Novotel Malta Sliema

We really loved our time at this hotel; the location was good with easy access to shops, bars, restaurants and the ferry port to get the boat to Valetta. The staff were friendly and helpful and the atmosphere in the hotel was young and enjoyable. The rooms were modern and spacious with good air conditioning. We had an enclosed balcony which was slightly claustrophobic and we would have preferred a ‘normal’ balcony like our neighbours. Also, the shower leaks and this seems to be mentioned in other reviews and could be a design flaw of the shower screen. We had breakfast included in our room rate and found the price that we paid for our stay to be good. The drink and food prices at the pool were slightly higher but to be expected. The pool itself was very busy and although it states it opens at 10am, it opened at 9 each day and a large queue formed prior to 9am of people waiting to claim a sunbed when the door opened. We witnessed multiple people take sunbeds and then leave for several hours. The hotel staff did luckily catch on to this on see real occasions and reassign the sunbeds to people who had not been so lucky. They do have cabanas available for around €180 which regularly remained empty despite multiple hotel guests being without somewhere to sit. The pool water was clean at the beginning of our stay but did get murkier as the week went on…Also, the pool seems to strive for an exclusive pool club vibe but this is difficult to achieve when children are allowed at the hotel and pool as we would regularly be surrounded by children splashing or screaming at the pool. Overall we would definitely stay at the hotel again but hope that they consider replacing the cabanas with more sunbeds and continue to reinforce the removal of towels of unoccupied sunbeds.

We decided to book the Novotel Malta in Sliema few days before our arrival. The hotel itself is modern and the room was spacious for 2 people. Would have liked more hanging/wardrobe space and some slippers. The room wasn't ready till after 4pm but left our luggages in the room whilst we waited. The house keeping team were apologetic for the delay and friendly. Once we checked in, the message left on the TV was for another couple which we found amusing. The AC is set at 24°C and cannot be changed. The house keeping team cleaned the room and made the bed daily with the option of new bedding which I felt was a nice touch. I liked the reminder of environmental impacts/water usage for washing, bedding etc. The bed itself was comfortable and big so had pleasant sleep each night - shame the walls are so thin that you could hear people clearly next door. The bathroom was adequate and the water pressure was excellent with 3 types of shower options. However, the shower screen is a bit lacking as the water spills outside and beyond the door to the main landing. Requested whether this could be looked into or for a room change, but no update was provided as I was worried given some of my lower mobility issue. The room has a safe. There is an outdoor pool which isn't heated but given the month of travel, once in the water and started moving, it didn't feel cold. The rooftop pool and bar is operated by a separate company within the hotel and you cannot take any water/beverages to the rooftop pool/bar area which I found weird but I guess they want you to buy their drinks. The sunbeds and bar area gets congested and same for the pool. FYI, the outdoor pool closes at 6pm. The indoor pool area wasn't the best as there was water everywhere, smelt heavy of chlorine with the water looking murky. Didn't feel it was being cleaned regularly and no staff present. The gym has potential but due to many machines not in operation it's wasted space. Breakfast options were ok, nothing out of the ordinary and for non-meat eaters there are very limited options to no veg or vegan sausage/non-meat alternatives. Furthermore, people started mixing the utensils when plating which isn't ideal for anyone who doesn't eat meat or due to cultural/religious or dietary requirements. The breakfast and bar staff were friendly and approachable. The reception ladies were pleasant. The younger lady (forgot her name) helped me locate a free locker to store our luggage as people used the large storage for small items and I appreciated this. The reception supervisor couldn't locate a free large locker and told me to just leave my luggage in the room and the other reception lady said no large storage units where available. I guess the outcome depends on the person you ask for assistance. We stayed on a higher floor which had a decent balcony - nice space to sit and unwind in the evening. From the rooftop area you can see out into the sea and Valleta which was nice. You can walk to Sliema ferry in 15/20mins and doesn't seem far when you walk along the marina/waterfront or a short bus ride is available. On our last day, I requested for a late checkout due to my medical condition which the reception supervisor (blond haired lady) extended for an hour for which I was very grateful for. However, due to my medical condition I was unable to vacate the room within the hour as the medication took longer to kick in. The reception supervisor sent house keeping leader who entered the room to check whether we left or not 10min after 12pm. Would have appreciated a call or a loud knock before entering as this caught us off guard. I was apologetic as my medication took the better of me and I lost track of time. I was apologetic to the reception supervisor for the mishap however, before hearing me out she became abrupt and demanded payment for overstaying beyond the hour. I didn't have an issue with the payment or making a payment for a late checkout and for not being able to vacate on time, that was on me. What threw me off, however, was the reaction and the tone in which I was spoken to, felt like I was being scolded by a teacher. This hotel has so much potential but given my experience with what's on offer, this falls short of being a 4* at present. Would I stay here again? Not sure yet but would love to visit Malta again.