AX The Palace

We had a really enjoyable stay at AX The Palace and overall came away happy with our holiday. The staff were lovely, the hotel was clean, the location was perfect for us and there were no major issues that spoiled our stay. However, having stayed in a number of 5-star hotels previously, we both felt that The Palace fell short of the standard we would normally associate with a 5-star property.

We stayed in a Designer Suite, which was very spacious and comfortable and had some lovely features, particularly the large terrace and private hot tub. However, given that we paid considerably more to upgrade to a Designer Suite, we would have expected the general standard of the fixtures and fittings to be much higher. The room was beginning to look quite tired in places and some elements felt surprisingly dated.

The wardrobe and drawer unit was a particular example. None of the drawers even had handles, so the only way to open them was by pulling them from the side – sometimes while trying not to trap your fingers in the sliding wardrobe doors! Ironically, friends travelling with us were staying in a Junior Suite and their drawers did have handles, which made ours even more baffling.

There were also a number of maintenance issues. The shower door no longer sealed properly, although we didn't report this as it was still usable and we didn't want to bother anyone unnecessarily during our holiday.

The TV remote was missing, which we did report to the hotel. Unfortunately, a replacement was never provided and no alternative solution was offered, so we simply weren't able to use the television for the duration of our stay.

We also had an issue with the terrace lighting. On our first evening we discovered that none of the exterior lights on our terrace appeared to work. I called reception and was told that the terrace lights were all connected to a timer and switched off at 11pm. That explanation seemed reasonable enough initially, except we subsequently noticed that the terraces both above and below ours had their lights on well beyond 11pm. More importantly, we never actually saw our own terrace lights come on at all – even at around 7pm before we went out for the evening.

This was particularly disappointing given that one of the main reasons for choosing the Designer Suite was the private terrace and hot tub. Returning after an evening out and wanting to sit outside with a nightcap or use the hot tub meant doing so in almost complete darkness.

More concerningly, towards the end of our stay we discovered that our room door did not automatically close and latch properly. Unless it was physically pulled shut, it could remain unsecured. Until we realised this, there will almost certainly have been occasions when we left the room assuming the door had locked behind us when it hadn't, and potentially even overnight. This is obviously a significant security concern. We would have mentioned it at checkout, but surprisingly nobody asked us how our stay had been or whether everything had been satisfactory.

There also wasn't a separate set of towels provided for the private hot tub. As the normal bathroom towels were needed for daily showers, they could already be wet when we wanted to use the hot tub. For a suite specifically sold with this feature, providing additional towels seems like a fairly basic detail.

Turndown service was another strange one. We only received this once during our entire stay, when we happened to be out all day for a wedding. Housekeeping appeared to be attempting turndown at around 6pm, which seems far too early. That's exactly when many guests are back in their rooms showering and getting ready to go out for the evening. As a result, despite turndown being one of the additional services associated with the suite, we effectively didn't receive it.

To be fair, morning housekeeping was fantastic throughout. Our room was always cleaned very well and we had absolutely no concerns about cleanliness anywhere in the hotel.

We enjoyed the indoor pool and spa area, particularly the sauna, which became part of our morning routine and was a lovely way to start the day. Unfortunately, we never managed to use the steam room. The controls didn't seem to correspond with the instructions provided and we couldn't figure out how to get it working. We contacted the hotel for assistance but never heard back, so eventually gave up and weren't able to enjoy that facility during our stay.

Breakfast was probably the weakest part of the stay for me. I appreciate that food is subjective, but I found much of the cooked buffet quite unappealing. The sausages consistently looked extremely pale and undercooked, so I avoided them altogether. I mainly stuck to bacon, toast and the freshly prepared omelettes, which were very good and I really appreciated having cooked to order. The fruit selection was reasonable, although on occasions some of the fruit amongst the fresh selection was clearly tinned. Nothing was terrible, but overall the breakfast didn't feel particularly five-star.

We really enjoyed the rooftop pool area and the views are fantastic. It was one of our favourite parts of the hotel and a lovely place to spend the day. Again, however, there were signs of wear and tear around the area, including some of the shade structures, which could do with some attention.

The location was excellent for us. It's at the quieter end of Sliema, which was exactly what we wanted, while still being only a very short walk from the seafront, restaurants and bars. The staff we interacted with were also consistently friendly and pleasant.

Where the hotel particularly fell short of a 5-star experience for us was in the attention to detail, communication and follow-through. Our Designer Suite booking included a 10% discount, yet this wasn't explained at check-in. When we later mentioned the discount to a member of staff at the bar, we were told that we needed to obtain a voucher for it – something we hadn't been told when we arrived.

Similarly, we were given no information whatsoever about the arrangements for our final day. We knew – or at least hoped! – that checkout was at midday and assumed our luggage could be stored while we continued using the hotel facilities, but none of this was proactively explained or confirmed.

None of these things individually ruined our holiday, and that's important to stress. We had a lovely stay overall. The suite was spacious and comfortable, we loved having the private hot tub, the rooftop and indoor pool areas were enjoyable, the location suited us perfectly, the hotel was clean and the staff were friendly.

It was simply the accumulation of tired fixtures, maintenance issues, facilities we couldn't use and small service details that were missed that left us feeling The Palace currently operates more like a good 4-star hotel than the 5-star experience it advertises.

With some investment in the rooms and facilities, alongside better communication and follow-through when guests do raise issues, it could be a fantastic hotel.

JUst had a couple of meals at their talk of the town cafe and excellent food and service.