Hotel Santana Malta — Hotel in Saint Paul's Bay

I visited Hotel Santana with three good friends to continue my birthday celebration as a blind/disabled guest but very much a seasoned traveller. |As always, I introduced myself to management before my arrival to ensure that they were forewarned about my disability. Although Vincent and Caroline responded positively to emails sadly neither of them considered it an inclusive thing to do by introducing themselves to me personally once I arrived…..not even when I requested for them to meet me ☹ |The hotel was filled with lovely people and this is what made this trip great – most staff were friendly but I still felt that given my disability there could have been more support which during my stay at other hotels has come naturally. We were disappointed with the level of housekeeping – whilst towels were changed daily it appeared limited cleaning in the room was carried out. The food was good mostly – there was some reluctance to create individual dishes liked poached eggs or soft fried eggs and there was no bar staff on the rooftop which meant for the first day having to go from 6th floor to ground floor every time we wanted to get a drink…not easy when you’re blind. In the end we bought our own drinks to the rooftop as it didn’t seem like the staff were understanding. |The final straw was on our last night having arrived back in late and wanting to redeem our beach towel vouchers I was refused a refund back to my direct debit which is where the deposits were taken from in the first place. Having explained to the male receptionist that being blind means I do not get out and about in the shops to use cash therefore a refund back to my card was of strong preference, yet this was still denied. After requesting to speak to someone more senior (Jonas) once again there was no empathy for my disability or explanation. So, frustrated I conceded to hold my hand out for him to put the cash in my hand, and extremely rudely, he placed the cash back on the counter. I am sure in ayone’s book this would be considered rude and disrespectful but for me who couldn’t see where this cash was placed, this was beyond disgusting behaviour. |I will admst that by this stage I swore in frustration but what I didn’t gamble on was that he was going to swear back. Given his position as a customer facing individual both me and my friends and other guests that I could hear were totally and utterly stunned at his outburst and this made the ending to my birthday celebrations extremely sour. |I have worked in the services industry for over 40 years in various industries, some very challenging and I would never dream of swearing at a customer – especially when someone is more vulnerable than myself. Vincent and Caroline for all the nice words and supportive words that you offered prior to my arrival I am afraid they meant nothing, and I am outraged that you employ staff who do not have the skills diffuse...

When we arrived the 2 women on reception wasn’t very welcoming, treated us as if they weren’t expecting us and that we just rocked up off the street. We had 2 rooms booked and a toddler amongst and was given rooms complete opposite ends of the hotel which wasn’t ideal. When I turned up to my first room there was a dead cockroach in the shower, what looked like blood splattered up the mirror (they denied that it was blood so who knows) and a dirty sock on the terrace, this room was obviously not cleaned properly before passed onto the next person (the male manager was very apologetic) and then I was given a room on the ground floor which again could tell had not been cleaned properly, there was dirt on the floor (where they haven’t mopped the floor from the last person) crumbs left on the side and the shower was dirty and had lime scale all over it and had barely any water pressure on it. I wasn’t happy with the room but they said there was no more rooms available. On the 2nd night in that room there was a alive cockroach by the bed which just felt was enough as I had a toddler with me and I insisted to be moved rooms and I don’t want to sleep in that room tonight but the receptionist said I have to as there is no more rooms available, the day after I was moved to floor 3 which was a lot more better, a lot more cleaner and bigger and I was happy with this room.

The beds were comfortable however the duvet/bed sheets doesn’t fit the beds properly so the actual duvet is hanging out of it.

The waiters in the restaurant and cafe are fantastic and are generally what made the experience in this hotel good, they are a credit to this hotel and deserve all the praise they get (one was named Binod and I didn’t get the others name but he was tall with shaved hair on the sides, think it was Anish?). They are so hardworking, welcoming and friendly and was great with my child, they are brilliant and I would give them 5*.

The hotel is only like a 5 minute walk to the beaches which was lovely and nice restaurants nearby.

The indoor pool and spa was lovely but the indoor pool was so hot, the outdoor pool was also great but had grime all around it and was dirty at the bottom. Housekeeping was great always received clean towels every day and room done.

I feel like the place just needs a proper clean and the cleaners need to actually mop the floors and properly clean the surfaces. Due to this and the cockroach issues it would of been nice if the staff offered a kind gesture to help make up for issues such as a free meal at the buffet etc but nothing was offered at all which is a shame as it would of helped I guess.

Apart from the first few days in the hotel we did have a great holiday in the end and the restaurant staff were the highlight of this hotel...

After a bit of a wobbly start, I think we found what we were looking for - a centrally located hotel, near excellent transport ( 5 minutes walk to the bus station offering very inexpensive transport to all over Malta, and even to the ferry port for Gozo too!), and near to places of interest, bars and restaurants. We visit Maltese friends regularly, once or twice a year, so need a good base, and after trying many other hotels- this seems like the one we've been looking for😁. Initially, a few months before we travelled, As a very light sleeper, I emailed the hotel requesting a quiet room, on the top floor ( no noise from above!) if at all possible - and we did get this on check-in room 530 on the 5th floor at the rear of the hotel front block, facing the outdoor seating ' quadrangle ' - the side and rear blocks do have higher floors and we had some rooms and one of the sun terraces and roof top pool above us.( There is an excellent indoor pool too by the lower ground dining room too. Unfortunately this room was definitely not quiet! It had the service lift opposite the door, and a guest lift and marble staircase at the side, so was on a very busy though- route corridor with guests using the lifts and stairs to get to the upper floor rooms, sun terraces and pool. I slept very little for the first 4 nights! On the way out one morning ( being picked up by our Maltese friends, I thought I would mention this to reception, so they knew not to allocate this room as a quiet room to guests in the future! The response was excellent - although we had arranged to meet our friends, we were offered another room, if we could vacate our room immediately. We couldn't do this because of our prior appointment, but after speaking to our friends, they said they could delay picking up up, if we wanted to change rooms! In 20 minutes, we were shown the 'new' room, moved our belongings, and a filled the wardrobes, in a room that they let us have immediately because of our appointment - rooms not normally available until 2pm! ( It was 10:30am) Outstanding customer service.) The new room was on the second floor facing the main road, but at the end of a corridor so absolutely no through 'traffic' passing our door! - even near the road it was very peaceful, and 3 great nights sleep followed 😁. As well as this great ( in asked for service, the hotel, and all staff were also excellent, the food was fantastic, and the hotel couldn't be cleaner! - apologies for the long review, but just had to say how good this hotel was!!! - our new Maltese base! - keep up the great...