Hotel Westin Dragonara Reviews

I know it is probably a bit late, but better late then never. We spend Xmas in the Hotel Westin Dragonara with my family. What a fantastic hotel, it felt like the Ritz abroad. The rooms were very spacious, with 2 kingsize beds, sky tv. very clean, the location is great as you can walk into town from the hotel with no problem. The food was very good and the Maltese people love little children. (which was great for my 6 year old) Around Xmas the good hotels have a gingerbread village competition, which was set up in the lobby and the whole of the lobby had this lovely smell troughout our stay. I bet it is even better to stay in the summer when the weather is hot, as the pool and poolside look very attractive. I would defentely reconmend this hotel and I would defentately go back again (hopefully soon).

We did not have particularly high expectations for Malta as all we wanted was a good rest. Unfortunately from what we saw of the island, St Julian's, St George's and Valetta, Malta seems to have little to offer, which is a shame as it has so much potential and quite a lot of tourists, even in low season. Everywhere needs a lick of paint, buildings need repairing and they could do with some solid shopping areas. Having said that, the people are very friendly, everyone speaks fluent English, food is cheap (by London standards)and very generous and the weather is great, although it gets pretty windy this time of year, but no signs of any rain. If you plan on hiring a car (we didn't) be warned that the locals drive like nutters, but on the left, like in UK.

The big plus is the hotel which is really excellent. In its own grounds overlooking the sea/Casino, it is beautiful in appearance without being snobby, very relaxed atmosphere. The staff are great and the room was very large and well appointed with large super kingsize bed, TV, sofa, desk and chairs, marble bathroom and balcony overlooking the huge swimming pool. And the plug sockets are UK style so no adapters required and same voltage etc.

The lounge/bar area was very restful and the dining area was large and comfortable. Breakfast is buffet style and they serve everything you could possibly think of from simple cereals and tea to cold salads, hot food, scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, cheeses etc. Something for everyone and plenty of it, even if you came down late (they serve till 10.30).

The pool area is large and comfortable with countless sunbeds available. Large clean pool and some paddling pools for kids if required.

Within the complex are three restaurants. We regularly went to the Italian one, Palio's, which was very good and cheap.

Overall the hotel saved the holiday because the resort is pretty disappointing. We had the rest we wanted but would not return to Malta again.

I will keep this review simple if you want 5* luxury witout too many stuck up people around then this is the place for you.

I saw this hotel in the Thompson 'Platinum' brochure but booked direct through the internet. So I was a bit dubious about the resort after reading previous reviews on St Julians. On arrival we were allocated a Junior suite on the 6th floor over looking the pool, I was very disappointed. The air con did not work, the carpet was filthy and furniture although clean had seen some wear. I had booked 2 queen beds and got a king size with a put-u-up bed for my daughter who is nine. The charge was 95Lm per night which is approx £160.00 per night and I was not letting my child sleep on a put-u-up at those prices even if she is nine! After complaining we were offered another room overlooking the bay on the 7th floor, much better and cleaner.

The Junior suites have a lounge area with a sofa and TV, which is great for relaxing after you get back to the room.
The pool area is quite small and the pool was shut 5 times during our 10 day stay (for about 3-4 hours each time) after young children had 'accidents' in it!! The sun beds are the cheap plasitc type you usually find in the cheaper hotels with no cushions and a lot of them broken. You have to enter into the 'who can get up the earliest' competition if you want to sit down near the pool. They are short on beds and every day dozens of people were wandering around clutching their towels in vain.

The hotel childrens club was a joke with the staff spending all the time looking after toddlers that seemed to left from 8am till 10.30pm. When my daughter and her friend went for the timetabled cookie cooking they were given the ingredients after waiting about 45mins and then told they had to make them themselves as she was too busy with the little ones!!!!

Prices for drinks etc in hotel are expensive 2.75Lm for an iced coffee (£4.60) and Lm5.00 for cocktails.

The food options are Ok, good choice for breakfast but never hot enough, dinner the same. We ate out quite a lot- there is a good choice of restaurants in St Julians, we had French,Malaysian,Thai, English all good.

The town itself is not much to write home about, chock full of teenagers all usually hanging out of the apartment windows throwing water bombs on unsuspecting people below! The whole place has an unfinished and dirty apperance about it.

So would I recommend it????? Yes!!! Make sure of getting what you want at the hotel roomwise. Hire a car to get out of Paceville but all in all not a bad holiday experience despite all the moans. The staff did thier very best to reslove all the problems.

PS One avantage to the Westin is the onsite casino!

We really did not expect too much from this holiday and came away wanting more, much more.

We booked rooms on the Royal Beach Club floor - bigger beds more luxurious and were really delighted with them. The beds were so comfortable, the decor and the comfort of the room overall was just perfect. We had asked for interconnecting rooms if possible but were given adjoining rooms and humblest apologies because they had 'let us down'.

The pool area closest to the hotel is nicer, the pool on the beach is open to the public and in my opinion not so safe when you have kids to be concerned about.

The main restaurant in the hotel is pretty average and not worth a visit in all honesty, however the other restaurants belonging to the hotel are all excellent and in very picturesque settings overlooking the sea. There is a great Italian restaurant and a lovely steak/seafood restaurant situated right on the rocks.

The staff in the hotel were really first class - our every request was granted and we could not find anything to complain about. We have returned and shall continue to do so - this is a real gem of a hotel with the kind of personal service one does not usually find in a large chain.

Also there are some mega restaurants within walking distance of the hotel - just ask concierge for their recommendations you wont go wrong.