More Traveller Reviews of Santa Maria Aparthotel
Tea, biscuits and bingo
from A TripAdvisor Member
If you enjoy a quieter holiday filled with brisk walks, afternoon tea and bingo, this one's for you. Set in the fishing village of St Paul's Bay, the Santa Maria is aimed at the older person, certainly not for young couples. Hotel accomodation is very basic. The rooms do occasionally smell of sewage, particularly when water is run. Walls are paper thin; you can hear the neighbours in the toilet and at 'the other'. The food is not for those with a more discerning palate. Entertainment was again aimed at the older generation; bingo and cabaret. Hotel also features 'Cardinals', the poorest excuse for a nightclub. Village is almost derelict, but only short bus ride from all of the best locations. Malta is a beautiful island when you venture out. If you enjoy the nightlife that extends beyond nine o clock you have to travel some distance (and expense) to St. Julians.Not for young couples!!!
Good clean but basic
from A TripAdvisor Member
Having stayed at Tigne Court on a previous visit to Malta, The Santa Maria was miles better. We found the staff to be very friendly, the food very good and with plenty of choice. Entertainment was variable and some days far better than others. Our teenage kids loved the disco and the snack bar served them very well throughout the day. All in pretty good, and we look forward to going back there in July 2006.
Cockroach Heven
from A TripAdvisor Member
Holiday was cheap.. that was the only plus!!The Hotel was dirty. Wife had to clean off toilets from previous guests. Ceiling fans close to useless. smells from the sewers coming in the rooms. Cockroaches in the rooms and running down corridors. Pool "Dangerous" .. sharp tiles ladder falling off. Sunbeds falling apart. Umbrellas ..One gust of windand watchout! Best thing to do if you can't cancel is to hire a jeep and go to golden bay.. get really drunk so sleeping at night will be easy. We asked for joining or rooms close to our kids.. nice one ..they put them in the next block. how helpful. showers / yeah but no hook to put shower head up. great if your not one armed!! Malta I liked.. This hotel is the pits.. ugly view. dirty. dont go if you can avoid it.. Really ..I am not joking!
Wouldn't stay here again
from CeciNick
Although this was by no means the worst hotel we've ever stayed in, it has a few problems, the biggest of which is the thinness of the walls. Every night we were woken by people passing down the corridor outside our room, and again in the morning it's impossible to sleep once people start moving around and talking in adjoining rooms. And once the cleaners start you can forget completely about being able to get any shut-eye. OK if you're going to be up and about early, but if like us you fancy a lie-in whilst you're on holiday, then the Santa Maria is not for you. We moved room after 2 nights, and found the noise to be just as bad in both rooms. The food is passable but not that good, however I must say that it never ever seemed to be re-heated - I can't understand why anyone would think that. Our room was cleaned every day - a cleaner seemed to be permanently stationed in the corridor, so again I find it difficult to believe that anyone went several days without their room being done. Decor is certainly not modern - don't believe any brochures that say it is. In our first room the ceiling fan was dangling, and both rooms could have done with decorating including the bathrooms, although the the bath / sink / shower were adequate, and both our beds were comfortable. Staff attitude varied between very helpful and quite surly. Overall, this is clearly a case of "you get what you pay for" - don't fall for any marketing blurb about "modern furnishings" or "luxurious decor" since it's clearly not the case. And as I said to start with, the walls are so thin that I guarantee you will be woken up by either the cleaners or inconsiderate guests rolling back to their rooms at 1 or 2 in the morning having had a few Cisks and ignoring the fact that from all bedrooms you can hear EVERYTHING. Oh - and our opinion of the island was that there's too much traffic and too many people, certainly on the east side of the island where the population is concentrated. The 40 minute bus journey from Bugibba to Valetta (itself well worth a walk around) is almost entirely an urban journey, not what we imagined. Our advice would be that there are better places in Europe to visit than Malta, but if you are determined to come here, don't stay in the Santa Maria unless you can't afford anything better.
Oh Dear Oh Dear
from A TripAdvisor Member
Just spent Xmas and New year 2005 in the Santa Maria. Faulty Towers springs to mind. Didn't expect to use the outdoor pool because the weather wasn't warm enough, but trying to use the indoor pool is a joke. Everybody was in there trying to keep warm i think and chat each other up. There are no changing rooms in the indoor pool area at all as there are signs telling you not to come into the hall way wet. So ask a buddy to hold your towel for you and hope nobody sees you. The "library" is not free of charge (50c). When booking make sure your room is accessible by lift as we had to climb 67 stairs for the whole 2 weeks. We booked the hotel for a party of 3, the room was only made out for 2 people so straight away we were moaning. As for "central heating", it was a plug in heater that made so much noise we couldn't hear ourselves think. "Satellite TV", yeah if you understand German, Italian and Maltese. The only station we were able to watch in English was BBC world news. Last, but i'm sure not least, be aware of the saying 'pound', it completely throws you. Not much for the kids to do. My 14 year old spent most of her time on the computers at Santa Marias sister hotel across the road. Loved the island as a whole but won't be staying at the hotel again. Public transport is great though, for a few cents you can travel from one end of the island to the other.
We are going back!!!!
from A TripAdvisor Member
We stayed there in May 2005, it was our 5th visit to Malta and wanted to stay in the St Pauls/Bugibba area as we like it round there. it has changed over the years but we are going to go back again this year (2006). The hotel wasnt to bad, have satyed in worse 3 star hotels, we found that there was a good selection of food, somedays not as good as others but overall edible and we had no need to look for food elsewhere. We went out each evening to visit our maltese friends so dont know what the entertainment was like but most folk we talked to said it was pretty good and as the Hotel accross the road is part of the same complex there was a bit of a choice, also there is a hotel at the back of the hotel going towards the sea front which had some good entertainment on which you could go to. I swam with the Dolphins at the Mediterreano Waterpark for my 40th birthday and what better place to swim with them than in my most favourite country, Malta, there was a slight cock up as to what time they were picking us up etc, but we got there eventually and it was an experience I will never forget, I still wear the flip flops and use the free towel you get as part of the price to swim with the dolphins. Please if you get a chance hire a car, it is so much fun driving around Malta and getting the ferry over to Gozo is well worht a trip, you can drive around the island in less than a day, but there is plenty to see and do. So, Malta and Santa Maria Hotel we will be back, the staff there were lovely and helepful and yes the room arent 5* but you pay for what you get and if you want a comfortable hotel, fairly decent food, this is the hotel for you. Oh and dont forget you cat lovers, save youe leftovers for the pussy cats, the Hotel had its own which sat outside every day to see what you would bring him. Saying all this I love malta so wont say anything to abd about the place, I just wich I could win the lottery and live out there. See you in May 2006!!!!!
Santa Maria-=Don't believe all you read
from royover
Cant understand some of these reviews. Just spent two weeks at this hotel and have no complaints whatsoever.Room was cleaned every day, towels changed everyday and bed linen 3 times per week. All inclusive package was excellent with a great choice of food, none which appeared to be re-cycled.Staff were very friendly and helpful. What i did find was greedy holidaymakers who spoiled lots of food and were generally unpleasent to staff and appeared to enjoy complaining. Some of these people should remember civillity and manners cost nothing.I would have no hesitation in booking a holiday at the Santa Maria again.
crappity crap crap
from MikeLeek
Booked a couple of weeks before we went, Me, Jayne, bethany 9 and Alex 8. our first ever holiday together. Arrived at the airport and were expected to find coach number 17 from a row of coaches without any numbers on them. Got to the hotel in good time (the only part of the holiday to resemble the brochures claims) we arrived at 0015hrs, no drink or food available. By the time we checked in (should have been quicker but the receptionist insisted on answering the phone every few seconds). by the time we got to the bar it was shut. the only option was a vending machine across the road but this was broken and was not repaired during our stay, neither was the public phone in the hotel reception. The room looked clean and just like the brochure but the smell of drains? was overpowering and never faded throughout our stay. The ceiling fan was in a position that meant nobody actually got any benefi from it. we had to push the beds into the middle of the room to get any effect. There was a safe on the wall but no key (added extra even though the brochure said it was included). The fridge was missing and the furnished balcony consisted of 2 chairs and a small table. Not bad for a family of four. i would have asked for another room but ours seemed to be quite good compared to others we looked at. i had to pay for a fridge in the end but it took nearly 12 hours to be delivered and a further 12 hours to cool down. it would fit exactly 2 x 2ltr bottles of water in it. the pool had no shallow area as advertised but only a paddling pool. we were forced to walk across the road to another hotel and use their pool. poolside food was even more disgustiing than the restraunt and half eaten food was left everywhere including in the pool. the childrens arcade area was a death trap, seriously, keep your kids out of it. i had to pull a huge motorbike machine off a small boy who had been playing it sensibly but it was freestanding and toppled onto him. fortunately it did no serious damage apart from to my back. The reps are only interested in selling trips, renting cars, exchanging money, they are not interested in helping you resolve problems. The resort is no better. you have to go to Buggiba to see any decent bars or eating places. St Pauls Bay is littered with rubbish, dead animals and human faeces. There was no one I spoke to who actually had a good word to say. It is now nearly 2 months since is visited and my anger and frustration has not abated. The memory of this holiday will remain for ages yet. Avoid this hotel and resort like the plague especially if you are on a family holiday.
Nice break away, but wouldn't go again..
from A TripAdvisor Member
Went to Malta on a last minute deal. We knew we were going to the Santa Maria Hotel, but didn't expect to hear so many complaints about the place, and then experience them ourselves. At the travel agents we asked for a quiet room, over looking the pool. But did we get it?? Answer is eventually! We arrived early hours of the morning, and went to our room (429) to find that we had a visitor (a cockroach). The room was dirty, and the fan was hanging off, and was actually frightening to leave it on! We then asked to change rooms the next morning, as we never had any of the things we asked for at the travel agents. They wanted us to pay 10 Lira to change, and we said no more money. After the manager was informed we moved to room 432, which was better, that over looked the pool, and was very quiet at night. The bathroom was still grubby, but the fan was much better- actually attached to the ceiling! The food was rubbish. No choice really, and I got sick of eating "Roast of the day". By the time you got to dessert the ice cream was melted, and as for "fruit salad" I can clearly say it wasn't, call it "Melon". One night I saw an ant on the slices, and never had anymore. Some of the food looked as if it had been re-heated from the previous day, and cant say it was the best I’ve tasted. The pool was OK, rather small, but when we went it was rather quiet. The pool bar food was horrible too. I had a burger one afternoon, with a stale bun. The entertainment wasn't to my liking, and we never stayed at either hotel’s for it. We often went over to the hotel allocated behind the Santa Maria. Didn't really have any problems with the staff during our stay, apart from the rep that didn't have a clue what he was doing, and was very arrogant. Did some trips around Malta, which were good, but you feel very rushed. Swam with the dolphins at the Mediterraneo Park, definitely don’t miss out on this opportunity, and if you want to swim with sea-lions go to Salou, at Aquapolis water park. Overall, I can say that "we have stayed in some nice hotels, and some bad ones, but this one is the worst, and we would never go back to it." But it was a nice break away! Took some photos for you to look at..
Dont Listen to the Bad Reviews on Here!
from A TripAdvisor Member
Hello. Me and my girlfriend stayed at the santa maria between Sep 17th - Oct 2nd 2005 and we had a great time! Food is good, drinks are good and the staff are a bit moody but wouldnt you be when you are working with 300 people on holiday enjoying themselves. the room was very clean but the bathroom was a little shabby. the is a very cool fan to cool you down after a nice day tanning. if all inclusive you can drink in a couple of bar/pubs. entertainment is reasonable but Joe Carr is cool and the karaoke night is a good laugh. every day your room is cleaned DONT READ THAT PEOPLE NEVER HAD THERE ROOM CLEANED, IT IS LIES! if drinking outside the bar you have to have a plastic cup which is far enough with kids running around. it is a non smoking country so you cant smoke in the hotel pubs but there are smoking rooms or you can go outside. All in all this hotel is nice anyone who says anything different is just one of lifes moaners.
This hotel was absolutely horrible, in our room the bathroom looked liked it had never been cleaned there was dirt around the bath. There was always a pungent smell when you walked in there. The shower only had hot and cold water, what I mean is you couldn't get luke warm... more