Grand Hotel

We have just returned from a truly wonderful time at The Grand! It far surpassed my expectations! Beautiful hotel, stunning views of the harbour and pretty church. Short walk to the pretty, bustling harbour. Getting the Gozo ferry line is super straightforward. They run every 20 mins all day and night and it’s very cheap. Very clean room and comfortable big bed. Stunning infinity pool overlooking the harbour. Big screen outside on the grand terrace to the front of the hotel streaming all the football matches (which made our son very happy). Do not be put off by other reviews commenting on the building work. There is no building work going on through the summer! It’s a very peaceful hotel. It looks as though the one side of the hotel is closed completely and has been undergoing renovations (to what look like a very high standard). This is the only reason why I think this hotel is such incredible value currently. If you are in two minds, I would snap this gem up now because I think when the whole hotel is finished it will be truly remarkable and they will up their prices to reflect this. The food is of an excellent standard! Full dinner service with set menu if you book half board and rooftop BBQ on three nights (all included) which is a very classy affair actually, not what we expected at all! Superb value for money! The Michelin star recommended restaurant of floor 9 is just wonderful. It’s clear the head chef is very passionate about all the food served throughout the hotel. We witnessed him collecting baskets of fresh herbs which are all grown on site. But the best thing about this hotel is the staff. They are all so friendly, hardworking and welcoming. Nothing is too much trouble. A special thank you to Daniellla and the team who could not do enough for us. This is a truly charming hotel in a prime location. Definitely visit Victoria (15 mins away on the 301 public air conditioned bus, bus stop a short walk away) and see the Citadel there. Also, get the Fast Ferry direct from the harbour to Valletta. Don’t be put off by people saying it made them seasick. I suffer with terrible travel sickness and whilst I was very nervous taking it, I was perfectly fine! It’s only 40 mins. There’s a light buffeting, but I found this more relaxing than anything. Valletta has a very romantic Venetian charm. You should get a gondola from there over to the Three Cities for just 3 euros per person. It’s only 10 mins away. Tip: Don’t bother waiting for the lift to get down to the sea (1 euro), take the stairs to the left (if you are fairly fit it’s not too taxing). The Blue Lagoon is definitely worth visiting too! Honestly, we were a bit nervous booking this hotel as we are used to staying in 5 star hotels in Madeira but we had a truly special break!

This is a review for the spa situated within the Grand hotel. This afternoon my friend and myself booked the afternoon package of a full body massage and facial with lunch. We had the most relaxing and beautiful visit. Mariana treated us so kindly and performed the most amazing treatments. We both left feeling relaxed and refreshed and looking forward to revisiting.

First of all I’d like to say the staff are excellent and do their very best working in a poor hotel and are put in a terrible situation, our house maid was lovely and did her very best, they really do try to make your visit a good one, but unfortunately can only do so much. The view is beautiful over looking the harbour, make sure you get the sea view as any other on the opposite side is just concrete jungle and definitely not very pretty to look at. So the hotel is going through some major building work, it looks like they have bought the next door property and are trying to join the two, or just upgrading one side, large parts are not available to the guests. Everything seems half finished or half completed, ceiling tiles missing, painting still going on, floor tiles loose with large gaps between them, things just not working at all. We arrived and I saw a remote control in the bathroom which didn’t seem to do anything, so I asked! They said it was the control to operate the blind between the bedroom/bathroom, so you can enjoy the view while showering. I said well there’s cut wires hanging down so I don’t think it’s connected properly, so maintenance turned out and just tucked the live wires behind the ceiling tiles and said it’s safe now!
The TV was a waste of time, you either get sound and no picture, picture with the sound 10 seconds behind or just neither. Building works starts at 8am, and it’s loud, continues all day, grinding and drilling. The drainage smell in some areas is bad, and I mean bad, it just hits you without warning. WiFi is ok if you don’t move out of your room, but does not cover the whole hotel. The two Main Gold lifts have a mind of their own, one was out of service for 5 days and both when working just stop on random floors. Breakfast is good for a few days but you soon get bored of the same thing every day. On arrival you have to pay a hotel tax (fair enough) for our 10 night stay, but then as we checked out we got told that the tax went up on the 1nd July from 50 cents to €1.50 a night so had to pay three times the original price, surely you should pay the price on arrival and if it alters during your stay then that’s down to the hotel and not out of your pocket, plus they don’t show you any confirmation that it’s gone up, you just have to say ok and cough up because your taxi is waiting outside. So would I go to Gozo again? Absolutely yes, beautiful island away from the hustle and bustle of Malta, would I stay in the same hotel next time? Absolutely not, I’m sure there’s much better cheaper hotels than the so called Grand. PS definitely hire some mode of transport because it’s very hard in the legs, we got a scooter to zoom around on, cheap and lots of fun to visit the whole island.