Hotel Class: 
5 Stars - 1 Review and 513 Opinions
Golden Bay (formerly Radisson SAS), Mellieha, Island of Malta MLH 5510, Malta
Check Rates and Availability
of people enjoy staying here
514 Opinions
Macl1uk
User Rating
The Radisson at Golden Bay is the best hotel in Malta for luxury, comfort, seclusion and is right on a sandy beech. We stayed there for a week on a room only basis for 3 of us £180 (£60 each!). I have heard of couples going out for less than £100. The downside was that you had to sit through a timeshare talk, this took 3 hours but during that time you were shown various units and all around the hotel facilities. The talk was on a one to one basis and was not pressurised, if it was not for you then fine you have the remainder of the holiday at a fantastic luxury hotel for very little cost. I told Sladja (the sales girl) that I wanted time to think and that I would give her an answer in a couple of days, fine no problem. I was interested but wanted to find out if it was kosher, I have Maltese contacts and needed time to check it out. In the end I bought one week in 2008 and have just completed on a second week.
This hotel is unashamedly luxurious and is located in a secluded part of Malta right by a sandy beach; there are only about 5 sandy beaches on Malta. You can stay at this hotel without going to the timeshare, however the rooms are not cheap.
The hotel is 3 small towers interconnecting on the first 2 levels; it has a fantastic out door pool as well as an indoor pool and spa. It is located at the top of a cliff overlooking Golden Bay and has its own internal lift down to the beach.
This is a 5* hotel and the restaurant prices are not cheap; however there are a couple of beach restaurants/bars that are much cheaper. I would recommend hiring a car as this hotel is secluded and rather expensive, having a car means that you can eat out and also see the Island.
We decided to buy into the timeshare, however this is not for everyone and there are plenty of people that go just for a cheap holiday with no intention of buying.
In 2008 we were offered a platinum week (peak season) in a studio apartment (sleeps 4) with kitchenette country view for £9,000 or a 1 bedroom (sleeps 2 in bedroom & 2 in on a sofa bed in lounge) basic unit (kitchenette only and shower over the bath) again country view for £12,000 or 1 bedroom deluxe (full kitchen and shower separate from the bath) sea view was £17,000.
HAGGLE, do not accept the first price they offer you! The purchase is for a week or weeks up to and including 2045 and normally includes 1 off free week to be taken within 2 years (this free week is also maintenance free), first year of occupancy maintenance free (1 bedroom basic is Euro 481) and 3 years gold membership of Interval International (the company that you can swap your week(s) with).
In 2008 we bought a week in a 1 bedroom deluxe sea view in platinum season for only £12,000 I got it down from £17,000 and negotiated 2 free one off weeks (without time limit), we were also given a evening meal in one of the restaurants, Euro 70 in spar vouchers as well as being bought the full breakfast in the restaurant. The 1 off free weeks are maintenance free.
In 2009 I made enquiries about purchasing a second week in the same unit, I was offered it at £13,000 and knocked it down to £10,000. My purchase of the second week included the free 1 off week and the first year maintenance free being 2010, I also negotiated that the first week purchased was also maintenance free in 2010, so I have no maintenance charges for the until 2011.
Maintenance fees for 2010 for each week you own are Studio €384, 1 bedroom €481, 1 bedroom deluxe €529, 2 bedroom €579. The fees are capped at an annual increase of no more than 7.5% above local inflation. 2010 increase on 2009 was 2%
We bought the weeks to use at the Radisson at Golden Bay and not as an investment nor for swapping. I believe that this is a cheap way of having a 2 week holiday in a fabulous hotel, for 2 weeks a year in high season it works out at less than £630 + maintenance each year and that is for 4 people, obviously food and flights are extra
Flights to Malta are cheap; I have booked flights with Air Malta for August 2010 from Gatwick for £145 per adult.
If you get a chance of going then jump at it, it is a fantastic holiday but cheap, there is no commitment to buy, just to go to the timeshare talk
Unique Quality: The Radisson at Golden Bay is a hidden Gem of a location right by a lovely sandy beach. The hotel is located on top of a cliff and has its own lift down to the beach.
This hotel is unashamedly luxury, there is also a gym, spar jacuzzi as well as a business centre. The sea views are stunning as the hotel is on top of a cliff and you get a good view of the whole area.
The pool is a fantastic 90 meter lagoon, complete with an island and rivers that join the 2 ends.
Car hire is highly recommended as this hotel is located in a secluded but unspoilt part of Malta
Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Malta Golden Bay Photo: Pool area with view of hotel
4 more imagesSort by: Most recent | Most helpful
1 - 1 of 1
Just came back from the Golden Sands Resort in Malta. Took offer for just GBP 89 per person for a week stay! Price was very cheap and most probably is the nicest resort in Malta, next to a private sandy beach, all facilities and amenities one would expect from a 5 star hotel. I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Booked with Dream Holidays International, excellent service too and I think that bargain offer is only available from them.
Golden Bay is one of the few sandy beaches on Malta and consequently can get crowded, although it is nowhere near as built up as the resorts on the north-east coast of the island. In fact, the only big hotel here is the five-star Radisson SAS Golden Sands Resort.
The beach scenes in the film Troy were filmed here.
Malta being an island is full of nice beaches where you can have a swim . However one of Malta' s nicest beaches is GOlden Bay .
It is situated in the Northern part of the island. It is a nice sandy beach , surrounded by magnificent clay cliffs.
we had a fabulous week at this hotel, staff helpful and freindly rooms comfortable and clean. restaurants on site excellent and the nearby bars good value. facilities limited out of season but still most acceptable.trips orgnised by hotel good, local transport on vintage bus fleet but reliable and fun. weather in feb-march not too warm but very pleasant. did not use indoor pool or spa but it looked well run and not too pricey for treatments. all in all, a very relaxing stay highly recommended.
Our family chose this exclusive hotel. To enjoy the splendor of it. It was my Mums 60th Birthday and my Mum and Dads wedding anniversary during our stay.
We found most of the facilities did not work in the hotel. Steam room out of Order, Sauna room out of order. Hotel staff playing around in the main foyer, hotel staff going into the wrong gender changing rooms in the hotel swimming pool.
To make matters worse the fact that they charged us treble what we were due on our bill due to there mistakes. Thankfully this was corrected before our departure mainly thanks to one of the receptionists. The attitude was horrendous of the Guest relations manager who was sleazy and after all our problems and several hours lost due to sorting out the bill no apology was given. Not even a curtusy drink for the inconvenience caused. I must say that this is the worst hotel i have stayed in due to this. NOTE : Constant Hassel from TIMESHARE REPS also who would sell there own granny for a penny.
Very impressive looking hotel in a beautiful location. The check in staff were very poor, but most of the other staff were polite / courteaous., incidentally we were not approach by any of the timeshare reps. The view from a sea view 'serene' room was beautiful, and the room itself was of a good size with a big balcony. We ate in the Italian, Mokka and Flavours restaraunts aswell as using Swizzles and Dunes bars, and all food was very good, not paticularly cheap but nor is the rest of Malta. All of our party had treatments in the spa, and all were very happy with results, quite reasonable price too. The hotel is a little isolated, but that is part of it's charm, on a beautiful beach surronded by stunning rocky scenery, great snorkelling to be had around the bay. Our fourth trip to Malta / Gozo since honeymooning on Gozo in 2003, and we still love the island, it is a little rough around the edges but there is something for everybody. Would definately use hotel again.
Had a lovely holiday here, Was told we would have a sea view but when we got to room it was overlooking the back out over the hills behind, we didnt complain as they had upgraded our room, and we were in a 2 bedroom with 4 balconies, gorgeous apartment, and the view was still good. Hotel staff were in the most very happy and pleasant, always said hello. Breakfast was very good with lots of choice and plentiful.
Yes as poeople have said b4 the hotel bar is not cheap but what do you expect its 5*.
We found munchies bar on the beach open till 7.30ish later at the weekend and the food here was great and very cheap, and drinks here are cheap too.
I recomend the use of the local buses, they are cheap and easy to use and you see shuch a lot while on them.
The courtesey buses of an evening to Begiba and St. Julians were very good, you could go for food and a few drinks and a bit of sight seeing.
All in all i had a great holiday and will be visiting malta again.
We just returned from four days in Malta. The hotel was lovely, we had a beautiful suite overlooking the bay, but the service was shockingly poor. Both housekeeping service and reception service were
terrible.
Every day, housekeeping consistently neglected to replace towels, soap, shampoo, or lotion (which required calls at inconvenient times to front desk for replacement, these requests were not always promptly responded to, taking as long as an hour...imagine waiting around for an hour late at night before being able to take a shower!). We were shocked to find that our sheets were not replaced at all over the entire four days that we were in the hotel. If this is part of a environmental campaign to conserve water, I would support that, but that would my choice and I would ask to be notified about such a campaign...however, I think it was just sloppiness on the part of the hotel. Housekeeping also failed to replenish the tea and coffee bags in our room and even left the coffeecups, which were in plain sight, unwashed. Housekeeping left their personal effects in our room (e.g., notepads with writing on it) and did not bother to place towels--on the occasions that towels were supplied--on the racks and instead just left them on the sink counter. Reception promised to make dinner reservations for us at Ta' Frenc--a dinner celebration for our 10th wedding anniversary. However, after taking the ferry and driving out all the way to Gozo, we found that reception had failed to make the reservation and never bothered to notify us.
This calibre of service is not only unprofessional and not consistent
with a 5-star hotel, but is ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE!
If you had to travel around Malta you will notice that we have loads of chruches. At times, we also have even 2 churches in one village. Ironically enough, at times the people even compete between eachother. They compete on who organises the best feast, with the best fireworks and decorations. Two of the places I know for sure this happens is in Hal-Qormi and in Sliema. The first time I got to know I was amazed !
This is the chruch of Zabbar, it is in the centre of the village and it is richly decorated. The decortaion inside is very sophisticated and decorated in gold and the outside is very Baroque as one can see.
This is a really nice church which was very popular way back in the years. Today it is still being used but since a bigger church was built in B'Kara many people attend the modern one but this is still popular !
This church is situated next to the old railway station in B'Kara.
Unfortunitly the photo is not so clear !!!!
Some Churches in Malta and Gozo are really old but really nice !! Some villages have loads of traditions. For example in the village of Siggiewi one tradition they do is that during Easter (Maundy Thursday) they organise a sort of procession which commences from the Church all the way up to what they call 'Is-Salib tal-Gholja' (which means the cross of the hill) however the actual name is called Laferla Cross. Along side this hill one can see the stations of the passion of Christ however the hill is really steep and when you arrive up next to the cross its very tiring ! The villagers decorate the hill with fiaccolli (soil/sand placed in a can and then they fill them up with petrol and place a piece of cloth to serve as a wick) the affect in the night is so amazing ! In fact, this event is very popular and loads of people attend, so I suggest if you are here during the Easter period you should go to Siggiewi and particpate in the procession its quite an unique experience I must say !
This church is very central with steps surrounding it . However even though it is the main church ut one can also find many other small chapels in Lija.
Manikata is a very small village between Ghajn Tuffieha and Mellieha. On the highest point of Manikata one can find this church which is very modern ! Passed the church and keep going downwards you will come on the road that will take you to Mellieha where you can find loads of sandy beaches unless you turn the other route and visit the beaches of Ghajn Tuffieha 'Apple's Eye' which are sandy too !
Manikata is nice in Winter too as there is a nice view of Gozo and its very nice to explore and go walking !
This is the church of Mgarr which is situated on the inlet of Golden Bay. Malta has many inlets which have bays or beaches. For example at the end of Rabat there is Fomm ir-Rih, then behind Mgarr there is Golden Bay and then the next two bays are Ghajn Tuffieha (has loads of stairs though) and Golden Bay (Apple's eye however this has hardly any steps) then there are the bays of Mellieha !
Ballutta Church overlooks the little inlet bay of Balluta, St.Julians and Sliema area as the two are so close to eachother that at times its hard to realise where one village ends and begins.
In the bay of Balluta there is a little sand but its not good to swim here as drainge is thrown into the sea over here so beware ! However one can go for a walk here and one can visit the church which is very big.
I planned a trip between 28th of December 2009 and 2nd of January 2010.
I will be traveling with my husband and my two sons, aged 4 and 7.
Does anybody have some specific recommendations for us during this period of year.
Thanks a lot!
Take clothes you can layer and waterproof outerwear. A scarf may also be useful: the wind can be keen around the coast.
Malta can be chilly, windy and damp in winter (although there is also sunshine).
Whatever the weather, the children will enjoy exploring the beaches, especially the sandy ones at Mellieha and Golden Bay.
Malta is famous for its Christmas cribs....every village has its own. They should still be around when you visit, so the children will enjoy these as well.
And, of course, there will be lots of fireworks on New Year's eve. The Maltese love fireworks. :-)
GO TO MDINA AND VALLETTA GOZO IS A GOOD DAY OUT.
THERE ISN'T A LOT OF FIREWORKS ON NEW YEARS EVE THEY DO THE FIREWORKS IN THE SUMMER. I GO EVERY NEW YEAR LAST YEAR IT WAS HOT ALL WEEK BUT YOU CANT GUARANTEE GOOD WEATHER.
The Radisson at Golden Bay is a hidden Gem of a location right by a lovely sandy beach. The hotel is located on top of a cliff and has its own lift down to the beach.
This hotel is unashamedly luxury, there is also a gym, spar jacuzzi as well as a business centre. The sea views are stunning as the hotel is on top of a cliff and you get a good view of the whole area.
The pool is a fantastic 90 meter lagoon, complete with an island and rivers that join the 2 ends.
Car hire is highly recommended as this hotel is located in a secluded but unspoilt part of Malta
4 members live in Mellieha
Sponsored Links
Great Hotels for Less
Q: TAXIS IN MELLIEHA , MGARR ETC "We are visiting the GOLDEN SANDS AREA shortly. We would like to visit a few restaurants in the MELLIEHA, MGARR and surrounding..."
A: "You should be able find bus timetables in English here: http://www.arriva.com.mt/home?l=1 Most Maltese buses do not run very late into the evening, though it..."
Sponsored Links
Latest Mellieha hotel reviews
Sponsored Links
Sponsored Links
We've found that other people looking for this hotel also know it by these names:
Address: Golden Bay (formerly Radisson SAS), Mellieha, Island of Malta MLH 5510, Malta
