Meridien St Julians Hotel Reviews

We had a great time at this hotel and felt the few negatives we read about before we went were fairly irrelevant to the enjoyment of the holiday, e.g. the lifts which were a bit quirky, but gave you a focus to chat about with fellow guests. As others have said altough the roof pool was not large we always got a sun bed and the breeze up there was welcome on a hot day. There was plenty to do , see eat/ drink in St, Julians so if yu find the prices at the hotel pricey there is plenty of choice nearby/ I loved the breakfast, the ice machine and I found our room larger than many we have stayed in over the last few years. The separate toilet and shower was a nice touch too. The staff will happiy empty the mini bar to use as a fridge if you ask.

We went to Malta to get married in May 2007. The care and attention from the staff at the hotel, representatives of the holiday company, the Maltese people and those from other services booked in relation to our wedding such as Frank's Chauffeur services who provided a vintage car, Steven's Movie Studios who took wonderful and unusual photographs, made it a holiday that has wonderful memories. The hotel was what you would expect from 5* accommodation in respect of the facilities but the level of service and the natural warmth of the Maltese people and from staff of other nationalities would be difficult to replicate. From the waiting staff to the manager Joseph, they could only be praised. The food was really good but for something a bit more special the Michelin star restaurant (Villa) at the front of the hotel is excellent. The rooftop pool area is great with a good amount of sun loungers either next to the pool or further round on another part of the roof. We got married in Valletta in the Saint James Cavalier bulding which is steeped in history. This was a wonderful setting if you want to get married abroad but don't like the idea of a beach wedding. There are a variety of bars and restaurants in St Juliennes to suit most tastes with a friendly service in all the ones we visited. We are looking forward to going back to Malta as there is a lot to see for a small island. We will certainly stay at Le Meridien in St Juliennes and recommend it to anyone thinking of going to Malta.

We had never been to Malta and didn't really know what to expect. We needn't have worried! Had a terrific holiday all round:

Flew from Gatwick with British Airways as Air Malta was not at convenient times (early hours of the morning!). Arrived in Malta airport and made way to taxi office where we paid approx 8 Maltese Lire for a taxi - you then proceed to the taxi rank outside with your receipt so you can't get ripped off. All maltese people are really friendly and helpful - the taxi driver being the first we met - and they all speak English! Hotel fantastic as brand new and 5* - the only thing I would say is that some things are not yet open / built / in use as still very new and there are a few teething problems with the staff but given time, this will be a top class hotel and there was nothing major which upset our stay - all very obliging, just takes a little longer than with us Brits perhaps! Very clean, modern and new. Rooms large and luxurious - bathrooms to die for and Queen size beds!

We arrived at about 11am and our room wasn't ready so were offered an orange juice and bags taken from us and put in storage. We thought we would wander around the resort only to get stopped by an English guy outside the hotel - he was asking about our holiday - gave us scratch cards and found out we had won a bottle of wine, 2 free tickets to go on a Captain Morgan cruise around Grand Harbour and a holiday. In order to get prizes though we had to go to Hotel Kennedy in Silema. He drove us there.

We were told we would be there for about 55 minutes and we would be shown around the hotel before being given our prizes. All very pleasant however, there were a few things we weren't told! We actually were shown to a room where there were about 4 other couples with a ";rep"; similar to ours all sitting around individual tables. We sat there for 2 hours with this rep trying to sell us Exclusive Club membership for a one off fee of about £2,500, an annual maintenance fee of £200 and then £100 - £200 for your actual holiday on top of flights and food - basically it is the same type of thing as a Time Share. After 2 hours we politely said no thanks but we did get the bottle of wine and 2 free cruise tickets (which would have cost us about £26 and it was really informative, lasting a good couple of hours - take a jumper though as really windy and quite cold!)and we got a form to send off for the free holiday - it is for 1 weeks accommodation in a choice of 4 countries (listed) but you have to pay for your flights and you have to agree to go to another presentation whilst there for the Exclusive Club so we will not be sending this form off - but the 2 hours of time wasting was worth it just for the harbour tickets so up to you whether you want to pretend to be interested and you have time to spare in order to get something quite good for free! Had we been approached on any other day, we would not have gone, but as we were killing time for our room to be ready, we went!

When we got back to our room, we were not overly happy with the location - room 505 overlooking a building site / crane/ etc so we asked if we could be moved. They showed us 3 rooms - 2 of which were going to cost us an extra £200 for a sea view! We plumped for room 513 which was the same price as our original room but still had a sea view (albeit to the side). Teething problems were things like no bottle opener, no replacement towels, no pillow cases, etc - nothing major and they did oblige but just took a little longer than the norm! We booked on a room only basis which we liked because we got up when we wanted and ate our breakfast on our balcony at leisure. Kettles in the rooms which was great and electronic mini bars - don't move a thing as it gets charged to your room - even if you replace it!!! Hairdryer, iron, toiletries, like home from home...

Malta was very windy, and although overcast, we got good tans as very warm. Fantastic weather for sight seeing as not too hot. I wouldn't want to go in the summer to Malta not only for the temperatures (and I like it hot) but also for the amount of people. We spent the whole week sight seeing (Mdina, Gozo, Valletta, the Blue Lagoon, the Blue Grotto, Fungus Rock, etc) by bus which was fantastic. Not expensive and quite frequent. The only downside is they get very overcrowded (and this was in April!) and the roads are terrible! If you tell the bus drivers where you want to get off, they are quite good. Do try and approach the bus with the right money though as they don't like having to give change from notes and they don't stop for you to give the money and sit down - added to this, there are no doors on these buses so be aware not to fall out the bus whilst scrabbling around for your money as he will just keep driving!!!

I probably wouldn't choose this country if I wanted a beach holiday, although in the north of the country (Mellieha)the beaches are quite good - but not overly big so overcrowding may be a problem in the summer?
If you are looking for a sight seeing trip, Malta is wonderful as lots to see and do and all quite accessible with the bus system and the small size of the island. Lots of history behind the country. Lots of fish in terms of food. We bought the AA Map and Guide book to Malta and Gozo and ate at restaurants recommended in that - all very good. Every night we just walked to a restaurant - either in St Julians (Balluta Bay?) or in Paceville (Spinola Bay) area.

Will definitely return in years to come - and probably to the same resort and hotel as quite centrally located.