Grand Hotel Excelsior

Mixed Experience: Great Amenities, but major service and billing issues** **The Good:** This is a great spot with a nice pool and a cute little beach. The rooms are spacious, clean, and feature a great shower and a balcony. If your children are happy just spending time by the pool, the amenities are perfectly fine. **The Bad:** * **Arrival & Staffing:** Our experience started on a low note when the airport taxi we booked through the hotel failed to show up. Because of the delay, we arrived very late. Throughout our stay, the staff seemed consistently overworked. For example, during breakfast (which had a decent selection but was just "okay"), staff members were actively packing up and preparing to clean before the breakfast hours had even ended. * **Dining:** We ate dinner at the hotel twice. The first night in the main restaurant was mediocre with very little atmosphere. The second night at the self-service buffet was a disaster—the food actually turned my stomach, and the burger bun my daughter ordered was burnt completely black. We ended up walking out. At €42 per head, it was outrageous. I was promised a call from the manager regarding this, but never received one. **The Ugly (Check-out Disaster):** Check-out was incredibly frustrating due to billing discrepancies regarding room charges (taxi, tea/coffee, etc.). * When I went to clear the bill in the morning, reception refused to walk over to the taxi desk to resolve a mistake, forcing me to do it myself. * Even after the taxi desk promised to fix it, the bill was *still* wrong when we officially checked out. * Reception made me walk back to the taxi desk a second time, after which I had to wait in a long queue all over again. * To make matters worse, the receptionist then claimed the bill was correct and had actually *added* another charge. It wasn't until my partner demanded to speak with the manager that the issue was finally rectified. Final Verdict** **FYI: Check your bill closely because mistakes are definitely made here!** Aside from the pool, this property is not particularly family-oriented. I would not return.

This hotel is in an excellent location for exploring Valletta old town . Although an extremely large hotel we had a lovely room which was very quiet and had a sea view . It was slightly dated but extremely clean and housekeeping did service it twice a day . Breakfast was excellent as were the breakfast staff . The shuttle taxi to the top of the hill was the only disappointment for a one minute ride it’s quicker walking as one evening it we waited and the driver didn’t show after 10 mins . Would recommend staying at this hotel .

We stayed here a week ago. The exterior of the hotel does not do the rest of it justice. We had a room on tne 3rd floor, no noise from other guests, however there were functions outside on 2 nights which were noisier, although finished around 10.30pm. We stayed B & B, we found the breakfast selection excellent, with plenty of choice and excellent service. The shuttle bus was a great way of avoiding the steps or the hill up to the town, although I think we missed it more times than we caught it! The rooms were a good size, comfortable and clean. The evening turn down service tidied the room and refreshed supplies. Overall, a very enjoyable stay.

Just enjoyed a wonderful 4 night stay at the Excelsior and was impressed from start to finish. It felt like 5 star service from the moment we walked through the hotel doors and were welcomed cheerfully and even given a nice refreshing welcome drink to enjoy while we checked in. We arrived around noon and rooms aren't ready until 3pm so they securely stored our suitcases for us and informed us we were free to use the hotel facilities straight away. Every single staff member was so friendly and couldn't do enough for you. I didn't find the hotel particularly "dated" at all as some others have commented, it certainly isn't modern but I actually loved the character of its classic style and even found our room lovely. The beds and duvets were so comfortable and luxurious, there was a safe that was free to use, 2 complimentary bottles of water were given everyday, hotel bathrobe and slippers and there was very good daily housekeeping and turn down service in the evening. We were on the 9th floor and it was very quiet and the 3 elevators were swift so we never had any issues with waiting around for elevators or found them overcrowded or anything. The only food we had at the hotel was the breakfast buffet which was fine and we were thankful that they were able to bring my son Gluten Free bread and muffins as this is something we were worried about. It wasn't insanely busy even between 9-10 am like others had stated so again there is no need to worry about what time you get there. The pool area and private beach were all gorgeous, plenty of sun loungers and the drinks around the pool were lovely. My one and only minor negative is that there weren't sockets by the bedside tables in the rooms and of course as others have said it is quite an uphill walk to Valletta for around 7 minutes which was a killer at times in the heat especially the stairs out of the hotel so if you have poor mobility then this probably isn't the best hotel for you. The hotel does run a little mini bus every 20 minutes up the hill but it only seats 7 or so people so it's usually full. We did download the local taxi app called 'Bolt' which is pretty much like Uber and we could order a taxi very quickly and easily on that (or the hotel can order a taxi for you) and they would arrive within a couple of minutes so we did that a few times to go to the Valletta waterfront. I would definitely return to this lovely 5* hotel.

My wife and I have just stayed in a Premier room on the 7th floor with a large balcony which had a table and 4 chairs and also 2 sun loungers. The room was large with 2 easy chairs and large desk with to dining chairs. The bathroom was adequate with bath, separate shower, toilet and wash basin, even weighing scales. We were celebrating our Golden Wedding and when we entered the room there were towels made into 2 swans on the bed, also after we had been in the room and short time there was a know on the door with room service providing a free bottle of Maltese sparkling wine. We had breakfast every morning which was a great selection of various foods, including a cooking station for poached or fried eggs or omelettes all cooked to order. We are in the buffet restaurant 3 evenings and again there was plenty of food to choose from. The hotel runs a free shuttle service up to Valetta but this stops at 7.30pm and it is advisable to book it in advance if you wish to use it to return to the hotel. I used both the indoor and outdoor pools which were clean and nice to use. All the staff that we dealt with were very helpful and friendly.