Stayed at the IC for a week, for a relaxing and enjoyable stay in the resort of St Julians. Without a doubt, the main stay of this property are the staff, who are a credit to the IHG brand and really fly the flag for excellent hospitality. From check in with Joao Soares, through to all the staff in the restaurant (too many to personally mention) and the housekeeping guys who keep the hotel clean and spotless.

Our room was comfortable with a king bed, one issue I would highlight is the colour combination of the rooms and corridors makes your stay a little dour as the colours used are shades of grey, not having too much light in the rooms means it is quite dark. The hotel, as stated is kept spotless by the housekeeping staff, albeit that the hotel is looking a little tired on the outside and in the corridors with peeling paint outside and frayed carpets in the corridors.

The room was comfortable with a relaxing bed and sofas in the room, however, for my personal perspective the hotel is too hot. There is no individual temperature control in the rooms, which for a hotel of this standing is extremely surprising. When the issue was raised with the front desk, I was advised that the heating does not go off until April when the cooling will be instigated and the heating turned off. The heating/cooling system for the hotel and rooms is a common system and you can only have varying settings of “hot” until the cooling is in service in April, then varying settings of “cold”. The front desk tried to ease the situation by changing the room for one where the heating had not been in service and a room that was larger, also providing a fan. Throughout our stay we had the patio door open and the fan on to try and keep the room temperature at a comfortable level. For some people, the temperature may not be an issue, however, personally I would have appreciated individual HV controls.

The breakfast was exceptional and really you could not fault the selection offered, again the staff were exceptional and after a couple of days knew you by name and your preferences.

The hotel is in a great position for restaurants and within a ten-minute walk to the nearest bus stop for buses to most of the island. There is also a HSBC ATM across the road from the hotel that does not charge to get cash, if required.

As with most of Malta, the hotel area is extremely built up being surrounded by fast food eateries, bars, clubs and other hotels, however, you hear no noise or disturbance in the property. You are a five-minute walk from the small bay and beach, where you can sit and take in the sea air while admiring the many cranes as they go about their construction work.

If you like your room hot you will really enjoy your stay at the IC Malta, the staff will go out of their way to make your stay memorable, however, if you like a balanced room ambience beware.