Iniala Harbour House and Residences

Good stay

A wonderful Maltese experience. Faultless and flawless. One of the best hotels I have ever stayed in. I will be returning and am now looking forward to visiting the Thailand property too. Ion restaurant was also an added bonus. The spa pool and sauna were a welcome retreat.

We arrived unheralded, as we'd just quit the very inferior hotel we'd booked into. But the staff at the Iniala welcomed us in charming style and were able to find us a room for three nights. It was very friendly, extremely comfortable, with wonderful views over the harbour and altogether a pleasure to stay in.

Iniala Harbour House is undoubtedly a unique hotel. The restaurant and some rooms enjoy spectacular views across the harbour and three cities, and it is well located for all Valletta has to offer. The staff - notably in the restaurant - are friendly and attentive. Breakfast was excellent and we had a meal at ION Harbour which was very good. The indoor pool was better than expected - a small spa pool but a welcome way to cool off from the heat of Malta. Plus a gym and spa we didn’t use. Otherwise there aren’t any other communal areas to relax in, apart from seating by the reception desk, so your room really matters… We stayed in room 311 on level 1 of the annex, the ‘cheapest’ available at time of booking. This room had small street-facing windows making it rather dark but it was large and well appointed. However, the room had a persistent damp / musty smell - especially bad after using the shower. Clearly the hotel is aware of this issue as already present was an air purifier and a mist diffuser pumping out lemongrass scent, but this only masked the musty smell. Compounding this was an air conditioning system unable to cool the large room sufficiently and it barely got below 20c. This made for a damp, unpleasant environment and some sticky, restless nights. The hotel was full so we couldn’t be moved, on complaining we received a shrug and “it’s an old building” together with a clean that could never have solved the issue. Nobody bothered to follow up, at which point we decided to make do rather than spend our short holiday battling with reception. Not acceptable not when you’re paying 600+ euros a night for 5 star accommodation. I’d question whether they should be renting this particular room with this underlying issue. Given the many glowing reviews on here I’m sure if you stay in any of the higher tier rooms you’ll have a great time. Just beware the entry level room.

Just concluded a wonderful 3 day stay at the Iniala Harbour House. Extraordinary in every way. The staff is excellent. We enjoyed two massage sessions with Akhil - among the best massage treatments either of us we has had. Breakfast was a delight every morning. The facility is beautifully designed and very well located within steps of central Valetta.