We used the Mellieha Bay as a base for an activity holiday, with the aim of kick-starting our fitness goals for summer. For this, it couldn’t have been better. The hotel is situated at the far end of Mellieha, on Marfa ridge and has fabulous views over to Mellieha village on the opposite side of the bay.
There are endless opportunities for walking locally, with beautiful views at every turn. You could even walk to the ferry port and hop over to Gozo.
Public transport is plentiful and cheap – although, be warned, the bus to Valletta, the capital, takes 90 minutes.
Our room was perfectly acceptable, even though the bathroom was a tad tired, with poor water pressure. The view from our room though, was simply fabulous! All rooms face the sea so no worries on that score. The only thing to note, is that for the less mobile, it could be a long walk from dinner if you were in the far wing of the hotel.
The food was basic, verging on frugal. This worked for me as I was having a healthy holiday, but if you were looking to treat yourself, you would need to look elsewhere. If you can survive on salad and beans you’ll be fine. Lots of places to eat locally though, just ten minutes walk from the hotel.
We were all inclusive and wore a band. This was optional, with many people just on B&B. The beer was fine (Cisk) and the local wine was OK too. Not included in the AI were snacks from the bar which you could pay for if you wished (cakes, sandwiches, biscuits) although we didn’t try them.
We didn’t sample the entertainment, but it was there if you wanted it. Likewise daily classes such as stretch or pool games.
The hotel is not adult only and we would normally avoid, except that being out of school holidays we thought we would be OK. In fact, there were quite a number of kids running round.
WiFi was a bit patchy, but we could get it both in our room and in the bar. It was free.
Despite its drawbacks, we thought it was the perfect place to retreat to for a spring walking holiday. It was exceptionally good value (less than £400 each all inclusive including flights with Thomson) and we will do it again next year.
