Fortina Hotel

Excellent holiday. Arrived early Saturday afternoon, Apr 14, to find a slight problem with the room, 620.
I had booked a deluxe room with sea view; the sea view was looking over the top of another wing of the hotel and the only way my wife could see the sea was by standing on a chair.
I immediately took the matter up with reception and to their credit, arranged for me to view a deluxe room, 827, two floors higher and from there the view (of the open sea and not the bay) was excellent.
The room was a very good size with two queen size beds, settee, TV, mini bar etc and a reasonable size bathroom. From then on the holiday exceeded our expectations.
We only had the use of the buffet restaurant but the food was of a good to excellent quality and plenty of it.
All the bars were in use but the garden outside bar was closed when it was windy but the most important bar, sun deck bar which had the wonderful view across the bay to Valletta, was open apart from out last day, Apr 21, when the weather was very cloudy and not so hot.
Throughout our stay we had the free Thalasso therapy treatment which was not only an enjoyable experience but help by wife's general aches and pains. We also found the staff in the dining room and throughout the hotel very friendly and helpful.
During the week we did hear a number of people complaining about the size of their rooms and not getting the rooms they had booked, so I would recommend anybody thinking of going to this hotel that they are clear on what rooms they are booking and the size of the room.

For a family holiday, I found Hotel Fortina an excellent resort.
We were lucky to receive a room at the front of the hotel in the corner on the top floor and the views were brilliant.
The temperature was of course quite warm, which provided us with great sunbathing opportunities by the hotel's pools.
As we were all-inclusive too, this meant that we did not have to carry money about when desiring drinks etc from the bar.
The hotel also provides an excellent base if wanting to travel around Malta, as it is near locations such as the city.
I would recommend coming here for a fabulous holiday.

Well this was our 5th visit to the Hotel Fortina and our last! The hotel has really gone down in my estimation.
The lack of staff is obvious and so you have to wait longer for a clean table, the food was actually better this year as they have a new head chef and cheese is back on the menu! You cannot not eat from all the restaurants anymore, without a surcharge.
However, it is the cleanliness of the hotel that I found appalling this year. The rooms were never cleaned properly and although we always get upgraded to the Tower, even those rooms are slowly getting shabby.
The handle on the shower kept falling off, the seals on the windows were falling off, and they never cleaned the jacuzzi or the balcony the whole week. The mini bar was neglected several days. There is a definite split now between the 5* and the 4*.
The 4* needs a really good clean up the public toilets were a disgrace. The coffee machine in the bar downstairs was absolutely disgusting and I really mean that, if you saw what I saw you would not drink from it, it constantly leaked and when they cleaned it out (after asking them to) it had loads of flees under the bottom.
The gym is good but the area where the treadmills are is a joke. For the past 4 years there have only been 2 out of the 4 treadmills working.
When we first went to the Fortina it was spotlessly clean and faultless. They have definitely let themselves get too involved with their new project (The Tower) and forgotten about the 4* side of the hotel.

We have taken many All Inc 4* holidays over the last few years and I must say that this one was easily the poorest. Firstly the 'superior sea view' room was in fact a 'rabbit hutch' of a room and was extremely tired and the on suite was so small that we had no where to even put our tooth brushes. I understand that some of the more luxury ones had a shelf. After a few nights sleeping we were woken every morning by the construction Lorries passing the hotel at about 6 am.
We had a word with our rep and she managed to change our room to one at the rear of the hotel. This was much quieter and yes the rumors were true this on suite had a shelf.
Yes we did do the hard sell timeshare presentation and were given a tour of the 5* tower etc. 5* this was not. As one of the other reviewers mentioned, the quality of finish was poor and the concept of mixing 5* and 4* in the same hotel just does not work.
As an 4* All Inc guest supplements were charged in some of the restaurants and in one everything had to paid for except for the house wine.
If you missed a meal time then that was tuff and there was no where to get any snacks.
However later on in the week we heard on the guest grape vine that there might be the odd cheese roll available behind the bar if you could manage to get the eastern European staff to under stand that you did not want a new type of ‘Sheese Rool’ cocktail.
Talking of drinks the management had obtained an amazing line in small glasses which meant that if you ordered a beer it was served in a quarter pint glass. So if you decided to drink, say four pints in an evening you would have to visit the bar and incredible 16 times as you were only allowed one drink at a time on presentation of you AI card. The cocktails were not much better but slightly taller and thinner. So if you enjoy drinking out of an over grown test tube then this bar is for you.
Will we be going again? I do not think so.

All in all I was pretty disappointed with the Fortina Hotel.
We arrived at 3am to discover that there were no Deluxe rooms left, so we were put in room 110 which is described in an earlier review as the smallest hotel room the reviewer had ever seen including a Travel Lodge. I would agree. In fact the last Travel Lodge I stayed in had a room about twice the size of this one. In defense of the Fortina, the reception did sort this problem out quite well. They said it was too late to do anything at the time, but if we reported it to reception the next morning they would sort it out. They moved us into the correct accommodation and also allowed us to stay an extra 12 hours in the room when we left. We would have had to vacate the room 12 hours before our flight otherwise.
I found the different board options very confusing. There are a total of 8 different packages of food, drink and facilities and these are not related to which type of room you are in. If you make the slightest mistake, you can expect a withering look of contempt from a member of staff and no helpful advice whatsoever.
I found in general that apart from a few exceptions the staff were pretty rude and unhelpful. The worst example being when a poor old lady tried to help herself to some potatoes in La Vallette and the Chef (who was responsible for serving 8 different dishes at once) shouted at her "I dish out the potatoes!".
The food in La Vallette was good and there was a wide range of options. As a previous reviewer mentioned, we also sometimes experienced difficulties finding a clean table. I was less impressed with the other restaurants we tried (Pizza, Indian, Chinese, Brasserie). On the 4 star all inclusive option you only get a choice of 3 dishes for each course. Before we went I was under the impression that our all inclusive was all inclusive for all of the restaurants. The food was OK in the other restaurants, but nothing really stood out.
The all inclusive beer and wine options were fine. However some of the spirits and cocktails were pretty ropey. Any cocktail that contained Blue Curacao or Grenadine only tasted of that. We also had a glass of Baileys substitute which tasted of Bubblegum! We were told that there would be snacks available at the bar during the morning and afternoon, but this turned out to mean there may be a bowl of peanuts on the bar if you're lucky.
We were told that there were 5 bars in the hotel. I suppose this is true, but one was only available to 5 star residents and of the others, 2 were open during the day until about 6pm, then the staff from these bars closed them and opened one of the other 2. So there were only 2 open at any one time. The entertainment in the cocktail bar was OK, however we had the same guy singing exactly the same 2 hour set 3 nights out of the 6 we were there. It wasn't even that good the first time. We did get a guy who had sung in the 2006 Eurovision song contest called Keith Camilleri on the last night who was particularly good.
We also mistakenly went on the 5 star room tour. The room and spa tour was interesting, but not worth the 3 hour time share sale pitch we had to go through. We had to sit and listen to ludicrous pronouncements like "Flights are certain to carry on going down in price for the next 38 years" and "It will have paid for itself in 5 years". The way they do their calculations is laughable. I have a degree in Math, but I couldn't be bothered to tell them that. When it came to the end and we weren't interested they resorted to aggressive playground style insults. I was told "You must have made a lot of mistakes in your life" and "Are you incapable of making any decisions on your own". They reminded me of the 2 guys who sell suits on the "Fast Show".
I would not recommend anyone to go here as I know people who have had much better similarly priced all inclusive experiences elsewhere and if you like sight seeing, Malta is probably a bit small and you can see pretty much everything in about 3 days.

If you can get a room with a harbour view, this is unbeatable in Malta. The trouble is that when you arrive on a late flight they stick you in any room (like 529) that they cannot sell otherwise, and tell you that the hotel is full and they can't change until tomorrow. If you arrive in daytime you can usually get this sorted by the manager, but if you wait until tomorrow you will lose a lot of holiday time.
The food is good, but with less choice compared to last year. The Italian restaurant is not worth considering, and we could not get a booking in the new Vietnamese restaurant. The Japanese Hibiki restaurant advertises supplements of Lm4.99m for Table D'hote to Lm7.99 to A La Varte. When you sit down you are given a folder with two set menus and an a la carte selection, but you find out afterwards that there is no Table d'hote and no matter what you eat you pay the higher surcharge. To me, that's dishonest - why specify a surcharge for a menu that doesn't exist. The standard of Japanese food was in my opinion poor (but I am comparing it to Kiku's in San Francisco).
All in all, though we have enjoyed the Fortina in the past we won't go back, They are undoubtedly running down the older block in favour of the new five-star block (which is closer to the building works on Tigne Point that seem to go on forever, fours years so far). The flights from local airports all arrive after midnight and I can't put up with the hassle any longer.

I have to say that the standard rooms are really small and run down and in need of renovation, they should be condemned. They are certainly not 4 star grading and should be downgraded to 2/3 star.
You find such diverse opinions of this hotel which seem to be 1/10 for the 4 star Fortina and anything for 1/10 to 10/10 for the 5 star Fortina Spa with the newer superior rooms. A lot of people seem to get upset when they find that some people staying in the hotel have paid half what you have paid by booking last minute. This is one of the facts of life, book early and you pay more, but at least you are sure of your booking at the time of your choice.
I felt that the food was only average and needed improving. Spa treatments were very expensive. You should go to the Caribbean to see how All Inclusive worked properly, it is very poor at this hotel. This hotel has a flash website but does not live up to the quality which they try and portray. Staff are not very helpful and views are appalling from rooms.

I had some reservations about this hotel, I had booked and then started to check out the reviews.
I have to say we had a most enjoyable holiday from the initial booking with Going Places in Northwich to picking up the tickets at Manchester Airport all flights were on time and transfer to the hotel went without a hitch.
I can understand the concerns of people who write the reviews, and will agree with some of the comments. That said we stayed in the 4* part of the hotel, we upgraded from a Deluxe sea view room to a Deluxe Jacuzzi suite, which whilst a little expensive was well worth the difference. I had a quick peep at the deluxe sea view rooms and they were a little small with a lovely view though but well worth upgrading if you can.
Overall the service was good, the staff helpful and the amenities good.
People seem to mention the lifts not working, trying to get a booking for one of the other restaurants other than the buffet restaurant; you need to book 48 hours notice in advance, which was a little disappointing when you really fancied something different. A word of advice the reception closes for bookings at around 6.00 pm but like us worth trying to get in direct with the restaurant we managed it with the Chinese restaurant, which was very good as was the Indian.
The buffet restaurant served a good cold and hot buffet, which towards the end of the week the cold buffet, could have been a little more exciting but there is only so much you can do with cold meats and fish to be fair.
Overall I would say that the lifts play up a little, the juice in the buffet restaurant is a little weak but for £650.00 all in what can you expect. The entertainment was varied, more sedate in the garden areas and a lively bit out front.
Go with an open mind and just enjoy. The 5* hotel and rooms are lovely but you still share the buffet restaurant and others with the 4* clients, when you have paid a lot to stay at the 5* you may not be happy to have to queue sometimes in the buffet restaurant and wait 48 hours to book another restaurant.
Just outside the 5* is a new hotel being built there is a little noise, not much to spoil your enjoyment but just something to consider, not a pretty view from the hotel but I think most rooms really looked out over the garden.
Would I go again I think I would but I am not the kind of person who likes to go back year after year to the same place and I think Silema is under construction in a big way.
So for now I will look back with nice thoughts of the Fortina and wait until Malta catches up a little with other countries not that I want the commercialisation of Benidorm but it really could do with a little upgrade on the general area.

Last year my mother and I stayed in the Preluna hotel for six weeks to escape the British winter and enjoyed it so much that we decided to return to Malta this year. However, we decided to stay at the Fortina on an all inclusive basis, despite it costing twice as much as the Preluna's half board price, as we had been told the food was excellent, it had wonderful views of Valletta and assumed it would be quieter not being on the main road.
Our troubles started as soon as we arrived in Malta as Mercury Direct arranged for a car, rather than a minibus, to take us and another couple to the hotel and we had to squeeze into it with all our luggage. Then when we arrived at the hotel, at 2am, we were shocked to see the size of our room and that we had been given a double instead of a twin room. Reception soon put me in a twin room on the 4th floor but the beds were so uncomfortable, and the bathroom dirty, that I couldn't stay in there for more than one night.
In the morning we went out on the tiny balcony of the 1st room and were met by the sight of a half filled skip and then went to reception to see about a room change. We told them that we were unhappy with our room and asked about an upgrade, as mentioned in the brochure, but they said it would cost us another £700 to go from a Standard to a Superior room. We raised this later with the Mercury rep, who was less than useless, and she said that upgrades were only "where available". We finally accepted a Standard room on the 1st floor, 110, which must be the smallest room we have stayed in, including a Travelodge, it measured 4.19m (13'9") by 2.74m (9')(They must be ashamed of these rooms as they do not sell them direct but only through tour operators). I had questioned Mercury before I went about the size of the rooms but unfortunately never got a straight answer from them.
Everything in the room was in proportion to it. The beds were only fit for children, 0.76m (30") wide, but even then the tatty sheets were not big enough to be tucked in properly and most mornings we woke up lying on the bare mattresses. The shower room only measured 1.24m (49") by 1.83m (72") and the shower cabinet was so small that many times I changed the mixer taps while bending down in it. The largest towel they provided was little more than a hand towel at 1.22m (48").
Also, we got little peace and quiet in the room as most mornings we got awoken about 6.30am by the workmen going to the building site next door and at night we had to put up with the noise of people coming and going from the bar and restaurants along the corridor until the early hours.
As for the food, most of the time we ate in La Vallette and the food ranged from excellent to so so. However, we were put off by seeing a COCKROACH climbing the wall of the restaurant one night and another one trodden on by a diner on our last night. We had one meal in the Italian/Pizza restaurant which was awful, 3 meals in the Indian which were lovely and 4 meals in the Chinese/Thai which ranged from good to poor especially when the fried rice came out in one gooey lump. We did not eat in the Brasserie as we couldn't find out what the residents menu was going to be before booking it nor Habiki (Japanese) or Taste (Fine dining) as we weren't prepared to pay the extra £13.50 or £15.50 a head to try something that didn't appeal to us.
Finally, with the very poor weather we suffered in January (more than double the average rainfall), we very much doubt we will ever return to Malta.

I agree with most of the previous reviews, except the ones about people complaining for the sake of it. Most people, like myself, invest a lot of time and care planning their holiday and are very disappointed when accommodation and facilities are not as promised.
Our "Deluxe Garden view room" was on floor six so the view was of the roof of the opposite building. The tower block does indeed put all these rooms in constant shade making them very dark all day. The rooms are also looking tired and in need of updating, our key card stopped working and we had to go to reception to ask to be let in by key by the duty manager each time until the door could be fixed. The main restaurant was understaffed leading to dishes not being cleared between courses and people waiting for a clear table. The other restaurants were indeed superb as other reviewers have said. You needed to reserve a table but were limited to how far ahead you could book.
Most upsetting for us was the invitation to "look around the tower rooms and a tour of the restaurant facilities" on our first day, at the Rep's meeting I might add, only to find it was a timeshare hard sell!
It seems that there is a huge difference between the standard of 4 and 5 star rooms but both have to use the same public areas. Nothing to make an official complaint about but not a place I would like to visit again.