interested in helping guests part with their money, without offering any real quality or service in return.
I have travelled extensively around Europe over the last 10 years and have stayed in many budget hotels during that time. Based on this depth of experience, I have to say that the Europa Hotel is the worst place I have ever stayed in. I am particularly agrieved that I fell for the oldest trick in the book: assuming that the website gave a true and honest depiction of the hotel. Silly me. I won't make that mistake again! The 2002 edition of the guide book I used to plan my trip recommended the Europa, but tellingly omitted it entirely from the latest edition. I think that speak volumes about the place.
If all you want is a place to crash for the night, and you manage to bag a room for about half the Euro 49 per night we paid, then consider this place. If, on the other hand, you value your wallet and want to avoid serious disappointment, then give the Europa a wide berth. There are plenty of other options within a five-minute walk of this establishment, never mind on the island as a whole. Malta is a fabulous place to visit, just don't let a stay at the Europa mar your visit.
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