Grand Hotel Excelsior

We’ve been returning to the Grand Hotel Excelsior Malta for many years, and the warm, friendly staff continue to be one of the main reasons we come back. Breakfast is excellent, with great variety and quality, and the beds are consistently comfortable. The location is superb — just a short walk into Valletta — and the hotel offers a mini‑bus for those who prefer not to walk. During this stay, however, our room (131) had a damp smell, which was disappointing. The hotel itself is beginning to look tired and would benefit from a much‑needed facelift to restore its former charm. The lifts can be quite busy at peak times, and the lack of an on‑site hairdresser is noticeable compared to similar hotels. Overall, still a pleasant stay thanks to the staff and location, but the hotel would greatly benefit from refurbishment.

A fantastic base for exploring Malta We had a great family stay at the Grand Hotel Excelsior. The hotel's biggest strengths are its superb location, excellent staff, spacious rooms, lovely pool area and direct access to the sea – something that's very rare in Valletta. The location is hard to beat. It's just a five-minute walk into Valletta's beautiful old town, with its history, restaurants, bars and incredible harbour views. If you're visiting in July, expect frequent local festivals, concerts and spectacular fireworks across the island. The hotel itself feels grand but is definitely showing its age. The décor, furniture and bathrooms are very much 1990s, although everything was spotlessly clean and housekeeping was excellent. We understand a refurbishment is planned, which should make a huge difference. A tip for families: if you book an interconnecting family room, they're all on the ground floor, so don't expect the famous harbour views. Ours overlooked the gardens, but the room was large, comfortable and had an excellent terrace. We were offered a move later in the week but were perfectly happy to stay where we were. Breakfast offered plenty of choice, although the pastries and some of the breakfast meats didn't quite feel up to five-star standard. The pool was excellent, with plenty of loungers, pool towels included and attentive staff throughout the day. The hotel's private sea access was another real highlight, with crystal-clear water perfect for a swim. Every member of staff we encountered was friendly, professional and helpful. The shuttle bus into Valletta is also a nice touch, especially during the summer heat, and the air conditioning coped brilliantly even when temperatures topped 40°C. Overall, while the hotel could certainly benefit from its planned refurbishment, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. If you're looking for a comfortable luxury hotel in the best location for exploring Valletta and Malta, it's an excellent choice. We'd happily stay again.

We recently stayed for a short honeymoon break and the hotel was 5 star all the way from arrival to departure. A very special mention to guest relations for making our stay perfect they went above and beyond we will be back. Great hotel, great location, fantastic facilities nothing was too much and Valletta WOW Amazing thank you Rich and Sasha.

Grand Hotel Excelsior (GHE) is a spacious hotel and a good base from which to see Valletta and the rest of Malta. It was also very close to where Katy Perry performed as part of Isle of MTV. Our fourth visit to GHE was a relaxing week in a 'Deluxe Sea Front with Terrace' room (815) with amazing views of Marsamxett Harbour and Manoel Island - not cheap but worth it - space to sunbathe, dine and watch the activity on the water. The staff are outstanding and we are grateful for attentive housekeeping, lovely buffet breakfasts (they manage the dozens of diners very well), helpful room service (when we were too tired to dress for dinner) and the taxi desk (thanks Joseph) dealing with airport transfers, a trip to Farsons Experience and a dinner date in Strait Street. The complimentary 'GHE to Valletta' shuttle was great on the super hot days when the walk up the hill was too much - one shuttle spotted us walking back to GHE on one scorching afternoon and he pulled up to give us a lift home! We used the gym each morning and my wife had a daily circuit of the pool. The 'couples' massage at the spa and dining at Admirals Landing and the Spice Island buffet are all recommended. The table service at the Harbour View bar was poor occasionally but that was easily remedied by strolling to the bar. The smoothies at Bougainvillea were refreshing but the food offer was limited and the terrace could do with more shade. We used our Tallinja cards for bus trips to the Blue Grotto and The Malta Classic Car Collection. Thankfully GHE avoided the power cuts that caused chaos in neighbouring Valletta. GHE plans a major refurbishment next year and we wish them good luck with that challenging project - we do hope that they can keep the splendid workforce together. We hope to visit the new GHE in 2028 on visit number five!

Perfect location to explore Valletta. Room dated but clean. Most staff amiable and helpful. Downsides, the usual towels left on sunbeds but what was surprising was the pool attendant reserving beds for people and allowing food to be served and consumed by people whilst they are in the pool. Definitely not 5 star