Comfortable, relaxed, air - conditioned, fabulous breakfast, free WiFi
Disadvantages:
Nothing major
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
The Radisson SAS Bay Point is a relatively new, 5* hotel in St Julian’s on the north coast of Malta, having been built around the turn of the millennium. The hotel is a 20 minute drive from Luq’a airport and 15 minutes from the centre of Valletta. I was here for work, for a conference organised by the governing party of Malta, who clearly pulled out all the stops, so it is conceivable, although I guess unlikely, that the overwhelmingly favourable impression I have received of this hotel may not be an accurate picture of the hotel. With that disclaimer, I will set out what I have seen.
WHAT THERE IS IN THE HOTEL The entrance level is on level 2 of the hotel, with the reception desk on the right. On the left is a coffee bar (the Bridge Bar) with leather armchairs and sofas around coffee tables, while ahead of you is another bar (Ritter’s), which is quite spacious, and leads out onto a terrace The third eating venue off the lobby is Le Bistro, which is open 24 hours a day, serving a full a la carte menu. When we were there, a lady was hand-painting some traditional Maltese pottery for sale. There are a couple of corridors running off, one towards one of the conference rooms and another towards the large ballroom, along which is the gift shop.
On level 1, there is the Hon-Tiki restaurant, which serves breakfast, and leads out onto the main pool area. In one part of this room is the hotel’s gourmet restaurant, Le Petillant, serving the chef’s a la carte menu and flambéed dishes, cooked at your table. By the pool, there is the Wet Bar which is open during the day for drinks and light snacks. Outdoors there are additionally two sea water pools, while in the indoor leisure centre, there is another pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and gym.
On level 3, which can be reached by a marble staircase as well as lifts, there is a reading room, and conservatory, with another terrace. There are bigger function rooms on levels 5 and 7 (the top floor).
THE ROOM My room was on the 5th floor. Since the hotel is vaguely horseshoe shaped, all the rooms have a sea view. The door is operated by key card – you are given 2, one of which is to activate the electricity – and in the room there is a safe in the wardrobe, for which you choose the code yourself, rather than swipe your credit card, as is sometimes the case. The ceilings in the room are high, and the ferocious air conditioning keeps the room nice and call. The bathroom is modern, with WC, bidet, sink and bath/shower, and you are given a range of fruit scented shower gels, body lotions and soaps.
The bed is large. I had two 3-foot single beds pushed together, with bedside tables, standard lamps and directional reading lights, which I appreciated. There was a writing desk, and a small round high coffee table, with two armchairs by the French windows, which lead onto onto a balcony, with two tables and a chair.
The TV was in a cabinet, with a variety Maltese, Italian, French, German and English-language channels. I had BBC World, Sky News and Nickelodeon. In addition, there is pay-TV available. There is a mini-bar under the TV. Best of all, there is free WiFi access, not just in the room, but available throughout the hotel to residents.
FOOD The breakfast was wonderful, combining the best of British and continental styles. There are cold meats, cheese, yoghurts, plus hot food – bacon, eggs, sausages, fish goujons, plus my own personal favourite, an omelette chef. There were seven different sorts of fruits and fruit salads, plus four or five different types of fruit juices, including pineapple.
The buffets I had were again very varied, with a hot pasta dish, three other hot options, both meat and fish, plus a vast array of salads. There was also a good range of desserts and cheese and biscuits.
One lunchtime, I had a chicken and asparagus pie from the bar-snack menu in the Ritters Lobby Bar, which was very nicely cooked, and not too large, which I appreciated since the heat was sapping my appetite.
COST I paid 58 Maltese pounds/night, which is just over £90 sterling or €135. The parities have been fixed for the Maltese pound against the euro, which will be the sole currency from 1 January 2008. Drinks were about €2 each, and lunch in the bar was €8, which is not exorbitant for a hotel of this quality.
MINOR IRRITANTS There were only a couple of irritants. The downside of the wonderfully efficient air conditioning in the room is that it is quite noisy at night. The lifts were also temperamental on occasion.
SERVICE Being Malta, it is not a surprise that the service was excellent, unobtrusive, efficient and helpful. When one of my key cards suddenly became de-magnetised, it was changed with a minimum of fuss, and even though we arrived after midnight in a large group, check-in went quickly and smoothly.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT I had a thoroughly enjoyable stay in a top-class hotel. At no stage did I have the impression that the relaxed atmosphere was maintained at the expense of efficiency or concern for the guest. For the money I paid, I would say this was exceptionally good value and I have no hesitation in recommending it as a base for a visit to Malta.
