Arrived very late, myself and two children checked in and was informed that we had been booked into 2 x 2 single bedded rooms. Informed staff that I was with my children aged 7 & 12 they insisted that there was nothing they could do until the following day. My children would have to sleep in a separate hotel room to me, however when we got to the room, I pushed 2 beds together and we all slept in one large bed for the duration of our stay.

Generally found half of the hotel staff helpful but appeared forced niceness, younger staff appeared much more helpful and pleased to help.

Hotel is generally very clean with the exception of the roof pool which is salt water and a black greasy film adorning the tiles around the surface area of the inside of the pool.

Food was generally good, even children enjoyed the Maltese night buffet and not a chip in site, however our drinks 'waitress'(pay for own drink in evening) appeared frosty every night.

Hotel room overlooked wasteland but was quiet.

To sum up... is usual holiday hotel more worthy of 3 star rating but generally not too bad and have stayed in worse. No-one seemed to have any real complaints apart from mine. Also able to pay to stay in room for longer (extra charge) and secure room for baggage available.
...watch out for pay to view TV and take your own towels..

The Hotel was filthy, especialy the pool area and terraces. A flue from the kitchen belched out black soot on to pool area ans sun terraces.

The toilet did not flush, the bath did not run away, the ceiling fan did not work, the tv did not work. The staff had no interest what so ever. Three of them stood and watched a man carrying his disabled child and wheelchair up the steps to the hotel.

A hotel to avoid.

Found the hotel to be more like a 2 star than a 4 star. Room, reception area, indoor pool all very cold (there were portable gas heaters in reception!). The sauna was not working and the 'gym' consisted of 2 bikes and tread machines.

The hotel food was very poor - repetitive and poor quality (the Italian restaurant was closed!).

The evening entertainment was awful.

This was without doubt the worst all inclusive hotel I have ever stayed in.

I would not recommend this hotel - particularly the all inclusive option.

paid for 4 star hotel and got 2 star standards-very disappointing-hotel towels not changed daily,rooms and pool not clean.hotel badly in need of upgrading.very old fashioned and food not great either. balcony overlooked what looked like building site requested to change rooms but got no better. bedrooms are very small and air conditioning inadequate.there were alot of unhappy guests during my 1 week stay who reported same.
this type of hotel is allocation on arrival and should not be awarded 4 stars.

I travelled to the Santana with my husband, the room we were allocated was very nice and clean our towels were changed daily, the hotel public areas where fairly clean and there was always lots of room on the sun terraces. There was plenty of choice of food for breakfast and dinner but the lunches on all inclusive tended to be all deep fried or a quite boring sandwich, I don't think we will go all inclusive to this hotel again as there was little choice in the drinks and icecreams, snacks in the bar had to be paid for. The hotel location was excellent for qwara sea front and for the bus station. The hotel entertainment was quite good but unfortunately when ever we visited the bar where the entertainment was staged there only seemed to be two or three people. I would definately visit the hotel again either on b and b or half board basis

My first time in Malta. Hotel superb.

Staff even better in particular Issam who runs the pool bar.

Last Year my boyfriend and I decided to visit Malta for the first time!!We had a wonderful time!The hotel Santana was extremely clean and the staff are both well mannered and friendly. The breakfast was also lovely in the morning and Malta itself is packed with things to do. The pool is medium size on the roof. While after half four the pool becomes quite quiet I found the chlorine quite strong so googles are advisable. Nonetheless the hotel had entertainment three times a week and also when we were there there was an extra BBQ nite for all the guests.The room itself was extremely clean and well air conditioned. And the location was ideal five minutes from the sea front, bus terminius, bars and restaraunts (The most tasty and well priced restraunt is the plum tree just a two mins left from santana opposite way- from bus terminius) so if you have booked this hotel You are gonna have a fab time and if you haven't then do because its Brill. ten out of ten!!!!:)

malta is a very nice place and we may go back in a few years and we would go back to hotel Santana.
I give it 3 stars

Charles & Patricia Hemingway

My husband and I have just returned from a splendid one week stay in Malta. We booked an 'allocation-on-arrival holiday' a week before we left and were therefore a little apprehensive, but curious as we had never tried this sort of holiday before. My husband had been to Malta once before, 33 yrs ago when I was in the Navy, but it was my first visit and we had been told by many 'Ah, Malta - you'll either love it or hate it!' Well, we loved it!

The Hotel Santana is absolutely first class and is fully deserving of its 4 star rating. The rooms were spacious and spotlessly clean (as were the beds and towels)and there was no charge for air-conditioning; the facilities were excellent and included a roof-top pool and sun terraces (also spotless) from which there was a panoramic view over St. Paul's Bay and the surrounding area; there was varied in-house entertainment on four evenings in 'Lacey's Pub' on the lower ground floor; the bar/cafe (with internet access) was open 24hrs a day and served the most delicious pastries and hot chocolate; the food in the restaurant (we were half-board) was well-cooked, appetising, well-presented with a good variety of choices; the staff were polite and friendly even after a long stretch on the 24hr reception! We really cannot find any fault at all with this hotel. We have very simple tastes and expectations and all our fears subsided the minute we entered the very comfortable and tastefully furnished reception area. All our expectations were greatly exceeded! The hotel has its own website and I can assure you that what you see on this site is exactly what you get! I have posted comments in the guest book and got a reply the next day from the Manager thanking me for them!

The resort of Bugibba is geared to the 'typical tourist' i.e. plenty of bars, restaurants, souvenir shops and a few disco's and nightclubs - something for everyone really. We went snorkelling just off one of the rocky 'beaches' which line the shore - lovely clear water. If you want sandy beaches there are two main ones in the north, Mellieha Bay and Golden Bay, both only a short bus ride from Bugibba. The bus terminus was about 2oo metres from the hotel, and although the buses are very old and seem to lack anything even closely related to a suspension, they run very frequently and are cheap. A ride into Valetta (beautiful) cost 36cents each return (about 58p!) You can travel anywhere on the island as cheaply, although not in the lap of luxury! We decided to go on two organised trips, one which took us to Mdina the Silent City (not to be missed), Mosta Church, a glassworks, and then south to the fishing village of Marsaxlokk; the other trip was to an evening 'Festa' (also not to be missed) in the village of Garghour about twenty minutes drive away. The next time we go we will probably do all our visiting via the local bus service - you get to stay as long as you like in each location and also have the freedom to go where you want when you want.

Bugibba was a good base and was pleasant enough to stroll through in the evenings, although because it was high season it was a little crowded,; if you want nightclubs 'til 4 in the morning you'll need to go to St Julian's or Paceville.

I think the secret of a good holiday (apart from the hotel, food etc) is to try and involve yourself in the local culture, talk to the local people, explore independently, and don't expect a 'little england' everywhere you go!

My apologies for the length of this report, but I hope it will be of some help. We can't wait to go back to Malta in order to do and see all the things we didn't have time for this time, and would recommend the Santana Hotel to anyone who reads this report.

The website is as follows: sanatanahotel.com

The hotel is in a good location with excellent facilities. However, they are very badly kept.

Roof top sun terrace - Floor dirty (wasn't swept or mopped in 2 weeks), sun beds dirty.

Bedrooms - no towels on arrival, generally dirty.
24 hour cafe / bar - tables dirty, floor dirty
Food - very poor quality and badly cooked limited choices.
In a good area, very close to the bus station and easy to travel around the island from here