“Our Second Trip To The Grand Hotel Excelsior - Still Good BUT Not Quite As Good As Last Year...”
We had such a nice time at this hotel on our holiday there at the same time last year that we decided to go back there for our honeymoon this year. I had informed the hotel in advance that it was going to be our honeymoon, but sadly there was no "happy honeymoon" welcome for us.
When we arrived at the hotel last year, we were greeted by a refreshing glass of fruit juice & a cold face cloth, which were both very welcome indeed. This year we didn't get any of these offered to us, so we presumed that maybe this was because of cutbacks until we saw other guests being offered both of these services when checking in during the rest of our stay. This made us both dissapointed that this wasn't offered to us.
I have to say though that the staff were as helpful as ever, particularly the reception and concierge staff. The only part of the service that isn't great is the speed of the food and drink service, particularly at breakfast for tea and coffee. However, this has improved since last year when the service was a LOT slower.
The nightly buffets in the Admirals Landing restuarant are well worth a visit, as the food is excellent, and plentiful. The Indian buffet on a Tuesday night is particularly good. The TIKI bar is also worth a visit for good food, partiucularly on a Wednesday night.
Whilst we were there I "celebrated" my 40th birthday, and again there was no "happy birthday" greeting even though my husband had previously informed th hotel, this would have been a nice touch.
Area recommendations
The Malta Experience is interesting, although personally I thought it was not long enough. The North & South bus trips are very good value, and I would recommend these, along with the complimentary harbour cruise. In Valletta the St John's Co-Cathedral is worth a visit, just leave plenty of time to have a look around and remember that it is closed on Saturday afternoons and Sunday (in Malta there is not much open on a Sunday). If you have the time, the day trip to Sicily from Valletta is excellent as you go up to Mount Etna. if you want to visit a couple of good restaurants I would particularly recomend Gianinis and Lo Squero which both serve excellent food at reasonable prices. The Maltese wine is also very good value.
