My family enjoyed a lovely stay at the Hyatt Regency Malta and found the accommodations and amenities superb for our long weekend in Malta.
Hyatt Regency Malta Review
The Hyatt opened during the height of the pandemic in October 2020; a difficult start for a full service hotel on an island that derives about 12% of its GDP from tourism. But these days the hotel is bustling with guests and the only reason I got rooms here at the last minute was due to Hyatt’s “Guaranteed Availability” for Globalists. At 255EUR/night, the rate was not cheap, but also pretty reasonable, especially considering we received an (odd) suite upgrade.
I’ve stayed at the Hilton and InterContinental hotels in the past, both not far from this property, but was happy to see a Hyatt-branded hotel now available on Malta. Built around a 1920’s Augustinian priory, the hotel is modern in design and even smells brand new, but is flanked by a monastery.
Check-In
The hotel design is a bit quirky. Rather that being dropped off at the front door, you will be dropped off at the property’s edge on the nearest street, Triq Santu Wistin. From there, you must walk across the courtyard to enter the lobby.
The lobby was bright and spacious, with a large seating area.
We arrived late and I checked in, where an agent noted I had been upgraded to an oceanview room on a high floor. I asked about a suite upgrade and told the there were both suites and junior suites available and was offered either one. I chose the suite, but then he told me that he would show me both rooms because they were very similar.
The suite was not really a suite (no separate bedroom and living room). It was a large room, but it was on the second floor and did not have any view. Next, we checked out the junior suite which was just as large, also laid out a bit oddly, but had a nice terrace with a partial ocean view. We chose that room.
Tip: Both The “Junior Suite” and “Regency Suite” rooms are the same size, 38 square meters. The only true suite is 55-square-meter “Ambassador Suite.”
This sheet listed Regency amenities:
Guest Room (Junior Suite)
Our room, 716, had a huge entryway that added quite a bit of square footage to the room, but was otherwise useless space.
Around the corner from the entryway was the room, which included a room with bed, couch, and desk. The bathroom was large, though it contained only a walk-in shower, not tub. The bathroom featured Acqua di Parma bath amenities in single-use bottles.
The view from the balcony was quite nice.
As I mentioned when talking about my time in Malta, it was extremely windy during our time there and that created a wind tunnel effect on our 7th floor room: the howling from the wind all night long the first night was horrible. I am not sure if this was a design defect or simply particularly bad wind (because it was not as bad the second night, even though it remained windy), but it was not plesant.
Our suite also had a mini refrigerator stocked with water and juice (complimentary) and a Nespresso coffee machine.
Dining
Seed
Seed is the hotel’s main restaurant and open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner each night. The breakfast spread was great…the superb breakfast buffet along with freshly-squeezed orange juice and barista-made coffee was a highlight of my stay. As a Globalist, breakfast was included for every registered guest and included the buffet plus an a la carte menu (below).`
Buffet highlights included ripe stone fruit…so nice to have plums and peaches that were sweet.
Seed is also open for lunch and dinner, but breakfast was frankly enough in trying to keep my three-year-old seated whilst eating when so many people were walking by her and the buffet was within sight.
Breakfast runs from 6:30 am to 10:30 am on weekdays and until 11:00 am on weekends. Lunch runs from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm and dinner runs from 6:30 pm to 10:00 pm (10:30 pm on weekends).
Heidi and I try to fast till midday each day, which was not possible here unless we wanted to skip breakfast, but we did push breakfast to 10:45 am the first morning, which was probably too late. The buffet is not promptly dismantled at 11:00 am, but it is gradually dismantled and that made me feel a bit rushed, even though I mostly ordered off the a la carte menu anyway.
Thyme
Thyme offers a light menu of food, a full bar with cocktails, and barista-made coffee or tea.
it is open daily from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm.
GIN-ger
The rooftop bar and restaurant offers Asian-themed cuisine and is open daily from 10:00 am to “late” during the summer and till “sunset” from October to May.
Grab-And-Go
Next to Thyme is a grab-and-go area with snacks and soft drinks available 24/7.
Room Service
We arrived late from Zurich on Air Malta and Heidi and Augustine were hungry. Since it was pushing 10:00 pm, we ordered dinner via room service then went swimming downstairs while we waited for it.
I did not eat (I ate on the flight), but Heidi reported the fish of the day (seabass) was very moist and Augustine enjoyed his pasta with chicken.
Pools
Both and indoor and outdoor pool are available and I loved that the indoor pool was open 24/7. Not that we were swimming at 3:00 am, but we did swim rather late and the indoor pool was also very warm. The whole swimming area felt like being in a sauna, but my kids loved it.
My three-year-old daughter has not yet learned how to swim, but loves to jump and cling on to me. One great thing about this pool was a shelf along the edge in which the water was less than a foot deep.That made it possible for my daughter to walk around.
There is also a rooftop outdoor pool, which we found much more crowded.
Spa
A full-service spa is available on the lower level adjacent to the pool. Massage treatments and facials are available and all guests have access to the sauna and ice room (a room that, it seems to me, could easily be turned into a steam room but is currently just used to house ice).
Fitness Center
A 24/7 fitness center, also next to the spa and indoor pool, offers TechnoGym equipment.
Regency Club Lounge
The hotel opened without a Regency Club, but has since opened one. It was a bit quirky both in terms of its location and its style, but we did appreciate it as a place to stop by for drink or light bites when hungry.
You take the elevator to the lower level and then walk past the spa, pool, and fitness center (turn right). Next, you walk through the hotel conference facilities.
Finally, you will walk down a hallway all the way to the end, where the Regency Club can be accessed with your (qualified) room key.
The lounge is two rooms and I never saw a staff member there over the three days we were there. Not even once. That’s not a complaint because it was easy enough to fetch my own drinks, but I did find it a bit strange.
There’s also an outdoor seating area.
From 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm an “hors d’oeuvres” spread was laid out and also beer, wine, and cocktails were available. Selections included snacks in individual portions like smoked salmon, potato puffs, sliced meat and cheese, and hummus with vegetable crudités.
Beer, wine, and sprits are complimentary during this two-hour window.
Service
Very friendly service at this hotel from everyone we encountered. The front desk staff was very kind in offering suggestions for our sightseeing and even remembering my name. One of the baristas in Seed remembered by drink preference (double shot flat white) and brought it over automatically the second morning. I greatly appreciate that level of service, esepsacilly when the hotel was on the full side.
CONCLUSION
We had a great stay at the Hyatt Regency Malta and I would certainly return. My past stays at the InterContinental and Hilton are perhaps too old to compare, but I appreciated how well this hotel took care of my family and despite the weird wind tunnel effect, I quite enjoyed it.
They call that a “suite”? Haha!
€255 for an elite guarantee room isn’t bad at all. Did you find Malta to be very expensive?
No, Malta was quite reasonable.
Hey Matt, question for you as a new parent. How do you do sleeping arrangements with the kids in one room? Do you use couch and rollaway? Do you prefer a suite with 1 king versus 2 queens? Just curious as its something I am trying to prepare for this next stage once the little ones are a bit older. Thanks!
We prefer two beds, but will always take a suite with one bed over a single room with two. Despite the rollaway bed, the kids preferred to sleep on the couch…go figure.
The only gotcha with this hotel is the neighborhood. St Julians is, in my experience, a cess pool of young clubbers out til 5am, so dont expect to walk around and enjoy yourself (unless you’re a young clubber who wants to be out at 5am!)
This is very true, though the hotel itself is insulated.
Thanks for the review. Malta has been a consideration for me for a while and this hotel specifically.
I’m visiting this hotel (and Istanbul) in a couple of weeks, largely due to this review. Just wanted to provide a real-life example of how your writing really does influence others in a positive fashion. Thanks.
Thank you, Christian!
Do you look at air bnb now the kids are getting bigger? For our six month trip last year we got so much more bang for our buck with air bnb. Living rooms, two bedrooms, better locations etc. kitchens to avoid eating out all the time. For eg in Dubrovnik we had a beautiful two bedder right in the heart of town for the same price as a king room in a hotel.
We did AirBnb and Spain, but as long as I am on the status hamster wheel (and love breakfast), Hyatt is hard to beat. Things like saunas and great breakfast you generally do not get in a house and those are two things I love when I travel.
That’s fair! Big breakfast can go a long way for hunger and food costs during the day. Pool is nice for the kids too.
I stayed here last February, just a few months after they opened, and just a few days after Malta’s Covid masking requirements had officially ended. Needless to say, there were a lot of areas of the hotel that were affected, or just plain hadn’t even opened yet, like the lounge, pools, gym, etc.. Staff were uniformly great, and as you noted, very attentive at reception. I had a car, and there is parking below the hotel, (I am a Globalist, some of my stay was on points, some cash, and all fees were waived). I had the same “suite”, 716. Fortunately none of the nights were windy enough to cause the howling you experienced, although it was moderately windy when I was there. I have stayed at all the St Julien’s chain hotels. Although the Westin and the Hilton are right on the water, I would still probably choose the HR. I also stayed at the Intercontinental for a couple of nights last year, and found it rather cold, and lacking in any real character. Staff were also not nearly as pleasant and professional as what I experienced at the nearby HR.
We just came home from a very nice stay at the Hyatt Regency Malta. We had a lovely welcome by Jasmine and her collegues. The room (909) was very fine and daily cared for with a lot of attention by Nova.
We recommend this hotel if you want an excellent hotel with outstanding service!
Thanks for your positive review!