Pergola Hotel & Spa — Hotel in Mellieha

An awful stay - bad facilities, diabolical service and multiple major health&safety issues– I can’t stress enough that this hotel should be avoided at all costs. We stayed for 5 nights in September 2024. Problems littered our stay. Even without isolated problems, the hotel was vastly overpriced for the quality.

Severe issues: • We had a major leak on our first day in our room, which was from a shower in a room above us. We had to vacate the room for the morning while this was resolved. • Later in the week, a ceiling panel in the room collapsed in during the day- luckily while we were out of the room, otherwise it could have caused an injury. The damaged ceiling exposed live electricals, which were in the same region as the aforementioned leak and remaining dampness, presenting a severe safety hazard. We had to immediately vacate the room for the evening on return from a daytrip while this was resolved.

General, everyday issues: • The spa environment, pool and ‘hot-tub’ were cold and unheated, so virtually unusable – they used this to try and upsell a paid hot-tub room. • The showers in the room leak and overflow from normal usage – we were constantly using towels to mop up the floors to prevent slipping. A quick look at google reviews suggests that this is an ongoing issue which has caused injuries in the past, which the hotel has clearly not resolved. • The service from most of the staff was poor (with the exception of a wonderful host named Hendrick(?) – who provided great service). On one occasion, we asked for shampoo and conditioner from reception before we went out for dinner (as it for some reason isn’t provided in the rooms) and it took over half an hour to arrive – making us late for our booking. The bar staff were rude, slow and clearly sexist, and the hotel manager was dismissive of our regular issues and frustrating stay. • The outdoor pool had loud, long-term building works going on next door, which, although not controlled by the hotel, was not communicated in any way and effectively prevented us using the outdoor pool area on several days. • On rainy days, there were several leaks and overflows around the hotel floor – with surfaces incredibly slippery and dangerous. We noticed one guest had injured their ankle from this and was in crutches for their stay. On bringing this up on checkout, the hotel manager said that these issues were due to the heavy rain. Heavy rainfall should not be an excuse for severe safety risks.

On checkout, we listed our issues (the above, plus a few smaller isolated issues and disappointments) as well as the overall price we had paid, to request some compensation for our expensive, and largely ruined, week. The hotel manager, by way of compensation, could only offer us a bottle of wine in their bar. The minimal value of compensation (reluctantly) offered here, given the amount and severity of issues we experienced, was nothing short of disrespectful of us as guests, and dismissive of our concerns, feedback and...

I previously left a review reflecting my experience, but it appears to have been removed—so I am reposting it to ensure transparency and fairness for future guests.

This review and rating are purely based on the attitude and unprofessionalism of the front desk employee named Francine. I have never encountered such a level of disrespect and lack of professionalism within the first 10 minutes of arriving at a hotel. It all started when we entered the hotel. Instead of greeting us politely, Francine simply asked for our reservation number. The booking was made via Booking.com, so we provided her with the reference number from that platform. She kept insisting that it was not the correct reference number and eventually asked for the last name of the person who made the reservation. Despite giving it to her multiple times, she was unable to locate it in the system. We ended up having to spell it out for her. After several minutes of back and forth, she handed us a piece of paper and a pen to write the full name down. The first and last name are not particularly difficult to understand, so it was either a lack of comprehension on her part or a failure to listen. Francine eventually came to the conclusion to contact Booking.com directly to retrieve the details so she could cross-check them with the hotel’s system. Apparently, only part of the first and last names were captured in the reservation (due to the guest having two first and two last names). Once Francine discovered this, she burst out laughing hysterically. I was genuinely confused as to why she found this funny. Even if she did, her reaction was completely unprofessional and disrespectful—especially toward the person who made the reservation. Laughing in front of guests like that is just shameless. After this, she handed us the key cards to our room and immediately shifted her demeanour—from laughing childishly to acting like a bored employee clearly unhappy with her job. She explained the hotel facilities, as well as breakfast and dinner times, which was appreciated, but she did so in such a rushed and unmotivated manner that it felt like she just wanted to get rid of us.

To the hotel management: I strongly urge you to address Francine’s behaviour, as it reflects poorly on your establishment and sets a very negative tone for guests upon arrival. A front desk employee is the first impression of a hotel, and unfortunately, in this case, it was an impression of rudeness, impatience, and a complete lack of professionalism. I sincerely hope you take this feedback seriously and provide Francine with the necessary training, or guidance to ensure that future guests are treated with the respect and courtesy...

We booked a room with half board for three nights. We were also offered the option to pay extra 10€ for a surprise, which seemed to be something to look forward to. When we arrived to the room, it was probably the smallest room I ever stayed. The air con wasn't cooling down, the door wasn't locking from the outside, and the telephone wasn't working. The shower area didn't even have a space to place a soap or shampoo. We complained. Maintenance came and fixed the door and "fixed" the air con. We went out and when we came back, the air con was still not cooling down. We went to reception, the guy said the manager wasn't there anymore, and he couldn't do anything other than giving us a fan. Separate to that, we went to have dinner and we were mistreated by an employee because of our dietary restrictions. He laughed about them in mockery. I ordered at the restaurant a large Coke, which costed 3€. When I saw the bar, they were filling glasses from 2 litre bottles. Food was below average; a bit tasteless. Also, going to the restaurant, when getting into a lift, a pressed the button too early and it started closing the doors on my wife. We were told off by an employee of the hotel like we were kids playing with the lifts. In the other day, we went to speak to the reception manager. I was hoping for another room and for the money back regarding the half board. She proposed to give us another room, same style, in order to fix the air con issue. About the restaurant, she offered us to go to their other restaurant, an ala carte one. The other room was completely different. Decent size, great. Air con actually worked.

A couple of days after we returned home, we were contacted by the hotel management. They apologised for the problems we faced and they explained us the costs of the half board. I had understood it incorrectly, reason for this revised note. In reality, the cost per dinner in the package was €12. I wouldn't recommend the hotel restaurant, for the reasons above described, but the ala carte one, Da Ciccio, would actually be a good option. Food was good. I would still say the service and set menu need to be improved, but €12 is not bad considering the food.

Lastly, I would reinforce this is not a 4 star hotel. The service we got you don't see in a 4 star hotel. In the contact from management, it was mentioned the industry turmoil due to the pandemic. I can't accept this as an excuse. Since the pandemic started, we stayed in other six hotels already. All in safe environments, adapted to the healthy standards, and in different countries. None of them we saw staff that didn't seem happy to have...