Travelers Digest 2005 Review of The Maltese Islands

View The Photos From Our Trip!

Boarding the high-speed ferry at the Catanian port, we headed into the Mediterranean Sea and to our next adventure…the Maltese Isles. The ferry, as most modes of transportation in this region of the world, was late a couple of hours. After our eventual landing we waited in line as the hundred or so people fought their way to the exit. Our large bags had been checked by the EU immigration when boarding and as all large bags, they were kept in the car carrier section of the ferry. From the port windows I shot some photos of a Maltese navy gun ship anchored at the dock, only a few hundred meters from our ferry. There were 3 men on its deck with huge 50 caliber machine guns all pointed in our direction. That’s never a good sign! The so-called war on terrorism, which is more a war of self induced terror and global panic is unfortunately directed mostly at non-participants. 

We breezed through the immigration and headed out of the dock area and began the negotiations of seeking a honest taxi…we know better than to ever pay their initial asking price, as regulation are mostly discretionary. The Maltese lira is valued at 3.3 times the US Dollar and nothing on the island was going to be a bargain. Most of the taxis wanted 15 Lira for the ride, which would take us about 10 kilometers, or about 6 miles across the island to the town of Sliema. After turning my back on those offering such ludicrous prices, they all pretty much began to lower their fares…one eventually coming down to 7 Lira. The driver was a young man and spoke fairly good English and was quite ready to chat with us about the country and its people. As we drove, I instantly saw from the hundred or so churches, that this was a tightly regulated and religious country, after all, it was a main player in the Crusades and the Maltese Knights are well known in the Christian world and were greatly feared in the Muslim world. Another murderous chapter in our epitaph of global madness.

We had made arrangements to stay 6 days at the Hotel Metropole located only 2 short blocks to the bay and its tourist’s attractions. We arrived at the hotel and after checking in, headed up the elevator to our room. I was at first impressed at the size of the room, as it had 4 single beds, a bathroom and a very small television. We had asked in our prior email if the room had air-conditioning and it was confirmed, but little we knew that it only worked when it wanted and constantly set off the alarm with its high exhaust of fluorocarbons…. not very healthy. During our 6-day stay we complained at least 8 times and only on our last night was it repaired…they simply turned off the alarm. The hotel staff was definitely not health or comfort orientated to say the least! I won’t even begin to speak of the bed and its protruding springs…my back hurt for 2 weeks. 

Awaking each morning before 9 AM I went to the hotel’s restaurant and had 2 cups of coffee, as the breakfast was not editable. It soon became apparent that with the hotel’s high number of touring school kids from various countries, that they were quite satisfied with the condition of the hotel…young people don’t seem to mind discomfort.

On my last morning I had or tried to have a chat with the owner about the dilapidated condition of the hotel and how he had managed to acquire a 3 star rating? Needless to say, he was evasive and in his own words stated that he was not interested in reinvesting in the hotel and relied completely on walk-ins and touring school groups.

During our stay I spent a considerable amount of time talking to vendors, café owners, staff and just local people and, as a result of their own words, were shocked at the state of tourism in the country. There had been just too many bad and ill planned ideas and horrific input from British consultants on how the country of Malta should restructure their tourism industry by eliminating all the cheaper hotels and B&BS. They were advised to turn the entire island into a 5 star luxury destination. The one big flaw was that the country had no golf courses, no real tangible tourist attractions, no tangible luxury amenities, no real beaches or even a safe swimming area, as the island waters are saturated with Jellyfish. The result is, as it is today, over priced goods and services, inadequate planning that all, but collapsed the entire tourism industry by eliminating most decent middle or low cost accommodations and/or dining establishments. The islands governing parties were totally unsuccessful in reinventing their country as a luxury destination and now tourism is in a massive decline, as other less expensive destinations are winning in this never-ending war for tourist dollars. It is sad that so many business people in Europe and around the world continue to make the same mistake over and over again…generating huge sums of tourism cash without reinvesting in long term planning and/or long-term vision. Their greed evolves into uncontrolled over-charging, lack of quality services and living for today continues to be dominant in their philosophy, thus leaving one and only one conclusive result…decline and total failure of their tourism industry. There is an old reverb that I try to live by…Fools seldom prosper!” 

While I did like the local people and the business’s friendly staff, I cannot in all honesty recommend Malta as a destination for adventurous and/or budget travelers. It is however very popular with young party goers traveling with their parent’s credit cards and for leisure travelers with more income. Just don’t expect long sandy beaches, safe swimming areas, cheap accommodations and/or adventure-orientated excursions. Definitely don’t expect abundant trees, flora and green grass…there isn’t any. The island is bear, but in its favor, it is covered with history, architecture, religious celebrations, an endless number of beautiful churches, very old villages and very openly friendly inhabitants. The island of Malta and Gozo are very pleasing to the senses, especially visually, as it provides its visitors with temporal exasperations.

I do hope Malta’s tourism departments and the local business people come to grips with reality and pull it together by reinvesting in the country’s infrastructure, roads and especially in their tourism industry. Maybe they should visit Ibiza, Barcelona, Florence and other declining tourist cities, as they too fell into the endless pit of non-reinvestment. They let their cities fall ruin not only from a lack of maintenance, but with a lack of logical insight. Perhaps they should also look up the word maintenance…as it simply means to “Maintain” and none of the above, including Malta, have made any efforts to maintain their only viable asset, tourism. But all in all the islands are amazingly cultured and stimulating and provide a rare look into the past. They will, however, need the diligent efforts of its leaders and industry businesses.

As for group, couples and/or families with a little money, the Maltese Islands are superb, offering countless villas, endless heritage going back 6000 plus years, excellent photographic opportunities, countless old farms converted into private luxurious villas and phenomenal architecture throughout the islands. Many of the villas can easily accommodate families and large groups up to 14 people, most are adorned with large custom pools, a must during the summer months.

If you do wish to visit the island we recommend enjoying your stay in one of our listed villas, easily found under our main page index…Luxury Villas.

Leaving Malta after 3 weeks of exploring the islands, we boarded an Air Malta plane for the short flight to Brussels…the political and social center of the European Union.

View The Photos From Our Trip!

Written by the Touring Editor, Michael Smith

July 29^th 2005 - Travelers Digest

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