Hotel Intercontinental Reviews

Eden Bay Resort, as a name, is slightly over the top, as it's really just an annex of self catering apartments attached to the Hotel Intercontinental. The apartments are accessed by a myriad of corridors and two lifts. The photo for the hotel is taken from one of Eden Bay's rooms and the area you see is level 7 of the hotel with the Al Fresco Restaurant in the foreground. The hotel is used for many conferences. This does not seem to be mentioned in any of blurb in the brochures. You may find that the pool area gets crowded for a few hours at lunchtime and also the self service buffet counters in the Harruba Restaurant can suddenly get packed, but at least the delegates were seated in a separate area.

I can't see how much trade their jewellery and souvenir shops do, what we needed was somewhere that sold water and bread etc, it is quite a walk the nearest shop to buy any. If you just want to buy water, then pop over to Marks and Spencers, in the Bay Street shopping complex: it will save having to carry it back along way.

We were assigned to room 979, which was a two bedroom two bathroom apartment at the end of the top floor facing to the back. Not the greatest view, but the front view overlooked the bowling alley, a cinema and Bay Street shopping centre, at least we could see the garden and water fall. We were very pleased with the apartment. Unlike some places, you don't have to pay extra for toasters' kettles, and the safe. The apartments are tastefully decorated and there's plenty of cupboard space to store suitcases. The ensuite bedroom is smaller than the other one, but this didn't cause any problems.

One thing that was odd, was that the showers had to be hand held, there's nowhere to put it high up on the wall. So no long showers! Also be aware that if the loo is flushed in one bathroom, the shower in the other one goes very HOT, so watch out with small children. The maids came every day to clean, and fresh towels and bedding are changed are regularly. The balcony could pose a danger to younger children: the horizontal bars could be irresistible. Entry to rooms is by card, you can have as many as you need, and so no heavy keys to carry.

The roof top pool is very pleasantly laid out with lots of greenery. There are plenty of sun beds, all with mats and parasols. The pool is very shallow at one end being only ankle deep. It only gets to 1.24mt at the deepest, and is clearly marked all round. It was very nice for non swimmers. You can also get fresh towels from the main lift area to use round the pool.

Drinks and food in the hotel are quite expensive, i.e. up at the pool, all branded ice creams were 1 lire (£1-66) ice tea ,was about 0-75 cents. (£1-25). It would be cheaper to go over and get drinks yourself, as one feels obliged to add on a tip if they bring drinks to you. There's a Ben and Gerry's under the hotel and an ice cream place opposite, which was the cheapest. at 0.35 cents per scoop. Money can get confusing, as some of the Maltese still say pounds, remember, it's nearly twice the price in Sterling.

As it's been said in other reviews, Paceville, is a bit of a dive! To get to the main area, turn right from the hotel, then go up the steep steps a few metres long, you will have to go past all the nightclubs this way, but they don't seem to open until late. Most of the shops here, sell tatty souvenirs, which are over priced. There are also lots and lots of bars and some jewellery shops. Walk down to St Julian's Bay in the evening for a meal: we recommend ";Caffe Raffael";, very good choice of meals, pleasant staff and not too expensive, we ate there four times. A good place to buy any food you may want is ";The Money Saver"; in Triq Paceville: maps are available in the hotel.

There is a bus stop to the rear of the hotel, just behind the two orange EC buildings. Fares are cheap, but it's a bit of a bone shaker if you get an old bus! A trip to Mdina (bus number 65) will take about 40 minutes, but you might be standing most of the way. To go to Sliema or Valletta, (66) the bus starts from Paceville You will need the right change, Mdina was 40c and Valletta was 15c. If you are hiring a car, there is a pay car park under the hotel. There is nowhere else to park near the hotel.

Down at St George's Bay, they are trying to encourage people to keep the area tidy, judging by all the recycling bins they have put on the beach. But if people throw litter about at home, they're not going to stop on holiday.

This was a second trip to Malta for me and my husband and the third for our friend. Last time we were up at Cirkewwa. While yes, the hotel was very nice, of a very high standard and very attentive staff, it's really in the wrong place,because the area is not very nice. Eating there all the time would be quite expensive, especially if you have a number of children wanting drinks and ice creams.

For families I think Mellieha Bay would a better area, it has a lovely big beach there. I don't think we would want to come back to Malta again, especially, St George's/Julian's Bay as Malta in general is not good value for money.