On my recent holiday to Malta i stayed in Le Meridien Hotel, located in Saint Julian's. I would not normally have stayed in a 5 star hotel, but I was lucky enough to win some money towards a holiday from the company that I work for. Obviously, with free money, you are going to push the boat out a bit, and I am glad we did!!
Location/Area
We arrived at the hotel in the dark, quite late on a Friday night. The taxi brought us round a few small streets and then up quite a steep hill, thus bringing us to the reception of the hotel. My first impression was that it was in quite a strange location, but this is because i had only just seen where we were, and also it was dark, so everything seems different. The doors to the reception are round the back of the hotel and on the ground level floor.
The hotel itself is situated on top of a hill, meaning that it is able to peer over the surrounding area with ease; however, it is not a dominating feature in the local landscape. It is also right at the tip of the bay almost sitting on top of the water's edge. If you go out of the front entrance on the lower levels it is no more than a hundred metres until you are leaning over the railings looking out into the beautiful, bright blue Mediterranean Sea. I must admit however, that on one side of the bay there was a slight amount of rubbish on the sea bed. This did not detract too much from the beautiful location as there was no other litter to be seen.The general location of the hotel is on the outskirts of the main town of Saint Julian's. This is a prime position for the hotel. To get to all the restaurants it is a 10 minute walk, around 2 picturesque bays. This makes the walk extremely worthwhile both during the day and the evening, where the views offer something different. In the day you can see the sea, whereas in the evening you get a good view of all the local fishing boats as well as the lights of the restaurants in the background, illuminating the bay. There is a wide variety of restaurants in the local area, offering a wide variety of local dishes. These range from Rabbit and Veal to Swordfish and Octopus, all of which are local produce, and all of which I consumed with extreme pleasure! Some of the
main restaurants and the ones I visited (also recommended by the "Visit Malta" book we received at the airport upon arrival) are San Giulana, Paparazzi, Le Dolce Vita and Raffael's. These are all situated on the same promenade, overlooking the bay, within site of the hotel. They are also easy to find, as you just come out of the entrance of the hotel, turn left and walk around the bay, you can't miss them.
The area of Saint Julian's itself is a popular destination in Malta. To find out more about the area, visit the following link. http://www.holiday-malta.com/resort/malta/village/stjulians/index.html
Overall for the location of the hotel i would give it a 10/10. It was perfectly situated in a nice area of the town within spitting distance of everything we needed offering great views. What's not to like about that?
The Hotel
Reception
As we walked into the reception area, we were greeted, by a very clean and sharp looking room. Decorated in neutral colours with hints of browns spanning the area. The first part that we noticed was the open plan waiting area just in front of the reception desk itself. This looked very smart as it had lots of nice coffee tables with sofas and chairs to match. It was done very tastefully. The reception desk itself was quite long and there were usually 2/3 people behind it, dressed smartly and ready to help. It was clean and tidy and looked well organised, this was comforting to know, as it made us feel safe in the knowledge they knew what they were doing. The room has quite a high ceiling and looks very smart, first impressions count for a lot and the hotel has taken this into account.
Hallways
The good first impression is continued throughout the hotel. The hallways are also neat and tidy, always kept clean. There is enough room to get a cleaning trolley and guests passing, so there is no awkward manoeuvring. Again, these are decorated tastefully on the wall, as well as being subtle and neutral, as not to offend anyone and to ensure everyone is welcomed by the decor. The carpets in the hallways however, did not seem to match the rest of the design. Though they were always spotless and clean. They had a strange pattern on, almost psychedelic, but with geometric patterns rather than the curved shapes.
Room
Our room was very big, a lot bigger than we had anticipated - having stayed in Paris a few months earlier, where the rooms are notoriously small. It was very light and well decorated. Again, with colours to compliment each other the room looked plain yet stylish. There were 3 paintings on the wall of the surrounding area, they were quite distinctive and gave the room a slight bit of welcomed edge to it. These paintings were obviously designed to be the focal point of the room. Otherwise, the room was laid out very well, with a desk opposite the wardrobe on either side of the room and the bed next to these. The bathroom and toilet were closer to the door and both kept in keeping with the looks of the rest of the room.
The Scirocco restaurant is the main restaurant of the hotel and is located on the floor beneath reception, which is -1. The restaurant offers a wide range of local foods to those that are more common, including french fries (chips, to most people). The local dishes include veal stew and slow roasted rabbit. A meal for two and 2 bottles of white wine cost us 80 euros, including a small tip. In other areas of Saint Julian's we were paying less than half of that. The restaurant is well laid out in a buffet style. You can help yourself to as much food as you want at no extra charge. A buffet breakfast is also included with the room. There is a wide choice available to guests, including, English Breakfasts, Continental Breakfast, Fruits and Muffins. You can also opt for juices including Pineapple, Tomato, Apple and Orange. Teas and Coffees are also offered.
There is also a bar area that offers lunch type menus, mainly sandwhiches/baguettes/ciabattas served
Pictures of Le Meridien, Saint Julian's
This is the view from our room at night time, you can see the church.
with salad and chips. This is near the reception area, so it is a good place to wait around if you are waiting for a taxi to take you to the airport. It is furnished with sofas and armchairs and looks very modern.
Staff/Service
The staff and the service that they offered us was absolutely impeccable, I cannot fault this at all, and cannot praise it enough. From the moment that we checked in to the moment we checked out, we were greeted with politeness, manors, smiles and respect. From the bellboy to the concierge, everyone was exceptional. Customer service is clearly extremely important at Le Meridien. When we arrived, we were checked in promptly and easily, this was after being helped with our luggage into the reception area. We were then directed to our room. Unfortunately it was a wrong room; we had to single beds instead of one double. This was rectified when our luggage was brought up. The bellboy phoned housekeeping and they immediately came round, connected the beds and changed the linen for us. All 3 members of staff were polite and helpful. They were also well presented and looked neat, as did all the staff in the hotel. The staff made it a very memorable stay for me, they greeted us in the hallways and at any opportunity they could, seeming like they would do anything for us, without bother, to keep us happy.If there was a rating that was higher than 10/10 I would definitely give it for the staff, however, I will have to settle for the highest 10 possible. Absolutely perfect.
Prices
The room that I stayed in was a double room with a sea view. I was there for 4 nights and there were 2 of us staying. This cost us £408 in total. In general, I felt that the prices in the hotel were very expensive. If you travel just 10 minutes, the prices are a lot cheaper and offer much of the same type of food. I prefferred to do this as you also get a bit of the local atmosphere aswell. The room prices range with a normal single obviously being the cheapest, you then pay more for rooms with views, doubles, twins and superior rooms. These are all around the £70-£80 per night mark. I was glad to have the sea view, but however, for some people it may not be essential, though i would recommend it. The prices in the spa were also expensive, and for two of us we ran up a bill of around 330 euros, for our treatments.
Hotel Features
The hotel offers a wide range of features, the majority of which at an extra cost. These additional features are -
In-Room Mini-Bar - With price listings, which are very expensive, over 1.5 euros for a Twix!
Television - There were a few channels on the tele that were free, these included channels in various languages, including French, Spanish, Italian, German, English and Arabic. There were also additional things to buy, such as movies and "adult entertainment". These cost 15 euros, and were only available to watch for a 24 hour period after purchase.
Myo-Ka Spa - The spa offers a swimming pool, jacuzzi and sauna and are free of charge for hotel guests. This area is very relaxing and we spent a lot of time in here. There are also treatments available at an extra price, which we also decided to indulge ourselves with.
Wireless internet connections were also offered in the reception area as well as our room.
Conference room available for business parties and meetings.
There is a swimming pool on the roof with a bar area and sun loungers, this is only open during peak times between may and october.
Other Points to Note
The lifts were very slow to get to the floors.
Everyone speaks very good English.
It seems to have good wheelchair access as there are no steps i could see anywhere.
The hotel's policy on changing towels and linen, is very economical and environmentally friendly. They only change your towels if they are either in the bath or on the bathroom floor, if not they will hang them up on the towel rail. The linen is changed if the card is placed on the bed. If not, they make the bed for you regardless, without changing the linen.
Additional Information
39 Main Street • Balluta Bay • St JuliansSTJ 15 • Malta Phone: (356) 2311 0000 Fax: (356) 2311 0001
There are also a list of policies of the hotel on the following website, including, cheque acceptance, pet allowance, wheelchair accessibility and others. http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/announcements. html?propertyID=1947
General Web Address - http://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?pro pertyID=1947
Our booking was made through a travel agents business in Kent, Brockman's Travel. This branch is located in Headcorn and I believe that we got a very good deal, it was a personal experience and I would use them again. Contact Details - Brockman's Travel, High Street (01622 890490)
Overall
I would definitely recommend this hotel, and if i were ever to visit Malta again, i would definitely use the facilities and stay there again. Try and stay there if you will be in Saint Julians.P.S. There will be pictures to follow this review shortly, once i have uploaded them.
exceptional by (51%):
very helpful by (49%):
