Blubay Apartments by ST Hotels in Gzira

SCAM COMPANY!

I booked an apartment through Booking.com because the pictures and description looked great — good location, modern condition, and all the amenities advertised. Unfortunately, upon arrival, we realized we had been completely misled.

ST Hotels operates multiple buildings of very different quality, and it seems to be pure luck which one you end up in. In our case, we definitely lost that lottery and got what must be one of their worst apartments.

It was dirty, old, and in disrepair — an inhumanly hard bed, a damaged kitchen, no coffee machine as advertised, and a horrible smell of pipes mixed with harsh chemicals trying (and failing) to mask it.

During the two hours we spent at reception, we met other guests from different apartments complaining about the exact same issues. They were offered to move to a better building — but in our case, there was no availability, and we were basically expected to spend our holidays in those awful conditions.

After filing a complaint, we were informed we’d be refunded €870 out of the €1,000 we paid upfront — meaning we still lost money despite the nightmare experience.

This is unacceptable and extremely unfair. What ST Hotels advertises is not what you get, and it’s shocking that such misleading practices are allowed to continue. Avoid this company at all costs.

We went to Malta for a family holiday. We were very excited until we came to the apartments. First we had to wait because the rooms were not ready yet. After 1 hour we finnaly got our room number. We took a lift to our apartment and it was making weird noises and when u stepped inside it was like it would colapse. Then we got to our room and we were shocked. On the internet there were pictures of different apartments that they own not the actual pictures. So the apartment which we booked is supposed to be for three people but it is actually for two and they put one extra bed inside. Mind that the space is so small you can’t even move. The furniture is very old, and there is mold on the walls. The kitchen is very small, there is a table with only two chairs and we were three. The fridge was also not very practical since there were no doors on the freezer, so the whole fridge was freezed. The bathroom is also very small, the shower was moldy. So we were scamed since we thought we were getting the apartment shown in pictures.

We had cockroaches in our room, and they didn’t even want to move us to another one — they just gave us mosquito spray.
They also lied to Booking, saying the cockroaches came because we left the door open, when in fact they appeared due to poor maintenance of the bathroom.
The bed sheets were also dirty, and the fridge smelled like dog food.

Unfortunately, our stay was very disappointing.
• The WiFi did not work properly in the bedrooms.
• The soap dispenser in one bathroom was broken.
• The AC in both bedrooms didn’t work, and in one room the unit broke and leaked a lot of water.
• None of the doors (bathrooms or bedrooms) had locks, which was uncomfortable.
• Both bathrooms and the kitchen were dirty, and one of the bedroom drawers still had garbage inside.
• The beds in both bedrooms were very uncomfortable.
• Check-in was frustrating, as the receptionist made us wait a long time while he helped others before walking us to the apartment.

Overall, the apartment was not clean, poorly maintained, and did not meet expectations.

Unfortunately, this hotel is a scam. The room looked nothing like the advertised pictures (booked through Lastminute). The biggest offense was the 'double bed', just two hard, narrow and uncomfortable single beds pushed together. Also be prepared for noise pollution as you could hear everything outside the room and we were even woken by drilling within the hotel. This has made it difficult to relax properly with my partner.

Housekeeping was another frustration. While our room was cleaned daily, some towels were missing half the time and you had to wait up to an hour to get them back. Clearly they don’t keep spares they just wash and redistribute the same towels. Some towels also had rust stains (I hope that's what they were...).

The only positives were the hotel’s location and the spacious room but that’s about it.

In conclusion, do not fall for the misleading photos. Book elsewhere if you want an honest hotel. This experience soured parts of our time in Malta, especially after long days when we just wanted to unwind. Such deceptive practices deserve to be called out and penalized.

The location of the place is ideal as it sits right between Valletta (on your right) and St. Julian’s (on your left). The place itself is pretty spacious, clean although it’s a fairly old building. However, it’s really noisy in and around the building. You hear a lot of echoes from other rooms, people talking in the hallway, cleaners chitchatting in the corridors. For a day or two stay, it’s okay for the price but if you intend to have a relaxing vacation, I wouldn’t recommend this place.