1926 La Vie — Hotel in Sliema

Located right at the sea with an amazing infinity pool - the place is a gem for a few relaxing hours. There are also two accesses to the sea if one wants to really go for a swim, since the pool is too small for any water activity except just hanging out. The food and drinks are priced in accordance with the location, however, it still doesn't make your eyes pop. Can't say much about cocktails, but the Budda bowl with fresh tuna and sword fish was purely amazing - I truly recommend! The sushis at next table also looked delicious! Staff is very friendly, but also gets extremely busy and so less available. Stay friendly and positive and they will be the same to you. Important: they absolutely prioritize the hotel 1926 guests, however, the hotel accomodates many more people than pool can, so first come - first serve basis. Come to the opening or a bit earlier to get the first row beds. If you come in the afternoon and you are a hotel guest, they offer to have a lunch and wait till some beds become vacant. They will become vacant, quite a few people (including me) leave at around 1pm. They will try to accommodate you. Negatives: it gets crowded in the early afternoon and the cleanes of all the facility (pool, deck, toilets) deteriorates very fast...the place is small after all. Plus, Instagram stars pop and hang out with the drinks at the pool , as well as kids splash. Secret tip: next to the sea access on the right side four hidden beds are located. It is not anymore in pool area, so it is very secluded and actually quiet. The sea is at your feet. If you like something more intimate - check...

We booked a lunch a few days in advance, and with my reservation I asked about reserving two sunbeds for the day. Upon arrival we were charged €40, handed badly stained towels and directed upstairs to what was ostensibly a second-class area for those who aren’t guests staying at the hotel. The sunbeds were pushed together so tightly that you couldn’t separate them, which meant literally having to apologise and clamber over strangers on neighbouring beds to access your own. When we were directed to our sunbeds we were told that someone would be round every 20-30 minutes to take drink/food orders. We were there for 5 hours and not once did a member of staff visit the second-class area to check in on us ‘sardines’.

Being upstairs, the second-class area was high enough to be in a full breeze all day, which was cool enough to be unpleasant and force us to weigh our towels down with personal items to stop them blowing away. There was no such wind at the lower level.

Using the pool, toilets or bar was something of an ordeal from here too. You had to descend a narrow spiral staircase and make your way through the restaurant and then weave between the first-class hotel residence guests. The pool was nice but small and understandably busy.

The food at lunchtime was tasty but only lukewarm upon arrival. A litre bottle of water cost €4.50 which was more than twice the price of rival...

We came here for a company meal. Lovely setting and atmosphere. The only problem is the same as everywhere else in Malta, and that's employing servers and bartenders who have no idea what they're doing, how to serve or make drinks. 15 minutes to bring out our cocktails, which came one by one, mine had the ice melted, and it was just a gin and tonic, not much to get confused about. At least the second one was better. The servers don't remember who ordered what, they mixed up the drinks, they don't know how to put down the drinks, one even placed the drink on the plate. We asked for water 3 times as they always forgot. And lastly it's very, very hard to understand what they're saying. The accent makes it very hard to understand what they're asking, bringing food and drinks. Finally, it took the servers 45 mins to clean our table after the main course, taking the plates one by one every 10 mins or so. The food at least was good and tasty, small on the portion side for the price point but not bad, passable. But for such a place that describes themselves as "the spirit of the Maltese summer" and celebrating a meal of "timeless joy" leaves much to be desired. If you don't want to employ good staff who actually know how to serve, at least...