The Waterfront Hotel — Restaurant in Gżira

Let me start with the positive,We stayed here for 1 week, the hotel itself is beautiful and in a stunning location with views of the harbour and Valetta, firework display over in Valetta was stunning to watch from our balcony, the room was lovely with large balcony and kept lovely by the beautiful room attendant, however there where some issues, firstly on arrival there where only 2 lifts with one out of order and stayed that way throughout our stay, which meant at busy times lots of wasted time waiting for the lift, being on floor 9 stairs were not an option in the heat, there was no outdoor pool in the hotel but you did have access to the lido right across the road, which to be fair was great but very crowded and never seen them clean the pool once during our week stay, also a lack of food options in the hotel, this hotel boasts 3 restaurant on it website, floor 10 grill, floor 3 regatta and ground floor lobby bar, starting with floor 3, this is where breakfast is served and it was lovely, plenty of choice and an effort made for us gluten free guests with cereal, bread, and muffins as well as a wide variety of fruit and a good selection of hot stuff for the full English fans, also lots of other choices like pancakes,meats,cheese to name just a few, this restaurant is also where a buffet is served in the evening, we arrived on a Sunday evening late so our first experience of this buffet was Monday, and it was great, good selection and all you can eat, only down side was no effort made in deserts for gluten free quests, price of the buffet was a bit pricey at 35 euro each however it did include certain alcoholic drinks, soft drinks and tea and coffee, so if you drink alcohol then the value is better I suppose but for ourselves who don't drink not such great value, however here's where it gets disappointing, the buffet was only available on a Monday, most disappointing when you turn up and the doors are closed this isn't clearly stated, then there was the 10 olive grill on floor 10, they had themed nights and a barbeque night during our stay, this was only on a notice in the lobby so maybe missed by some people, however we did see it and decided we would try the barbeque night on the Friday which was out last night so we thought it would be a good one to go out on, on the Wednesday when we came in I decided to asked the reception if we have to put our names down or just turn up, to which we where told OH NO YOU HAVE TO BOOK, ok can you put us down then please, OH NO SORRY IT FULLY BOOKED, no where on the notice in the lobby did it say you have to book, so very disappointing as the lack of communication, the only option that served every evening was the lobby bar, so not great choice, however we did find a great restaurant over the road called Punto, so went there most nights, also disappointing that we where not able to keep the room for a late checkout. We also didn't think certain people on the reception where not very friendly and welcoming, one older gentleman in particular didn't get his name but he didn't seem very approachable, All in all we did have a lovely stay but it was slightly let down by lack of communication and...

The size of the room was ok and it was nicely furnished. The WI-FI connection in the hotel was very reliable and fast. We have booked a room with a sea view, and the view from our floor (9th) was really nice. The location is OK, with OK BUS and Ferry connections (in comparison with St. Julians it's a more quiet part of the island). The main shopping centers are within the walking distance of the hotel, and there is a huge variety of restaurants and bars close by. The hotel advertises three pools. One of them is actually an indoor pool on the 10th floor (the air in the pool room is so hot, that it's impossible to use it). The second (new) one – Aqualuna - is right across from the hotel, it's nice and clean, but the only problem is, that the Hotel does not own it, so they have limited tickets available every day, and you have to get early in the morning on the hotel reception, to get in. The third one (MedAsia) is 15 minutes walking distance from the hotel, you can walk to it or take a hotel shuttle, but you can't bring any own food and drinks inside, as it's actually a private beach club. It's nicely equipped and clean. In both also people from other hotels are there. The AC in the room was actually working very well, but unfortunately, it seems they didn't clean the filters/system for a long time, so it was stinking almost every day.

The main problem was the cleanliness of the room (For example if you walk with the white socks in the room, they will get dirty immediately, as the carpet wasn't cleaned for a long time. Also, the sleeping blanket, under the linens looks terribly dirty (it has no zipper/buttons, so you see it every morning). Also, our balcony was full of cigarettes/ashes from the terrace every day, because our room was on the 9th floor, immediately under the terrace. This is also the reason that in case of events we could hear all movements, music ... from the terrace.) There are really simple plastic chairs and tables on the balcony, which do not suit the 4-star hotel. Besides the room and the lobby, other places in the hotel (hallways, lifts, gym …) were very hot. Especially the hotel restaurant, where the breakfast is served was so hot, that you were wet after the breakfast. The breakfast was very basic (real English breakfast, some fruit, salami, croissants …). The main problem was, that it was absolutely the same for 11 days. The breakfast really did not meet our expectations from the 4-star hotel. The hotel gym is there pretty much just as a word on the paper. It's really basically equipped and more than half of the machines are not working. The ceiling in the gym is so low, that you can hardly use the machines or do some exercises that include jumping. Also, all the equipment is really dirty with no disinfectants anywhere. One of the biggest disappointments was the hotel lobby, where we have ordered drinks and the bartender tried to cheat us for a few euros (Until he thought we will pay by cash he told us one amount, but when we decided to pay by card, he told us the lower/correct amount which was also in...

The Presidential Suite, as seen on the hotel website or on Booking.com, is provided for up to two people, but upon special request from us they would add two extra beds for the children to the final price of 1084 euros for four nights. I have to say that the employees were very kind and helpful in all our interactions. But what surprised me was the lack of information about the room from the reception at check in and I will explain why. After we checked in and were given our cards and a keyring with two keys, we were told which elevator to use to go to the 12th floor. After reaching the floor we followed a rather long route to the room. Our initial impression was disappointing as the bedroom veranda was on the inner courtyard and without much of a view, which for me is a problem as I always choose rooms with a view even if we pay more for them as I look for visual escapes. So, if you book a room at this particular hotel, make sure it doesn't have a view of the inner courtyard if you're like me. The living room had a tinted glass door that led out next to other elevators than the ones we had previously taken to the floor, as well as to a lovely large roof terrace with a great view of Valletta, which at first, we thought was communal. We soon found out for ourselves that the roof terrace is private to the suite and that the particular elevators on the 12th floor only served the suite using the key we were given as there were no buttons for the 12th floor. In any other hotel they would advertise these amenities but here they didn't tell us anything leaving us to find out for ourselves, if indeed we were to. I don't know about the rest of the hotel rooms but we really enjoyed ours as it was spacious, with two bathrooms, its own roof terrace with a great view and direct elevator access. Twice a day they brought us sweets equal to the number of people staying in the room. The room and all areas of the hotel were spotlessly clean. The only problem was that after our daily bath in the bedroom bathroom, it flooded as the tub was freestanding. The location is amazing, not only for the view, but also because it is in a very lively area with traffic and shops but without noise disturbance. It's also closes to the ferry we were taking to cross over to Valletta. I personally give it 5 stars even though I very rarely rate hotels that high, but my rating mainly concerns the suite, and not generally the stay in any other room. The breakfast didn't have much variety but it was good. The pool on the 10th floor is nothing special but we found it relaxing after a long day of walking as it closes at 9pm. Strangely one day its water was hot and the next day it wasn't. I highly recommend the hotel's...