REVIEW
Accommodation: Hotel 1926
Location: 6 Thornton Street, Sliema, Malta
ROOM TYPE
Superior Room
Research and Booking
Paul and I were trying to decide which area to stay in Malta. We wanted an area with several bars, restaurants and shops… within easy walking distance. Plus, we wanted easy access to do sightseeing around Malta.
While Valetta seemed like a great base… there were more accommodation options in Sliema that suited our needs.
We did consider Airbnb accommodation… yet compared to the hotel prices they seemed a little ridiculous! We’d say that’s because we were looking for somewhere to stay in the height of the European summer.
And after days of researching, we ended up booking Hotel 1926. We booked a Superior Double Room, and opted to pay extra for buffet breakfast.
In the end, the price for 7 nights at Hotel 1926 was 850.50 Euro.
NOTE: In Europe you may be asked to pay an eco tax on top of the accommodation price. This is 0.50 Euro per person, per night.
So all up, the total nett price was 857.50 Euro.
The Location
Hotel 1926 is on Thornton Street in Sliema. The hotel’s location is excellent… because within a few minutes walk we were at shops, supermarkets, bars, and restaurants.
Plus, it was easy access to the Sliema seafront, where there were amazing views of Malta. And they have a beach club within a few minutes walk, which is free for guests.
I’ll go into more detail about what’s around Hotel 1926 a bit later.
Check In
The check in process at Hotel 1926 was an interesting one.
When we arrived the reception area was busy.
And we saw that there were lots of small groups of people sitting in the lobby. So we assumed that they were waiting to check in as it wasn’t quite 3pm yet.
Then, when we went up to reception a staff member asked for a passport. She then mentioned a few of the amenities of the hotel, then gave my passport back.
But then, another staff member came over and she handed me a device to input my details… which included entering my passport information. Then after filling out several pieces of information… the staff member went through amenities of the hotel again.
Unfortunately because of her accent she was a little difficult to understand.
Then she said that our room wasn’t ready to check in yet, which was fair enough… as we were about 15 minutes before check in. So we waited with about a dozen other people in the lobby.
Photo of the lobby, it was packed when we were waiting.
Then, when we had a look at the time, it was 3:15pm. Yet, none of the staff came over to let us know that the room was ready.
As we were waiting, we noticed other people who had been waiting before us and even after us go to reception. Some of them had then gotten their luggage from the porter, and then went up the lifts to their room.
Waiting, Waiting And More Waiting
So at 3:30pm I went back up to reception and asked if our room was ready. She then asked for my name, and asked if I’d already paid for the room. Plus, she questioned if I’d paid the eco tax.
OMG, was she for real? I was beginning to think that she was going to make me go through the entire check in process again!
Then she checked her mobile device and said that the room wasn’t ready yet. She then said we could have a drink at the bar with our complimentary drink vouchers.
She must’ve seen the puzzled look on my face, as she asked if we had the vouchers. What a comedy of errors with this check in! So she gave us a couple of free drink vouchers to use at the bar.
The as I started to head back to my seat in the lobby, she said we could check in now.
Getting Access To Our Room
At Hotel 1926 there are no keys or swipe card. So to access the room they give you a code to punch in. Yet, as I didn’t know this, I was still standing at reception waiting for access to our room.
I asked her for details to get to our room, then she wrote down our room number on a business card. Then that was it… So I asked how we access the room and she looked puzzled, as though I was asking a stupid question!
She then wrote down the access code on the card as well.
Wow, this was the longest, most painful check in process ever! And what I found out later was that around 3:15pm, I got sent an email with the sender name: info(at)roosendaal.com.met
So when I first saw this I thought it was spam. But as I read the email it had our room number and key code in it so we could access our room. Wouldn’t it make sense that the email sender name includes the hotel name?!
What a comedy of errors! So all they had to do was let us know at reception that we would receive an email when our room was ready.
Hotel 1926 seriously need to fix up their check in process!
The Room
Once we walked into our room, here’s what we saw…
Then we had a better view of the bed…
Although the bed was small, it was firm and comfy.
However, the 2 big pillows that were on the bed were too firm, and not soft and fluffy enough for us. So, I had to find a corner of the pillow, and punch it a few times to try soften it a bit for my head!
There were also side tables with funky lamps on either side of the bed.
Behind sheer curtains and thick blackout curtains, were 2 sliding doors. And these opened up to a small balcony with 2 chairs, which came into great use.
Yet, the crazy thing was, once we closed one of the balcony sliding doors… the other sliding door wouldn’t shut properly and left a small gap!
So here were a couple of shots from our balcony…
So opposite the bed was a flat screen TV with not many interesting English channels. Yet, this didn’t bother us a great deal as we weren’t planning on staying in the room much.
Plus there was a big desk with chair…
Then beside that was a shelving unit with a coffee pod machine, coffee pods, tea as well as a mini fridge.
Then, next to that was a bigger shelving area with coat hangers. So this was open style with not doors. Not our preferred style of storage but it did the job.
For a smallish room, there were several power points, which were great. We’ve been in bigger hotel rooms, yet there might be say only 2 power outlets in the entire room!
There was also an ipad device with information about the hotel, amenities, and other helpful hints. Plus, we could also chat with the staff and friends in other rooms if we wanted.
There was also two 1 litre bottles of water, as well as a bottle of local red wine. Now, having been to many hotels… sometimes drinks are laid out around the room and then an unexpected charge appears on the bill!
So I made use of the chat service and discovered that these drinks and the wine were complimentary… NICE!
Generally, when using the chat service with reception they’d respond back within minutes.
Unfortunately there was brick mold on one side of the room. It smelt a little musty which wasn’t pleasant.
Yet, it wasn’t that bad we had to complain. But if we were going to stay for a longer period and spend more time in the hotel room… we would’ve asked to change rooms.
The Bathroom
So on our first glance of the bathroom it looked clean and bright…
We were surprised at how spacious the shower area was… with a big rain head shower and hand held. Plus, the water pressure was great too.
And the 2 bath towels were big and thick! There were also 2 bath robes and a 2 pairs of slippers.
Other amenities included a shower cap, vanity kit, and hair dryer. Plus, there was also a make up mirror, and liquid soap and shampoo.
Then we saw a small container of sea salt body scrub, which we weren’t expecting for a 4 star hotel. Yet, there were no toothbrushes or toothpaste.
Overall the hotel room and bathroom was clean and tidy. Yet, the moldy wall was a negative. And we discussed between ourselves… that they probably haven’t attended to it yet because it was peak season.
Unfortunately the noise coming from the air conditioner was loud. And it seemed like as we were getting to the end of our stay it got even louder!
We believe they were renovating the hotel during our stay. Thankfully we got a quiet room, and before we got to the hotel we had requested this. Yet, as we were waiting at the lifts a guest was complaining to us that her room was very noisy!
So make sure to ask for a quiet room if you’re concerned about noise.
And during our stay, the water wasn’t working… twice! The annoying thing was that no-one had let us know this was going to happen. So after a day out sightseeing in hot weather, we were looking forward to showers.
Yet, we had to wait until the water came back on.
It’s simple to let guests know about things like this, yet at Hotel 1926 it was poor that they didn’t do this.
WARNING!
If your room is on Level 11, which is the highest level… you’ll most likely get the best views. Yet, what we discovered was that there were no stairs that could be used to access the other floors.
Now, unless we were mistaken, we wouldn’t want to stay on the 11th Floor for our own safety!
To us, that was a fire hazard and we couldn’t believe that it would be allowed from a security perspective.
Dining At Hotel 1926 Sliema
This hotel has a restaurant called Margaux and a bar called Sunny’s Lounge. And while the restaurant served a la carte menus throughout the day… we only tried the breakfast there.
The Breakfast Buffet
The buffet breakfast was served in their restaurant called Margaux. As we went past the lobby area, past the bar, Margaux restaurant was around the corner.
On first glance it seemed like a small restaurant… yet as we wandered around the seating wrapped around the kitchen area. So even though it was busy with guests every day, there were enough seats for everyone.
There were standard tables and chair, as well as booth style set ups. There was a range of people at Hotel 1926, from families through to young couples.
The atmosphere in the restaurant mostly felt relaxed. While the buffet area wasn’t huge, the selection was surprisingly quite good.
The Food And Drinks At Hotel 1926 Breakfast Buffet
In one section of the buffet was water, sparkling water and get this… Prosecco! And this was unusual for us, so we had to indulge in some Prosecco at breakfast one day!
Unfortunately it wasn’t to our liking so after that we were happy for other guests to enjoy it.
There was also a daily smoothie and juices. The strawberry smoothie was tasty and I kept an eye out for it at our daily breakfasts.
WARNING:
On one morning, the entire restaurant was brought to silence. And what happened was a plate had smashed near the drinks area.
Be careful when you pick up the jugs to pour your drinks, because they can stick to the plate beneath them. Then unbeknowns the plate may drop from beneath the base of the jug and crash bang!
They should put a cloth napkin on the plate to avoid this from happening.
So next to the drinks were a range of dried fruits, nuts and yogurt. Plus, there were a variety of cakes, bread rolls, bread loaves, condiments and a toaster.
The breads were delicious and so was the butter. But we didn’t fill ourselves up on that because there was more to be had that we enjoyed more!
So around the corner from this section was fresh pieces of whole fruit.
And next to that were PASTIZZIS! Yum, yum, in our tum! They had the ricotta and pea pastizzis. Then next to that were some danishes and our favorite was the bocconcini, tomato and rocket salad.
The rocket was flavorsome and we would’ve had many plates full if they put our more… LOL!
There were several different types of cheeses, as well as cold meats. And next to all this was the hot food section. So here the foods included… tomatoes, baked beans, scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes.
We found the hot food average, but that was fine for us so we could stock up on the cheeses, salad and ricotta pastizzi.
In the end, the breakfast buffet at Hotel 1926 was fine. It sure did fill our bellies for the energy to sightsee.
And you could fill yourself up enough to not have lunch. But as we were on a mission to find the best pastizzis in Malta, we didn’t stuff ourselves silly.
Sunny’s Lounge – The Bar
We ended up using our free drink vouchers at the Hotel 1926 bar, which was called Sunny’s Lounge.
When we asked what was on offer, the waiter brought out a specific drinks menu. And on it was cocktails or Prosecco.
So we asked if we could have a beer instead, yet the complimentary drink was only for what was on the menu. That was a bummer!
Amenities At Hotel 1926 Sliema
On the ground floor of the hotel is a Spa, which is free for guests to use. Here the facilities included a sauna, aquatonic pool and specialist treatments. We didn’t try the Spa, yet if we did we were told that we must book in advance.
Then on the first floor is a small fitness centre, where there was a few machines and free weights. The great part was it was nice and cold in there, so working out was comfortable.
We were told about Hotel 1926’s Beach Club. Yet, what we didn’t realize was that it was not part of the hotel complex. So, to access it was a few minutes walk to the Sliema seafront.
And it was free to enter for hotel guests, with food and drinks to be paid on consumption. Plus, the public can use it too for a fee.
We went a couple of times to try it out, but the loungers were packed in like sardines! Plus, when we went there were none available.
Yet to us, that wasn’t appealing so we never tried it. However, if that doesn’t bother you we’d suggest getting there early so you can get some lounge chairs.
But they should consider setting aside an area for hotel guests only.
TIP:
We discovered that on Level 11 is an outdoor decking area, which has several loungers.
So a couple of times we took advantage of these to get some rays. And the views from here were fantastic!
Yet, we never stayed around for long as we didn’t want to risk getting stuck.
The Special Mention Amenity…
Now, this deserves a special mention… One “amenity” of the hotel that will stick in your memory of Hotel 1926 are the lifts… That’s because they are incredibly slow!
So we probably could’ve walked from our room on the 8th floor to the ground floor and back 2 times, and beat the lifts!
Plus, the lifts seem to have a mind of their own. For example, if we pressed the down button, sometimes the lift would take us up!
And apparently the staff lift wasn’t working. So they had to use the guest lifts, which made the wait painful.
But in the end, we did use the stairs several times… and we saw many others doing the same!
Around Hotel 1926 Sliema
So once we got ourselves oriented with Hotel 1926 and the surroundings… we realized that it was a great location.
And for those of you who know Melbourne in Australia, we would say Sliema has a similar feel to St Kilda.
So only a few minutes walk away is the waterfront… where there are picturesque views of the sea and other parts of Malta.
Plus, there is a promenade where you can comfortably walk or jog. And of course, if you don’t mind the rocky beach areas, there was plenty to choose from.
And the public transport in Malta is a great way to get around. Sure, you can take a taxi, but there are plenty of buses around.
Then we also saw some bicycles nearby that could be hired for another option to get around Sliema and Malta.
And there are many restaurants to choose from to enjoy a Cisk, international or local cuisine.
Yet, if you’re a wine lover, make sure you try the different varieties of Maltese wine as they are magnificent. Plus, they don’t export much of their wine so get it while you can!
And if you want to shop until you drop, there are many options in Sliema… From well-known brands to boutique shops.
We Drink Eat Travel Wifi Speed Test
The wifi speed at Hotel 1926 was inconsistent.
So the download speed we clocked up was generally between 3 mbps and 15 mbps. And the upload wifi speed was generally between 0.50 mbps and 29 mbps.
Would We Stay Again At Hotel 1926 Sliema?
Hotel 1926 Sliema had some faults during our stay. And that included:
- Annoying check in process
- Poor quality workmanship in some sections of the room
- A noisy air conditioner in our room, plus
- A section of the wall was moldy, and last but not least…
- The excruciating slow lifts with a mind of their own!
Yet, the staff were mostly helpful and friendly… including the cleaning and waiting staff.
And the room amenities were adequate… plus, the bathroom was bigger than we expected especially the shower area.
So the big positives are its convenient location… where access to the Sliema seafront, shops, bars, and restaurants, is within easy walking distance. Plus, with various forms of public transport close, it was easy to get around Malta and beyond.
And while the breakfast buffet may seem limited compared to other 4 star hotels… we enjoyed it.
So, while there were some “Fawlty Towers” type frustrations… we would stay at Hotel 1926.
So have you stayed at Hotel 1926 before? What was your experience like?
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Note: All of our reviews and comments are our opinions and no-one else’s. Even if we receive complimentary goods or services we share our opinions honestly.
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