Seaview Hotel - Adults Only 16+

We recently stayed at the Seaview Hotel in St Paul’s Bay, Malta, for 14 nights. Having had such a great stay last year, we booked again and requested Room we had last time on the seventh floor, which the hotel kindly allocated to us. We really appreciated that, as we love the side sea view from this room.

Overall, we had another enjoyable holiday, but we did notice a few changes compared with last year.

The biggest disappointment was the infinity pool on the 10th floor. Last year it was available into the evening, but this year it closes at 6:00 pm so the area can be turned into the Top Deck Bar restaurant. As this isn’t a budget hotel and saying it’s 4 star , it was disappointing not to be able to enjoy a relaxing evening swim after a day out. What made this more confusing was that the check-in information still states that the infinity pool is open until 10:00 pm. This clearly needs updating so guests know the current opening times when they arrive.

The room was comfortable and well maintained, although the shower door didn’t close properly, leaving a puddle of water on the bathroom floor after every shower.

Breakfast was a bit hit and miss. There was plenty of choice, but some of the hot dishes, such as Swedish meatballs and chicken in cream sauce, seemed like unusual breakfast options. We felt the breakfast wasn’t quite as good as it was on our previous visit.

The staff were friendly and welcoming throughout our stay. There seems to have been quite a high turnover since last year, and we only recognised one member of staff—a lovely lady in the restaurant who remembered us and was as friendly and hardworking as ever.

Despite these points, we still had a lovely holiday. The hotel is in a great location, the rooms are comfortable, and we’d happily stay again. It just didn’t quite match the excellent experience we had last year, which is why we’re giving it 4 stars rather than 5.

Set in Bugibba it is very handy for buses and ferries to visit places like Valletta or the high speed ferry to Gozo. The room we had was on the sixth floor and had a full sea view which was great. The room was kept beautifully clean (we dropped something between the twin beds and there was no dust at all under the beds when we went to retrieve the item). Breakfast was varied and there was a lot of choice. The rooftop pool offered really wide views across the bay although the ambience was spoilt by the number of plastic deck chairs packed in to a small space. So lovely when not too busy but not very appealing at other times (we paid to use a nearby beach club instead). We also had good quality massages in the hotel spa at a very reasonable price. Why only three out of five? We had a very poor service from reception. When we arrived at 11.30 am hot and sweaty we were not welcomed and no one explained we could use the pool or sit in the bar. No information was given about the hotel facilities or the local area to help us settle in. Nowhere was check in time advertised so we were unaware we would have a four hour wait anyway. Reception took our luggage but that was it….luckily during our time wandering we found a lovely beach club and that’s where we spent some of our holiday. We had great service from two waiting staff at breakfast, JULIE AND DONNA, who actually gave us lots of information about places to visit and ways to get there, and we had some wonderful trips thanks to them, as well as a few nice meals in local restaurants. When we asked reception for information about local buses they sent us to talk to someone who was selling tours which is not what we wanted at all. So on the basis of the reception and lack of information and poor welcome experience we would not return.

Okay the positives: Friendly staff, clean rooms, breakfast is good. View from infinity pool is beautiful.

The Negatives: Food is average in the restaurants, the buffet is not worth it. The pool area is too overcrowded, and loungers pushed up beside each other, complete strangers nearly touching they are so close. Trying to get one is an even bigger challenge. Why do hotels allow people to put towels down and not use them for the entire day. There are also tiny little flies all over the pool area that just stick to you.