From our first to last moment at this hotel, every single staff member met us with extreme competence and brilliant smiles. Where else could we feel so at home? As we said to the general manager, money can build beautiful buildings anywhere, but the people working there are what makes the difference. Our room was excellent and well maintained. A walk through the beautiful gardens took us to an infinity pool. Staff quickly found appropriate seatings and arranged towels and umbrellas for each guest. Bar service to the pool was frequent and precise. One could also choose to eat at the pool restaurant which offers the same menu - food choices were innovative and well suited to the hot days of July. Our favourite friendly server was Romen who served with a smile and friendly anecdotes. He made us feel valued. At breakfast, in the dining room, the hostess, Alina, was a friendly and accommodating start to our meal. The breakfast area was usually supervised by Sandra whom we called the Duchess because of her elegance and suave service. Rose was our daily server for coffee and juice and is the most delightful young lady. Bina was also a server who made us feel at home. Food service included absolutely amazing baked goods along with the traditional breakfast fare (and fantastic fresh squeezed orange juice). The breakfast chef, Domenic Zammit, supervised with great attention to details. His skills are clearly superior. Breakfast here was always an anticipated wonderful start to our day. The lounge is a well appointed, pretty meeting spot with excellent bar service, thank you Ivan. One could not enter or leave the hotel without the doormen/porters hurrying to open doors and give a friendly greeting. A German intern and an American boy were exceptional in their roles. During our stay, the hotel offered a complimentary jazz evening in the garden which was a terrific surprise and a wonderful evening. This hotel is a stately building with a prime location. However, the staff is what raises this place to the next level. From the general manager to the concierge, the room attendants to the porters, the spa staff to the front desk, everyone seemed to love their jobs and connecting with the guests. After our seven planned nights, we simply were not ready to leave and this is thanks to how much the wonderful staff of the Phoenicia made us feel at home.

We are a family of 4 adults, stayed at the Phoenicia hotel for 4 nights in December 2019. 1. Location is absolutely superb with the hotel being right of the Triton Fountain and the main town square. The main attractions, churches etc are all a short few mins walk away. The Christmas market was right on the opposite road and there is a main bus stop diagonally opposite the property as well. The hotel wins hands down for its excellent location! 2. We had booked two rooms, both were bright and airy with balconies attached. One room even had a balcony in the bathroom! The rooms are decently sized and spacious, with a kettle, robes and slippers available. Bathrooms are quite big and come with towel warmers. However, there is no separate shower area and one has to climb into the bath to take a shower which is extremely inconvenient. The entire minibar is complimentary and replenished daily which was completely delightful! 3. Breakfast spread is large with many options, including a live counter for eggs. However, the spread remains more or less the same over consecutive days so might get repetitive if on a long stay. One thing to point out that service is very slow during breakfast especially post 8:30am...on one day we waited for more than 25mins for some hot milk to go with our tea and told 3-4 different staff, we finally ended up leaving without it! 4. Housekeeping standards are low and can definitely be improved. It seemed as if the housekeeping staff only replaced the towels and smoothed the bed linen..by the end of our 4 day stay our rooms really needed a good vacuum! Even after requesting the staff there did not seem to be any change and they were very indifferent. Another thing to point out is that the staff will start ringing your room very early in the morning, seems like they really want to get their day done! 5. The lobby area of the hotel as well as the lounge are very tastefully done up with a lovely setting. As we were staying there during the festive season, one evening the hotel had organized a free champagne and tapas evening in their lounge which was well attended by all the guests. The lobby is also a great place to enjoy some after dinner drinks....the bar staff is extremely courteous and will make sure you have a memorable evening. 6. Special shout out to Mario at the front desk who helped us arrange a rental car at extremely short notice and that too post 9pm in the evening, especially during the festive season. The hotel has a free car park available.

This beautiful building has had a lot of refurbishment, and they are still finishing what looks like a lovely marble-floored extension to the ballroom. The main 'lounge' is a huge elegant space with very comfortable furnishings and attentive service, including by far the best coffee I had in a week in Valletta. In there and the Club bar (which has wooden ceiling fans and shutters and a colonial atmosphere), there is an excellent choice of spirits and cocktail ingredients. It was not warm enough to swim in the infinity pool, but pleasant to stroll down the long garden, where there are going to be wonderful flowers on the shrubs in the summer. We have stayed in quite a few 5 star hotels, and this one did not disappoint. The staff remembered what we liked for breakfast (and there is a fabulous buffet); the rooms were refreshed every day, including complementary soft drinks; the bed, towels etc were high quality. On the second day, we were helped to change from a room with a 150cm bed to a larger room with a bed at least 180cm wide, for a very similar charge. The balconies (on the first floor) offered wide views of the city. They arranged a large Mercedes to transfer us to and from the airport, but of course you can do the trip for less by ordinary taxi; it only takes 10-15 minutes anyway (depending on the fiendish Valletta traffic). For a special occasion, we had dinner in the hotel restaurant, which was charming - and the local red wine is definitely the one to go for. As in all of Malta, there were many British people staying there; I don't mind either way about that, but we did enjoy spotting several fellow gay couples. Altogether, an excellent hotel.