Palazzo Ignazio

Finished off our holiday with two nights here in this lovely and very comfortable hotel! Perfect position to explore the city! Everything is very walkable! We were lucky to have the chance to stay in the Junior suite on the 3rd floor, the space, quality of bed, Maltese balcony, with table and chairs and view to the sea, plus the addition of a settee, for me made the stay extra good! Maybe don’t order egg or crepes if you have breakfast in the room. They were cold. A few bits, like jam and some fruit , didn’t turn up, but the pastries, cakes and other bits were wonderful! Certainly didn’t spoil our stay! It was a lovely treat. Roof top bar also allows for wonderful views! The staff have all been so friendly, helpful and kind! From the manager down, we cannot fault them!! I’d definitely come back if we ever return to Valletta!

Fabulous hotel in the center of everything. Archie anf the staff at the hotel are fantastic

We stayed in the penthouse suite and the room itself was fabulous. Lovely balcony with amazing views over the harbour, hot tub, huge (and I mean huge) bed, lounge area, great a/c and overall very good indeed. Breakfast was decent. Coffee was very nice and they had a good selection of food. What you'd expect in Malta. Staff were very pleasant...

For me though, there are a few small things that let the quality down ever so slightly. The towels in the bathroom aren't great (I would have big fluffy bath sheets, not standard bath towels). I would also have included a welcome bottle of wine (they are not expensive in the supermarket around the corner), and not had one available on the desk for £30 if you wanted it! I'm guessing that same bottle would still be there next year if I went back. There's a lack of plugs and no normal mirrors anywhere near where you can use the hairdryer. I would also add some coathooks. The wind detection on the awning is ridiculously sensitive, making it almost impossible to use the awning in anything more than no breeze and it is an issue if people are on the roof terrace, as the balcony area is overlooked by the roof terrace.

By far the biggest issue for us was the hot water. I work in Facilities and Property Management, and the system providing hot water to the rooms is clearly woefully inadequate. I assume it's some sort of instant hot water system, like a commercial equivalent of a household combi-boiler that most people are familiar with. At busy times, it works OK because the heated water isn't too far away in the pipes but if you use it when not many other people have used it recently, it takes ages to get hot. I mean like 5 minutes on full whack. We raised it a couple of times but the staff on reception were a bit dismissive of it. It should be a flow and return system, but that would be more expensive, of course.

Lastly, the check-in was slightly irritating. We arrived very early and didn't expect our room ro be ready, left our luggage and were told that the room would be ready at 15.00 "at the latest". We went back at about 14.15, not ready. Back at 15.00, not ready. Finally ready by 15.15, which was a little irritating, considering they knew we had been waiting since early morning. A couple who arrived at 14.15, were given their room straight away. I know they don't have to, but I'd have thought they might have prioritised our room, knowing we'd been waiting all day...

All in all, I've given it 4 stars because I believe that's where it genuinely sits. It could easily be 5 stars but for the penny pinching or as our US friends would say, the nickel and diming.