Barceló Fortina Malta — Hotel in Sliema

I am deeply disappointed with the level of customer service we experienced during our stay. Several instances of poor communication and inconsistent responses left us feeling frustrated and undervalued as guests.

When we requested a late checkout, the receptionist claimed the hotel was fully booked. However, after checking online, I saw at least four rooms available. When I brought this to their attention, they told me to check the day before departure. When I pointed out that I had been told the hotel was already fully booked, they backtracked, stating that our room was booked, despite never asking for our room number in the first place.

While waiting in line at reception, I witnessed a guest trying to store life-saving medication in the hotel's freezer. Initially, the staff refused, stating the hotel did not have a freezer, even though the guest mentioned he had never had this issue at any other hotel. After much back and forth, they reluctantly agreed to store the medication in their kitchen freezer. This hesitation in handling a serious health issue was quite concerning.

We requested to leave a day early and asked about a refund. One staff member told us 24 hours’ notice was required, while another insisted it needed to be 24 hours before arrival. After waiting at reception for over an hour for a response from reservations, I was told no one was available (5-6pm local time) to make a decision, and I would have to check back in the morning. When I did, the manager was in a meeting, and I was then informed the hotel required 72 hours’l notice for any changes. Later, when we spoke to the customer experience manager, he claimed 24 hours notice was required an he would need to email the central office to approve any refund, even though we had already spoken to them the previous day and were told it was at the hotel's discretion. Eventually, we were offered a refund for breakfast but are still waiting for confirmation regarding our last night's stay.

The level of inconsistency in communication is shocking for a hotel that claims to be five-star. The overall customer experience we encountered barely deserves two stars. I hope management addresses these serious issues for future guests, as our experience was far below...

Firstly, having booked 3 rooms. Seems if you showed any dissatisfaction you won’t get an emailed request for a review from the Hotel - A little short sighted Barcelo! First experience Hotel looked great, appreciate a few teething issues but that’s to be expected with a Hotel so new. No issue with this. Staff, work in progress, definitely pleasant and are working hard to get up to speed. The issue I have is with the Management. The Hotel Manager was argumentative, short sighted and a large number of my issues (many noted in the low stared reviews here) are due to poor Management. A Manger should check the rooms, see the TV is working, as the coffee machine, also that the shower shouldn’t leak. These complaints are repetitive pointing to being reactive and NOT Proactive. In any 5 star Hotel in London or main city you would expect to drive up and drop your bags and Guests. Not here. You are expected to drop your bags and Guests at the kerbside and walk 120 metres lugging your bags. With 2 disabled and limited mobility people this would have been a real problem. There were No signs or Staff saying you can’t drive to the front of the Hotel. The Hotel Manager’s argument to me when I did was “well there is no signs saying you can”? Unfortunately also, having requested a disabled room, seems the calibre of room that we booked the Hotel doesn’t cater for disabled at this higher standard. The disabled person had to be helped off the toilet due to absolutely no Disabled facilities in the room. I have no doubt that the Group will deal with the issues in time. The first thing would be to deal with the Hotel Managers short signed and current reactive approach. If the Barcelo Malta had sent me an emailed review opportunity this wouldn’t have been so public. Also if the Manager wants to be pro active, pick up the phone and apologise for his frosty and short sighted approach which has annoyed me as you can see. You have my number. Ends in 329. We have a timeshare here so will be going back for the next 20 years. Let’s hope my next experience and review will be better. 2024 Stayed again in May this year. They seem to have got to grips with previous challenges. Well done Guys. Looking forward to...

I have just returned from a weeks stay half board at the Barcelo Hotel in Malta. I have stayed at this hotel many times before the refurbishment. The hotel is lovely, the staff are friendly, the food is excellent ... we had breakfast and our evening meal at the hotel every day and no one in my party of 5 had any complaints at all ... The hotel has been refurbished to a very good standard. Silema is a lot busier now than it used to be, which is good to see for the local businesses. The only one complaint I must mention is the pool situation, I don't think that it has been thought through properly by the hotel, the hotel and pool set up do not match. The hotel is a classy, relaxing place to stay, and the pool is like stepping into Marbella or Ibiza. Every day we had to argue to get a sunbed in a decent place away form the toilets and bins (and flies) and it is very true what other reviews have mentioned, in that Manta only seem to be interested in paying guests ... (especially those who spend a fortune on Moet champagne) When they do finally move you to a half decent bed, they wrongly assume that everyone wants to sit in the hot blazing sun, which I don't and you have to argue for a shaded bed. You should be able to choose a sunbed that suits you for the day, not the other way round There is nowhere at all within the hotel to read a book or chat quietly with your friends and family. The music is over bearing and loud, I don't mind the background music at all but from 2pm it seriously increases and is not relaxing at all. I visited with my parents who are nearly 70 years old, and we had to literally walk round all day to avoid the music. Its a real shame, but the Hotel need to seriously look at this issue, and create a better system for guests that want to sit in the loud music, and create a quiet area for those that don't. I was really looking forward to this holiday after a very busy year and it wasn't relaxing at all :( Just an idea ... but why don't you improve the area near the toilets, replace all the broken tiles and turn the music off in that corner I'm sorry to have to post this review, but the pool area lets the hotel down...