Hotel Comino Reviews

Were to start?

I will start at the very begining.

I promise it's not all doom and gloom.

This is our 3rd visit to Malta in 4 years and our 1st visit to The Comino Hotel and Suites.

We love Malta so much so we got married in 2004 at The Paradise Bay Hotel, you can read our review of that on this web site.

Flew with Air Malta yet another great flight with them cant fault this airline.

On arrival in Malta whilst waiting for our luggage the conveor belts stopped working due to a power cut for about 20/30 min, no problem I say to my wife and son, little did I know.

Get in to van to head for Cirkewwa and the Harbour with 4 other families one going to Gozo so get off at the same place as us the two other we drop off half way round Malta before heading for the Harbour to get the Hotel boat to Comino.

Arrive at Cirkewwa at 17.00 our bags and us are thrown out and we are informed by the driver that we have missed the 16.45 boat to the hotel the next boat will arrive at 18.30 a short wait of just
90 min.

As luck would have it this is were the buses terminate and there is a kiosk were we were able to get a drink and something to eat and thank god there is a porter loo, so we sit and wait for the hotel boat to arrive, this is something we will get used to on our two week stay on Comino.

When the boat does turn up at 18.45 we can not wait to get to our Side Sea Veiw Suite in the hotel just a short 25 min trip away, be warned if you dont like boats the crossing can be rough when the wind picks up as my wife found out.

Arriving at reception we check in and are told we are in the Bungalow suites some 10/15 min walk away or a 5 min ride away in a wreck of a van which managed to work for about 2 days before they started using a Land Rover to transport guests between the hotel and Bungalows.

This was not what we booked as I have said but informed by the hotel the Side Sea Veiw Suites in the hotel are not for use to Malta Direct Guest (they had even E-mailed Malta Direct and told them) (not my problem I told them) anyway no Suites in the hotel are avaliable we reluctently go to the Bungalows to see what they were like. We were given number 4 dirty, smelly horrible, damp with a broken basin.(we were later told by other guests that bungalows 1 to 20 are all nasty and the higher numbers were ok)

I ring for the van go back to the hotel and refuse to stay in the bungalows, we were eventualy given a garden veiw room in the hotel and an extra bed for our son, NOT A GREAT START to our holiday.

We were given a sea veiw room the next day all be it with 3 beds in one room as the suites were not avaliable for our two week stay.

I quote the Malta Direct brouchure and the hotel web site as well regarding the hotel boat it states "; There is a free REGULAR ferry service to Malta and Gozo (on reguest) web site also adds timings are subject to change without notice.

How REGULAR is regular?

This is a must for you to know:

Boat times listed are as follows:

Departure Comino Departure Malta

06.40 via Gozo 07.30
08.45 On request 09.10
09.40 10.00
11.30 Maybe 12.00
16.15 16.45
18.05 Normally 18.30
23.00 On request 23.00

Departures to Gozo are just as bad, you can really get stuck with theses times and be warned the hotel will not send the boat to you if you miss it.

You will have to make an informed judgement as to weather you can get to where you want and get back as well.

If you do venture out the buses are great and still cheap Express buses like 645 to Sliema for the Grand Harbour Tours cost 50 cents, bus 48 to Bugibba also 50 cents and the 45 to mellieha just 23 cents.

The food at the hotel was quite average pleanty of chips, chips and more chips but you can normally find something just one day we could not, you may have to resort to the very limited snack menu.

The staff all be it very few of them do there very best to help you and without them the hotel would be in real trouble so thanks to John, Sammy, Mark and all the other multy tasking staff.

Due to the lack of staff the waiting time for ordering anything (just one bar to order food, drinks and coffee etc) can be quite await up to 20 min sometimes.

The hotel is kept clean until the daily influx of day trippers arrive and pay to use the hotel at 14.00 LM pounds they get to use the same as you although you may have paid 2 or 3 thousand pounds to stay here.

We witnessed one day trippers child poo by the side of the pool when I told the manager Marco it took him 10 mins to come out and get it cleaned up, a day later there was more poo in the pool this time they did'nt do anything until night time when the pool was drained and cleaned.

There is talk from regular guest most of which have said they will not be returning that the hotel is in real trouble and the site will have a five floor hotel built on it in the next couple of years, I dont know how true this is though.

What could be a fantastic hotel in a fantastic location is really let down by the lack of staff and the fact managment seem to no longer care.

The water sports were great and the swimming wounderful although jelly fish did come in for a couple of days hence why we where by the pool. Tuesdays were the quitest days for some reason day trippers did not come.

Would we go back to this hotel?

NO

Would we recommend this hotel?

Not unless they employed more staff and stopped the day trippers

Would we recommened the Island of Comino, Gozo and Malta?

Yes stunning

this was our 7th visit to comino in 8 years, we even got married in gozo in 2002 and held the wedding party at the hotel.

overall we feel that the hotel, whilst fantastic for food, accomodation and staff needs a complete makeover as it is the same now as it was in 1999 when we first went there.

recently there has been an influx of east european/russian students en bloc who learn english during their stay and this has caused regular holidaymakers to decide to stay away in future. in fairness to the students and certainly the staff, it has been reasonably well controlled apart from generally losing the tranquillity that visitors go to comino for.

the food as always was excellent and nothing was too much trouble for the catering staff and a special mention must go to john,sammy,justin,mark and the rest of the waiting staff who are always attentive to your needs.

entertainment needs to be looked at ,but if you want a peaceful and chill out holiday then this is the place for you

we will definitely go back again in the future but hope that the hotel will have had a facelift by then

It is rare that I return to a holdiay destination, as there are so many places to see. However, I am returning to Comino as, for me, you get the best of both worlds - tranquility and peace, if you stay on the island and, whatever you want, if you choose to take the free ferry to either Malta or Gozo. I went in May, when the hotel wasn't full - perhaps in the height of the season it may be different and it may be noisy and crowded. In saying this, there was a tennis tournament on over the weekend I was there and the hotel'swallowed up' the invasion of players and entourage. The food is good with lots of choice. Not too much in the way of entertainment in the evening, but that's what Comino is all about. Brill! Super staff, too...

Our second visit to the hotel this time for two weeks all inclusive. The staff are incredible nothing is to much for them. The quality of the food is superb and the drinks are not to bad either.We saved over £ 450 booking with Malta Direct compaired to one of the major british tour operators.

We have already booked again for three weeks next spring at this years price with Malta Direct again, we can not wait to get there. If you want a wonderful tranquil holiday in a beautiful setting but would still like to go sightseeing in Malta or Gozo book now , you can use The Comino Boat to escape but I will guarantee you will be glad to return to Paradise. Mike Plant.

The hotel is perfectly situated which is what attracted us to this hotel as it is the only one on the island. We stayed in a sea view bungalow which was much quieter than the main hotel and the rooms are very large compared to the hotel which is about 10 to 15 minutes walk or phone for free mini bus. Free ferry service to malta and gozo is very good but beware of the taxi's waiting when you get off the ferry use local buses.

One very important thing to know is that your cash can't be used in the hotel everything is charged to your room and the bill is then paid at the end of your stay. The only place you can spend money is when you leave the island or in the small souvenier shop in the hotel. We brought nearly all of our travellers cheques home and paid our bill with the credit card at a better rate.You can also request a printout of your expenses at the reception as often as you need should you worry about how much you are charging to your room. The hotel is clean and the staff are friendly,loads of free sunbeds no need to get up early.

Food was really nice.The only thing that was a little off was the evening entertainment the disco on the saturday night was great even the staff joined in but the majority of the time it was singers with guitars aimed at the older guests,but if you stay in the bungalows you can avoid it go the bar at the bungalows instead. The watersports are great and very cheap. We would visit again but go to malta and gozo more often the great thing is you can visit the busy islands then return for some relaxation the Comino is a very quiet relaxing place but for younger people it can seem to quiet.

Great holiday.