A prospective visitor to Malta from Germany decided to look for travel offers on ebay and found an advertisement for a four-star hotel in St Julian’s.

He then bid for and obtained a voucher for a four-star hotel for e109 covering seven nights at half-board.

The visitor came to Malta and noted that the hotel was indeed classified as a four-star hotel by MTA.

The hotel manager (owner) and the reception staff were quite respectful and courteous in their behaviour.

The allotted room was clean but had neither a table nor a comfortable armchair. There were primarily no clothes hangers in the wardrobe. The only light in the bathroom was faulty and the switch had to be manipulated about six times to get the neon starter to function. The lavatory seat was broken. There was no minibar, as advertised, but there was a small fridge. TV reception was bad because the antenna cable did not fit properly and there were hardly any satellite programmes available, as advertised.

The breakfast tables were not covered. There were neither bread rolls nor fresh Maltese bread available. There was a pack of sliced bread – but the toaster was faulty. There were neither eggs, nor fruit, nor fresh cheese slices. There was neither coffee nor tea in pots, but only a self-service machine. And there was no waiter service in the cafeteria.

On returning to Germany, the visitor had the following exchange with the agency that offers the hotel vouchers on ebay:

“I just returned from my visit to Malta and was about to remark on my personal hotel experience, which is, and cannot be, so positive.

“My short comment: the hotel does not in any way correspond to a 4-star hotel as one would expect in Germany.

“I would appreciate your feedback before I write any further comments, which I deem necessary for Malta’s tourism industry.”

The reply that he received said:

“Once again we thank you for your comments. Our reply as follows:

“At no time did we advertise the hotel on our site as a four-star hotel. It is a matter of fact that no star rating is mentioned from our site at all. We have and always are portraying the hotel as we see it and that reflects on the advertised package online. At e109.00 half-board for 2 persons for 7 nights which works out at e7.80 per person per day an absolute bargain for whatever hotel category.

“As a distinguished and knowledgeable person in the tourism and travel industry having worked in Malta according to you a comparison between hotels in Germany and Malta are very far fetched and we are surprised to hear such comments. In any case all of the over 1600 people we have send to Malta staying in either the x or y hotel have been extremely happy. When paying e109.00 for a week half-board for two persons we are not quite sure what you expect.

“We are sorry that the holiday ie hotel was not to your liking and wish you a maybe happier and joyful Christmas in Germany. By the way the writer has lived in Malta for four years.”

To which the visitor had the last word: “Thank you for your kind and quick answer. I have just re-checked the offer and made a screen-shot. The hotel is offered as a four-star hotel.

“The price was commensurate with a two-star hotel, although breakfast facilities were miserable. The minibar was non-existent, the lavatory seat was broken, the light in the bathroom had a faulty starter.

“I shall of course ask MTA to revise their hotel classifications, especially as I shall again be helping out at travel fairs in Germany.

“PS. Now we understand why Malta has a drop in tourism of nearly 15 per cent. If they have people like you running around selling the island people are most likely scared. We feel sorry for you and your ideas.

“We have thanked you for your comments and left a feedback. We hope very much that the new MTA will not have ignorant and totally unreasonable people running around selling an island in distress in relation to tourism.”