Hi

I book my parents holidays to Malta every February for 4 weeks on half board and the cost is only a little over the cost you just outlined for October. We fly over from Cyprus to meet up with them for a week during their stay.

I've just searched for 2 people from Manchester on Friday 7th October with Mercury and prices are coming up from 390GBP per person up to 500GBP based on S/C and H/B in various resorts. Prices are cheaper/dearer depending on flight days and carrier.

My parents stay in Qawra and there are a few hotels there that have seaviews. I don't think there are that many in Bugibba (immediately next to Qawra) but there are quite a number of small bars and restaurants. There is entertainment in most of the bars each evening and the hotels but that depends on what you want. Karaoke, Martin Elvis, country & western, duos etc...

I've stayed in the Bugibba Holiday Complex, the Topaz and the Soreda hotel over the last 6yrs and they're okay. Nothing fantastic but clean, reasonable food and close to the shops and seafront. The bus service is second to none and the bus station is midway between Buggiba and Qawra.

Some of the hotels on the list are on Gozo and Comino and also the north end of the island which I prefer.

http://www.mercury-direct.co.uk

Even in February we find there's always time to sit in a sunny spot on a sunbed with a good book and I've been burnt the odd time too. I wouldn't venture into the pool at that time of year now I live in a hot climate but I've seen others in them and also here in Cyprus in November. Generally, Malta is 2 to 3 degrees centigrade cooler than Cyprus at the time we go. February temperatures vary from around 14c to 20c at that time so October should be a bit warmer. Cyprus is usually around 23c to 25c or warmer in October.

Hope that helps a bit?

Shell
Limassol, Cyprus

Hi,

That's all useful info - many thanks. I think we're still going to try for St Julian's or Sliema, but I have been looking at Qawra too, so it's great to have some recommendations. And if it's sunny and warm enough to lie out in the sun in February I'm sure it should be fine in October! Unfortunately the January I was there I got rain and howling wind!

Thanks for all the tips

Hi

We have just booked Salina Wharf in Qawra for the endof Sept/beginning of Oct. We got Ryanair flights for about £160pp and I think we paid about £138 for a weeks self catering in a one bed apartment.
The link is below if thats any help.
http://www.clubsalina.com/
We are hoping for a good bit of sunshine too!!!
I just adore Malta and cannot wait to go back.

Anne

Salina Wharf......

My parents bought a timeshare there about 3yrs ago. 18yrs for 1 week a year and extra weeks initially at 50GBP per apt per week. Maintenance fee was 195GBP.

Each year the maintenance has increased - it's now 275GBP and for they couldn't get the extra weeks. The extra weeks have now gone to 65GBP and every year they visit they try to sell them another package or make them move up to Gold standard.

This time they were told they couldn't answer about the extra weeks for Feb next year (it's never full) so in the time they were waiting they've made alternative arrangements. They're staying in the Soreda for 4wks on half board at 519GBP per person including flights and transfers with really good day flights. It's 2 minutes walk from the Salina Wharf.

They've told Salina Wharf they will no longer be using the timeshare.....

We've stayed there twice and it's okay but a bit soul less. The bar prices have come down though!

Shell
Limassol, Cyprus

Hi Anne,

Thanks also for your suggestion. Unfortunately Ryanair isn't really an option for us airportwise. Apart from which I'm not sure how I'd manage with their luggage allowance - I'm not that good at packing light!

But will take your and Shell's comments re the Salina Wharf into consideration.

Thanks,

A.

Good luck I hope you get something sorted out. Know exactly what you mean about Ryanair I am struggling with that too. Hope you enjoy your hols though.x

Thanks Anne.

I've found a good price (ie within our budget!) with Chevron at the St Georges Park and La Valette Complex in St Julians. Has anyone stayed here who could tell me what it's like? We'd go for one of the hotel rooms on BB or HB rather than the apartments.

Thanks,

A.

Thanks Anne.

I've found a good price (ie within our budget!) with Chevron at the St Georges Park and La Valette Complex in St Julians. Has anyone stayed here who could tell me what it's like? We'd go for one of the hotel rooms on BB or HB rather than the apartments.

Thanks,

A.

Hi, I visited the St Georges Park on a "familiarisation" trip from Customer Services when I worked at FC.

We'd had a lot of complaints from some accommodations in that area due to the noise from nearby bars plus a lot of complaints about the food at the St Georges Park.

We were invited for a "special" menu service at the hotel by the manager. Half a dozen of us went (including the Malta Area Manager) and never before in all the hotel meals and places we've been invited to eat in do I recall being able to hear a pin drop when the Baine Marie covers were lifted by the chef.

The words "stunned silence" came to mind. The only part of the meal that was okay was the apple pie for dessert..... It will always be a memorable hotel visit for me but for all of the wrong reasons!

There are some reviews of the hotel on this page but they're not really up to date so would recommend having a look on trip advisor or similar for more recent information: http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/malta/st-julians/st-georges-park-hotel/

Reviews on La Valette resort aren't up to date either which is really frustrating. Makes you wonder if it's just that nobody can be bothered to write one any more or if nobody goes there? http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/malta/st-julians/la-vallette-resort-hotel/

Cheers
Shell
Limassol, Cyprus

I stayed at the St George's Park with a friend in October 2000, so nearly 11 years ago. The La Valette part was on top of a bar which stayed open until the small hours blasting out music at top volume so getting to sleep was very difficult. We were half board in hotel and the food wasn't anything to write home about. The complex definitely featured on a Holidays from Hell programme a few years ago, but it's entirely possible that things may have improved since then. I still think you'd probably be better off elsewhere though...

Probably best to go to trip advisor and check I usually find them really good with reviews. I love Malta but agree there are some pretty dodgy hotels.
Anne

Probably best to go to trip advisor and check I usually find them really good with reviews

Perhaps we should be trying to get guests to add to and recommend our OWN HT review section instead of sending them elswhere.

http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk

Sorry that was a bit thoughtless of me..apologies.

Thanks so much Shell and Corinne - you've saved me from making what sounds like a dreadful mistake. That one's definitely off my shortlist.

So I'm continuing my search. The Plaza / Plaza Regency and the Plevna in Sliema have both popped up. Does anyone have experience of either of these?

Thanks. A.

Ooops!

I was staying a couple of nights at the Plaza Regency on my familiarization trip and again, nothing to write home about there either. Plus they have a lot of those "shaft rooms" (internal rooms) with no windows other than a long narrow window looking upwards into the elevator shaft. Beware if anyone has any plans to book a single room in Malta as these rooms are the ones often doled out to lone travellers.

I would suggest going through the Reviews page and look for more recent data and choose from there: http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/malta/ Better to be safe than sorry as the saying goes...

Kiltman, it's been mentioned many times before about posting Reviews on this forum but sadly they don't always get updated People are more than happy to raise their complaint issues and looking for info after the fact when the time could have been spent more wisely in researching before booking. Sunstruck is doing just that so he/she deserves to be provided with the most up to date resources.

If there are reviews posted elsewhere, even if not on HolidayTruths it seems senseless to not mention these other review sites. Not fair to let someone book and then have to come on here after their bad experience or in anticipation of one if they find the "other" review site after booking with tales of woe!

As a tip: I always type the name of the hotel I'm interested in into good old Google with the word "review" after it. That usually pulls up some results But you still have to read between the lines. Check the recent good and bad reviews. If there are a lot of bad ones, check the dates of travel as often more than one person from each party booking post their complaints at the same time so it doesn't necessarily mean there were loads of complaints Bad news always travels faster than the good stuff!

Bugibba, Qawra and Sliema are all within easy reach of Valetta.

Sliema is the closest and right on the waterfront across from Valetta but it's a lot busier. We like Sliema because it's got more going on but it doesn't quite have the same "holiday" feel about it because it's quite a busy town too.

It really all depends on what you want out of your holiday. If you're looking to relax and not have to watch your back each time you cross the road, I would go for one of the quieter resorts.

The bus from Qawra/Bugibba takes about 20 to 30 minutes to reach Valetta. St Julians is very nice around the bottom end by the harbour but drinks and eating out will probably be more expensive.

Swings and roundabouts - lots of decisions!

Shell
Limassol, Cyprus

Gosh - I'm not doing very well am I!

Thanks Shell - all info is gratefully received.

Generally the review section on here is the one I trust the most. Having looked at other review sites I find they often need to be taken with a large pinch of salt. However, reviews aren't always that recent, so it's good to get recent opinions from other HTers.

And it's definitely helping - my shortlist is getting ever shorter!

A big thanks for everyone's replies.

A.

Having been to Malta several times we prefer the area round Mellieha. It is so much more peaceful and also much more scenic. Yes, it does take a bit longer to get anywhere but that really depends on what you want to on holiday. That area is lovely for walking.

We stayed in the Maritim Antoinine in Mellieha village - this does get somewhat mixed reviews but I think that depends on what part of the building you stay in. Go for the main block and a garden view room and you should be ok. We loved it there and even though it was a steep walk down to the sea front we managed it and just got a bus back up the hill! It was rather nice being in the village with a few shops on the doorstep - and not just tacky tourist ones either!

If you want to be right on the seafront there is always the Riu Seabank or the Mellieha Bay. Further round the coast there is the Riviera and another one (can't remember the name) and then even further round there is the Paradise Bay by the Gozo ferry - but I would give that a miss.

We don't really like Bugibba or Qawra although my 87 year old mother does like the Santana in Qawra which is very convenient for the bus station. If you really want to be there then possibly the best hotel with a view is the Dolmen.

Hope this helps,
Pippa

I have to agree that the north part of the island is much prettier than the areas around Bugibba, Qawra, Sliema etc and I've always liked Gozo. We quite fell in love with Xlendi Bay on a visit to Gozo in February 2010.

The island as a whole is very easy to get around by local transport too.

I've heard that although Valetta is busy during the day, it can be quite dead of an evening so unless you want to visit there everyday for some reason maybe it would be better to choose a resort that offers everything else you're looking for and just visit Valetta a few times during your holiday?

Shell
Limassol, Cyprus

Hi,

Thanks Pippa and Shell for your suggestions. While I certainly don't plan on going into Valetta every day, I think we do plan to go there once or twice and several other things we probably want to see and do seem to be in the Southern part of the island (the three cities, Marsaxlokk etc) so this is part of the reason I was hoping to stay nearer to Valetta. Although I was thinking about a day trip to Gozo, which looks like it would be much more convenient from Mellieha! I have been looking at other resorts aswell- mostly Qawra, so really it's going to come down to where I can find the best price for the closest to what we're hoping for.

Also - I very much doubt that this will be my last visit to Malta, so wherever I end up this time, I can try somewhere else next time! And thanks to all your answers I'll be much more clued up next time!

Am hoping to get it all booked this weekend, so am keeping my fingers crossed.

A.

Hi

I notice you said you fancied Gozo.

We took an excursion with one of the local tour companies on Tourist Street in Bugibba (Mary's, I think it was). Everyone kept telling us to go there to book as she's the cheapest but it was exactly the same price as the one on the seafront at Qawra almost opposite the Suncrest Hotel. I think it was 10 EUR per person but didn't include the cost of the return ferry which was around 4.30 EUR per person.

The bus collected and dropped us off at our hotel, took us to the ferry port and was waiting for us when we got back. Once we got off the ferry in Gozo there were the agents representatives waiting to meet all those who had booked and we were put into different mini-buses.

The day then consisted of being taken around to various sightseeing places with a stop off with time to grab lunch and we got back to our hotel around 6pm after being picked up at 8.15am. It was an excellent day for 15 EUR each and the service was brilliant. However, had we known we were going to get as long as we did in Xlendi Bay we would have waited and had our lunch there instead.

Shell
Limassol, Cyprus