Solana Hotel Reviews

We found this holiday via Teletext. Having never heard of Choice we were a bit dubious about booking a holiday with a company we knew nothing about. However, the price for a week in the height of the school holidays was much more inviting than other tour operators. In fact we paid less for a 4 star hotel with breakfast than a 3 star hotel with other companies. The flight times weren't great but about 8 weeks before the holiday we were notified that the times were changed to a more civilised time of the day!
The flight was with British Jet who we'd also not heard of. They only fly to and from Malta and prices were cheap, so we didnt expect much. The plane food was good, not massive, and the bar service was good and not too expensive. So the flights were good overall.

The hotel was excellent. The room we had was massive! The balcony was nice too, it faced onto the road. You'd think it might be noisy, but not at all. We had a fridge in the room which was great for cooling the wine and water! For 3.50 Lm (about £5.80 per day) we could have had a kitchenette, but we preferred to eat out. There was a safe in the room which was excellent. That cost 5.50 Lm (£9.15)for the week. The only niggly thing was the room had two single beds pushed together, but I suppose you find that in many European holiday destinations.
The maid service was great, and so were the staff at reception. I was hospitalised due to ear trouble after diving. I contacted reception who put a doctor in touch with me and arranged for me to get to the hospital which was about a 40 min drive away. Their help with this was much appreciated.

Breakfast was very good-a nice selection, and the snack bar food was also excellent.
Mellieha is a nice village with the ammenities you need-small food shop, resturants and a few bars and HSBC bank!
The walk down to the beach is nice (because its downhill-don't dream of walking back up in the heat-catch a bus which are legendary and nicely cheap!). Mellieha Bay is actually one of the best beaches on the island.
Gozo is definitely worth a visit, as is St Julians and Paceville for a wicked night out. Like I mentioned the buses are great and will get you pretty much anywhere. If you want a quicker option get a taxi although these are really quite expensive. Best to get one via the hotel or be prepared to haggle the driver right down in price!
As a young couple we did hear that Malta was mainly for older people. However, there is plenty for everyone in different places. Be prepared to explore.

We missed a trip to Sicily which we were gutted about, but still had a fantastic time and went on a few different trips-thats the best way so you don't waste time not knowing what to see or not.We had an amazing time, even though we lost 28 hours due to my hospital stay. We'd highly reccommend this trip to anybody including Choice who were efficient and informative and helped get ur money back for the trip we missed!

Malta is a good place to visit as there is a lot of history, plenty of things to see and do, or like us chill out and do a bit of walking.

Mellieha is a quiet town, its a good walk from the town down a steep hill to the bay. It's not so busy these days as the bypass takes most of the traffic and later in evening when the bus numbers reduce it can be dead. Not a pretty town but does have a good church and a massive shelter used during WW2.

The Solana is on the hill on the main street through the town so can be noisy on the front during the day. It is a good 4 star, modern, clean with very friendly staff. Breakfast was normal continental style - Limitted cereals, toast, cooked breakfast with rubbish smaoked bacon. We did not eat any other meals so can't comment, however, most other guests were in there everynight, probably on half-board.

Our room was large with space for a queen bed and table for those on self-catering as well as limitted kitchen facilities which were locked inside a cabinet. Very good solid furniture, plenty of hanging space. Room was clean when we arrived and cleaned thoroughy every day. Plenty of hot water at all times, towels changed once a week or whenever you leave them in the bath. Aircon effective both to cool and heat.

Safe was £8 for the week.

Maltese wines can be rough. Wines brought by grape variety are usually reasonable the others we tried were good enough for chips only.

Puccinis the cafe in the lounge area did excellent coffee and was good value for snacks (everything from pies 20p through to pizza and pasta meals) Beer not much dearer than anywhere else.

Even during feb there were enough eating places to go somewhere different each night of the week, though watch Sundays when its very limitted. At the best places book in advance they do get full.

L'amigo - reasonable food at reasonable prices, does a selection of pasta, pizza and maltese cooking. 2 3 course meals with a bottle of local wine cost us £32. Try fish soup and the local desserts are to die for (forget the diet).

Hilltop - used to be good but has tried to go upmarket and failed the food is average to poor (with Jus!) Does good snacks during the day.

Valle Trattoria - linked to Pergola hotel which is the sister hotel to the solana. Absolutely rubbish, food was poor, service not existent as they have to keep running up the steps outside to get ingredients and wine as they only have a small kitchen. We got used to friendly staff on the island who make up for lack of training by being friendly and talkative, at the Valle forget it your in there way. Luckily for us they give you a customer feedback form, we handed ours into the Solana reception as we did not think ours would reach the management.

Arches - dearest restaurant we've found on the island but worth the extra. If you like good food cooked well and over the top attention then go here, we did twice. You get good portions so pace yourself through the meal as you must have a pud. 3 course meal for 2 with bottle of italian wine and coffee (was better in hotel cafe) cost £64 which is cheap for this level of dining.

Various cafes and local restaurant - all work hard to get your custom, the local pies (pea, spinach, tuna and spinach) very filling and cheap.

Mostalgia in St Pauls town is built into old stables and is an impressive location to eat. We've eaten here before and believe it has slipped in its standards, you do get good portions but we both felt it had lost something. Swordfish steak was enormous but let down by the veg (cauli and carrots). You need to order some dishes in advance. If your in the area then its worth a try we may have visited on a bad night!

This time we did not hire a car and used the buses, this is an experience as you may be on something new (10 years old) through to 30 years old with all the rattles to prove it. YOu can getr most places and to main towns there is a good service, Mellieha to Valletta 80p, during the day a bus comes past every 10-15 minutes.

Went to other towns and most have their own good and bad points except bugiba which has its bad and worse points. 2 bingo palours on the front, we popped into a bar for a coffee and if the lady running the bar had spent as long cleaning the bar as she does on her makeup it could have been clean, this was the only dirty place we visited all week. If you like chips and bingo then this is the place for you, otherwise avoid.

We were there during carnival which is oldfashioned in a quaint way. Lots of dancing competitions with little kids representing their locality though to adults, some fireworks and other events.

Would we go back to Malta -YES.

Would we go back to Mellieha - YES.

Would we go back to SOLANA- YES, especially at the price we got this last minute deal for.