Luna Holiday Complex

Before going into this review, it may help to give some context about us. I (38, female) and my fiancé (42, male) were the guests. We are non smokers, not party goers and seeking a quiet, couples holiday. Our only previous travel experience is visiting a small Greek island and staying with friends in their simple, self catering apartments. We are also very careful, respectful and conscientious people.

What can I say about the Luna Holiday Complex - it's a nice little hotel. The biggest shout out by far to the bar and restaurant staff. They were lovely. Lama and Aansila in particular were so friendly, and chatted away to us throughout the stay. Food on site was also very good quality; the chef knew how to put together good food.

It's clean and tidy, with fresh bedding and towels every other day. Pools were a lot smaller than we anticipated and I think they are being over generous with the maximum capacity of each pool (the indoor/ground floor claiming 40 people and the rooftop/outdoor pool claiming 60-ish). Our room's balcony was set back in a very covered area, so received a substantial amount of shade and didn't overlook much.

On two occasions we lost electricity briefly. On the first occasion, we had to call reception and they arranged for Maintenance to attend the room, who arrived promptly and reset the key card box on the wall. The second occasion was later the same day, and we couldn't reach reception, however they have a WhatsApp chat that we were able to use (we at the time expected the same issue as earlier in the day). Electricity was restored before they replied, but they were good to get back in touch within the hour of sending a message.

My only gripes were the lack of working lifts. This meant we had to wait for some time on several occasions for the one working lift which was tight with 4 people in it, or take the stairs (which is fine for the one or two trips but not when you have your luggage with you or need to more frequent trips, especially when your on the 3rd floor, 3rd block). The other gripe was the shock we had at reception when checking in. We'd paid the entire holiday costs upfront and it did not occur to us to travel with our cards. This is the first ever package holiday we've booked and only travelled with euros/cash, so when we went to book in and was asked for a card for a deposit, we panicked. One lady at reception simply said we needed a card but when you're literally thousands of miles across the oceans from home, what do you expect us to do? A gentleman said they could manually input my card details which fortunately I have memorised, and had given both card number and expiry, in the midst of giving my security code when what I believe was the hotel manager said she could allow us to pay the security deposit in cash (which we did), but not without a little berating - I can only hope my card data has been scrubbed from their system! Now I accept she wouldn't know that we have never booked a package holiday before, but this was not something we were advised of ahead of our travel either by the Luna Holiday Complex or EasyJet, so there was no need for the "telling off". We are always sensible enough to over budget for worst case scenarios when we travel and had plenty of excess cash on us! The deposit was successfully returned upon leaving, but we then received an invoice for the value of the room tax (which we'd already paid upon arrival in cash) and I can only assume this was for our records as I have no intention of paying it again!

In terms of it's location, I would say be careful how it's portrayed online. We were expecting Mellieha Bay (aka Ghadira Bay) to have a lot more to offer but in reality, you would need to hire a car, use taxis or buses to get around as Mellieha town is up a steep, winding hill, which we walked and it was hard going in the heat. That didn't have much to offer either and what was nearby at the bay level was limited. However I would say it's worth visiting none the less as it does have some beautiful buildings in the main town and the church is quite a sight to see up close. Expect to see what looks like a construction site at times - huge cranes, dirty, stained apartment blocks, close buildings (giving a lack of privacy - the adult rooftop pool literally overlooks what we believed were residents homes), derelict or shell-like structures and scaffolding. Of course, none of this is under the hotel's control but it's worth knowing what you're likely to find upon arrival.

Recommendations: • Westerme (for lunch or dinner - excellent quality food and lovely views) • Luna Holiday Complex (for breakfast, lunch or dinner - all round good value for money, wide variety, accomodating and tasty) • Nora's Kitchen Lounge (for dinner - would recommend booking a table for outdoor seating as gets busy and indoors is "cosy") • Ooh Yeah (for the 3 Island Boat Trip, covering Malta, Isle of Gozo and Camino Island - exceptional value for money and extremely well organised - definitely add on the bus tour of Isle of Gozo) • Download the Bolt app ahead of arrival (be prepared you'll need a card to use this - it's effectively their version of Uber) • Costa Del Sole (for a beach day - excellent bed price with 10% off purchases at the bar when you've paid for the your beds. Pleasant atmosphere, good music variety, roped off sea area for safety, nearby lifeguard tower and wonderful staff and food) • Villager by Munchies - was so peaceful sitting and having a coffee in the morning on the lido, and their evening meal offering was superior to anything else we'd had. We wish we'd ventured there earlier in the break to allow us time to return!

One thing we would say is that we didn't see much of the traditional Maltese cuisine anywhere, so either they lean very much on the Mediterranean/Italian vibe or they just don't have one, so I would say expect to find average meals on most menus.

We had a really lovely stay here all the staff and facilities were excellent. Especially Persica who made our holiday. She is an asset to them and goes the extra mile every time. Thank you xx