Cavalieri Hotel

The Cavalieri Art Hotel in St Julian’s, Malta, is in a fantastic location, with beautiful views from the balcony. Our room was cleaned daily, with fresh towels provided, which was always lovely to come back to after a day of sightseeing. The bathroom had a great shower, and the bedroom was spacious with a large bed. Most of the staff were very friendly and helpful, and the room service was excellent. It was also really helpful to be able to store our suitcases on the last day.

There are certainly plenty of positives about this hotel, which makes it such a shame that we won’t be returning.

Unfortunately, there were several issues that affected our stay. When we first arrived, the room smelt strongly of disinfectant, which was far from pleasant. Over the course of the week, I also noticed that my clean, dry clothes, which were hanging up, started to feel damp.

The bed was rock hard, as were the pillows, and we didn’t have a single good night’s sleep as a result. A comfortable bed is absolutely essential for us when choosing a hotel, so this was a major disappointment.

The toilet in the bathroom was also grotty and looked dirty. Initially, I thought it hadn’t been cleaned properly, but I soon realised it was permanently stained and really needed replacing.

Breakfast was included, and there was a fairly extensive menu to choose from. However, the biggest problem was that all the so called hot food was cold every single day. In the end, I resorted to eating porridge, as that seemed to be the only thing served hot.

The air conditioning in our room was also poor. It was just about tolerable in the October heat, when temperatures were around 26°C, but I dread to think how uncomfortable it would be during the summer months.

Overall, the hotel has a fantastic location, lovely views and some excellent staff, but unfortunately, too many other aspects let it down. For us, a good night’s sleep, a clean and comfortable room, decent air conditioning and hot food at breakfast are important parts of a hotel stay. Sadly, these expectations weren’t met, which is why, despite the positives, we won’t be returning.

Stayed 4 nights half board, good location for sightseeing. Room could do with upgrading showing signs of wear /tear. Breakfast was acceptable however food was cold most days. Evening meal was terrible cheap cuts of meats over cooked chewy not much imagination went into setting menu. The salad bar was awful everything tasted the same seems like it was covered same flavoured oil or something? Also you had to pay for water which was strange one night I nearly choked and need water urgently. Pool area was acceptable towels included. Staff were acceptable although lot of them could not speak english which cause language barrier. Would not come back and if i did would not op for evening meal would rather eat out.

Lovely view from the balcony of Spinola Bay. The hotel was clean and the staff were friendly. It was very easy to catch a bus or get a taxi to visit different parts of the island. The check in process was very slow. We had to wait nearly 4 hours for our room to be ready even after emailing the hotel before arrival and being a member of the Radisson group. We were very disappointed that they couldn’t speed this up. The room we were allocated was large with a beautiful sea view. The bathroom was tiny. The door wouldn’t open fully and to access the toilet was extremely cramped. The bathroom door had started to rot due to water from the shower. The breakfast at the hotel was very good with a large choice. However the buffet dinner in the evening was not of the same standard. There was a choice of salad starters and pasta dishes, a soup (vegetable 3 times in a week) 2 meat dishes,1 fish dish with vegetables, a type of potatoes, rice, pasta and two or three vegetables. The problem was that at best the hot food was lukewarm warm. The plates were always cold. The same desserts were on a rotation each night with apple pie every evening and for breakfast. There was no cream or ice cream or custard to complement any of the desserts. It was just repetitive and needed improving. The chairs in the dining room were very noisy and scraped on the floor every time anyone moved slightly. This did not help to create a calm atmosphere. There were no chairs in reception to wait for taxis or a bench just outside. There is no lounge with comfy chairs or sofas to relax in just a bar. We had an enjoyable holiday for a cheap price. The hotel needs more upgrading and improvements before we would return.