Malta is a nice place, not the sort of place I'd go to year in year out like some of the people we met there, but it is pleasant non the less.. The whole island is like one great big history lesson, with friendly people and a temperate climate what more could one want???
Well for a start, a decent apartment wouldn't have gone amiss. We arrived late last Saturday night and we were horrified. We stayed at the Medallion Court in Bugibba. It is owned by the Howard Johnson corporation and is run by the management of their hotel across the road, The Mediterranea. With the HJ Corp being in charge, and the nice brochure pictures, we thought that we were in for a lovely apartment. How very wrong we were..
Advertised as a recently renovated property in the brochure, I doubt that this place has seen anything more than a paintbrush and a bit of silicone sealant in the last decade. The fridge didn't work, was rusty, and made a horrendous noise, it took 3 days and 2 complaints to get a new one. The TV didn't work, it was changed the same day but despite requests for a remote control, we never got one.......The telly wouldn't work without one.
There was an electric ring missing from the cooker and the door for the grill compartment had no handle, that was missing too. The front door had no handle on the inside and it stuck terribly. It was a real ordeal trying to open it to get out.
The water tank was rusty and the plughole in the bath was rusty and filthy. It took 25 mins for 11cms of water to drain down the plughole (yes...... we timed it!!!) The plughole must have been so full of muck.... The toilet seat fell off twice whilst I was sitting on it. The grout inbetween the floor and wall tiles was filthy, many of the tiles were cracked. The bathroom sink leaked (the hotel maintenence actually fixed this).
There was dirt on the floor in the corners of the bedroom and bathroom. Cobwebs in the bedroom, bathroom and above the cooker and fridge. What looked like flattened down chewing gum on our living room floor. The paint was peeling from some of the walls. Down the side of the cooker was so disgustingly dirty that we couldn't bear to look at it, and never dared cook anything. Removing the pillow cases found stained, yellow pillows. Luckily the matresses were clean. I itched every time I went into the apartment. We had no balcony as we were on the ground floor. Our windows opened onto the street so we had to keep the curtains closed all the time, as people kept looking in. The mosquito net on one of the windows was loose and we had to stick it down with elastoplast. To cap it all, it was like a damn cockroach sanctuary first thing in the mornings. Sparks had to keep moving them because they freak me out.......
The pool area was just as bad. Most of the sunbeds were broken and the sunbed matresses dirty. There were fag ends everywhere and we wouldn't dare swim in the pool. The hotel staff couldn't give a toss and were totally indifferent to our complaints. It took 4 days for us to meet our rep from Belleair (the holiday company). Everytime she'd arranged to meet us, she didn't turn up. We finally got hold of another Belleair rep and lodged our complaints and all she said was "there's nothing I can do."
All in all, not a pleasant experience. I can honestly say that of all the hotels and apartments I've stayed in around the world. This was by far the worst. Definitely not 3 star standard as advertised, I have seen better youth hostels.
Needless to say that we are writing to the management of the hotel, Belleair Holidays, The HJ Corporation and ABTA. Our driver last night also said that we should let Althams travel know so that they don't send anyone else there. I have loads of photographic evidence of this pit and will be sharing it with a few travel websites..
I must dash now though, because I do have a few letters to write.
Well for a start, a decent apartment wouldn't have gone amiss. We arrived late last Saturday night and we were horrified. We stayed at the Medallion Court in Bugibba. It is owned by the Howard Johnson corporation and is run by the management of their hotel across the road, The Mediterranea. With the HJ Corp being in charge, and the nice brochure pictures, we thought that we were in for a lovely apartment. How very wrong we were..
Advertised as a recently renovated property in the brochure, I doubt that this place has seen anything more than a paintbrush and a bit of silicone sealant in the last decade. The fridge didn't work, was rusty, and made a horrendous noise, it took 3 days and 2 complaints to get a new one. The TV didn't work, it was changed the same day but despite requests for a remote control, we never got one.......The telly wouldn't work without one.
There was an electric ring missing from the cooker and the door for the grill compartment had no handle, that was missing too. The front door had no handle on the inside and it stuck terribly. It was a real ordeal trying to open it to get out.
The water tank was rusty and the plughole in the bath was rusty and filthy. It took 25 mins for 11cms of water to drain down the plughole (yes...... we timed it!!!) The plughole must have been so full of muck.... The toilet seat fell off twice whilst I was sitting on it. The grout inbetween the floor and wall tiles was filthy, many of the tiles were cracked. The bathroom sink leaked (the hotel maintenence actually fixed this).
There was dirt on the floor in the corners of the bedroom and bathroom. Cobwebs in the bedroom, bathroom and above the cooker and fridge. What looked like flattened down chewing gum on our living room floor. The paint was peeling from some of the walls. Down the side of the cooker was so disgustingly dirty that we couldn't bear to look at it, and never dared cook anything. Removing the pillow cases found stained, yellow pillows. Luckily the matresses were clean. I itched every time I went into the apartment. We had no balcony as we were on the ground floor. Our windows opened onto the street so we had to keep the curtains closed all the time, as people kept looking in. The mosquito net on one of the windows was loose and we had to stick it down with elastoplast. To cap it all, it was like a damn cockroach sanctuary first thing in the mornings. Sparks had to keep moving them because they freak me out.......
The pool area was just as bad. Most of the sunbeds were broken and the sunbed matresses dirty. There were fag ends everywhere and we wouldn't dare swim in the pool. The hotel staff couldn't give a toss and were totally indifferent to our complaints. It took 4 days for us to meet our rep from Belleair (the holiday company). Everytime she'd arranged to meet us, she didn't turn up. We finally got hold of another Belleair rep and lodged our complaints and all she said was "there's nothing I can do."
All in all, not a pleasant experience. I can honestly say that of all the hotels and apartments I've stayed in around the world. This was by far the worst. Definitely not 3 star standard as advertised, I have seen better youth hostels.
Needless to say that we are writing to the management of the hotel, Belleair Holidays, The HJ Corporation and ABTA. Our driver last night also said that we should let Althams travel know so that they don't send anyone else there. I have loads of photographic evidence of this pit and will be sharing it with a few travel websites..
I must dash now though, because I do have a few letters to write.
