Solana Hotel – Mellieha – Malta

The Solana Hotel is modern, attractive & scrupulously clean. We stayed in a two bedroom apartment on a timeshare exchange, but you can rent the same apartment as a package holiday. The apartment facilities were first class.

The views from our apartment were limited & I could not imagine any room having a true sea view due to the location on the main street half a mile above the bay area. Some rooms looked out onto rather claustrophobic internal areas – I would not have been happy with one of those.

The staff had not made up our bed as a double, which I requested by email & had confirmed. The day after we arrived, the maid did so, but used the same single sheets across the “double” bed in a rather “apple pie” manner. This wasn’Â’t sorted until halfway through the holiday. The daily maid service was very good in all other respects.

There is a sizable indoor pool in the basement. It is excellent, with it’s own jacuzzi, showers, change & leisure area. The adjoining exercise room seemed to have enough machines to keep any fitness enthusiast happy.The bar & relaxation areas in reception are very pleasant. There was some entertainment; –usually a singer with electric accompaniment –but we only saw this in passing.

We didn’Â’t eat in the hotel, only because we had a car & were always out for dinner. The facilities in the apartment were more than sufficient to prepare breakfast; –you donÂ’t go on holiday to cook the Christmas dinner!

The Solana Hotel is well placed if you want to be on the high street with shops & restaurants all around. It has a good roof pool & a nice area around the pool to relax. The area is broken into different levels with low walls, so you can be quite private & it enables you to get out of any wind.

The views from the roof down to the church & beyond to the sea are good & the rest of the vista is interesting, consisting mainly of views over the rooftops & into the streets. If you have difficulties sleeping, I would suggest you donÂ’t ask for a room at the front as the narrow main street can be noisy, especially as it is on a slope which forces traffic to rev up. The pool bar was closed during our visit.

The Solana & it’s sister the Pergola have acquired a reputation on reviews/forums for overbooking & switching guests. Unfortunately, this happened to guests booked for the Pergola in our week, who were switched to the Solana.

I would say this is an excellent hotel, with some limitations as above. If you donÂ’t mind the views & like a town centre location, it could suit you very well.