The Xara Palace Relais & Chateaux — Hotel in Mdina

Whilst this 5 star hotel is located within Mdina, the quiet city, we found it rather noisy. Night 1, fireworks until 2am for St Joseph festival, night 2, fireworks until midnight for mother's day, night 4 and 5 more fireworks for unknown. Added to noise generated from restaurant courtyard on ground level doesn't provide the tranquility expected.

We found that our suite was a bit tired and in need of some maintenance.

The suite was advertised with private porch area with views. This was far from a private area and formed part of the walkway to other rooms and areas of the hotel. Added to the fact that views was obscured by glass roof serving atrium and restaurant patio terrace did not warrant the added cost.

We chose not to eat in the hotel for breakfast. The options proved too limiting and cost options made no sense. Especially as there was an extra 6 or 7 Euro charge if you wanted breakfast delivered to your suite, the irony was that this was less distance between the kitchen and the suite than the kitchen and outside terrace of the restaurant. Lots of local facilities for breakfast around Ir Rabat that is much more economical and wider choice.

The elevator failed whilst we were inside, the procedure for our extraction was flawed, this should have been to open the doors and allow passengers out, instead they spent 5 minutes electrically resetting the lift multiple times, which added to the concern. Hotel thought it wise to leave bottle of Proseco in our room as a form of recompense for the elevator issue, not wise when neither of us drinks alcohol.

All that said, the staff were very friendly, helpful and a good eclectic mix and testament...

Xara Palace may be the most remarkable place that we've stayed at in many years of international travel. Beyond the elegance and beauty of the property and its setting of Mdina, the rooms (there are only 18) are huge and gorgeously appointed. Even more impressive, though, are the staff and the service. The staff are unerringly polite, friendly, respectful and professional - and for us, they went far above and beyond anything we've experienced before. We had an unusual situation: I hung a pair of pants to dry over our balcony railing which was high above a pomegranate grove with a few low buildings nearby. Apparently that was a huge mistake, as I returned to the room later to find the pants no longer on the railing, but visible far below on top of a building within an inaccessible part of the grove. The amazing folks at Xara assured me that they could retrieve the pants, though I couldn't imagine how. Turns out they're not only good at their jobs, but they are excellent at fishing as well. One of the housekeeping staff managed to lower a rope with a hook on the end of it off of the balcony, swing the rope widely from side to side, and pull the pants up. Talk about service! I wish I had been there to see them do it (in lieu of that, I wish they had taken a video). Huge thanks to Tarik, the fisherman, and also to Lara and Mattias for being outstandingly warm and helpful in every way. They are a credit to the hospitality industry and Xara is fortunate to have them. We will never forget them or...

Mdina is quite special and this palazzo is undeniably historic, but as a hotel it feels underinvested and ill equipped. Room 14 should carry a health warning, excessively noisy, tired, dated and musty. The clincher is that the room above has a hot tub on its terrace directly over the bed area in Room 14. When the upstairs guests ran it until 11.30pm on our second night, the droning was like an idling car engine above our heads.

We called reception. The only feedback we received came after I dressed and went downstairs to report the noise was still going, at which point I was told, “We phoned them, they said they would keep quiet”. There was no follow up, no knock on the door, no solution.

The next day I spoke to the manager about leaving early, only after I said I would sue were we allowed to depart without penalty.

Beyond the racket, the room was stale and what I would call 'genteelly shabby', and corridor noise carried. The building deserves conservation, what it really needs is serious investment to make it function better as a hotel. It is also rated five star, which is astonishing on this showing, I have lopped off stars in this review accordingly.

And here is the jaw dropper, it flies the Relais & Châteaux flag. I have long trusted that badge, but this stay makes me question how rigorously the portfolio is policed. Beautiful town, beautiful shell, but as a hotel, a profound disappointment. We will...