On a positive note

Allow me to communicate a very positive experience that my wife and I went through just a few days ago at the Coastline Hotel in Salina Bay. The two nights we spent were a complete luxury: lavish buffet breakfasts and dinners, a marvellous honeymoon suite with spectacular views of the bay, but most of all a truly sterling service by all the employees. They really went out of their way to assist us, and did so with a genuine smile!

On the first night we had some inconvenience with one of the air-conditioning units. It blew a fuse and the lights went out. Although the technician was about to leave for home, he still came up to see what could be done.

After several futile attempts to fix the problem, he finally isolated the unit so that we could at least have electricity during the night. Unfortunately the situation was more complicated than originally thought, and could not be rectified the following day either, meaning that we could not use the Jacuzzi (which we were really looking forward to!) since it formed part of the same circuit as the faulty A/C unit.

When we went to check out on Sunday morning, I remarked to the cashier that, although we had really enjoyed our stay, we had not fulfilled our expectations altogether. He immediately took note of our home number and promised to get back to us. The next day, the acting general manager of the hotel apologised for the mishap. You can imagine my utter surprise, however, when he offered to compensate us by offering a complimentary weekend break in the same suite, on a date of our choice!

I honestly did not expect such a pleasant response, maybe because in the past we were so used to bearing the brunt whenever things went wrong for us. I am positive that the attention given to us was not a solitary case, as could be evidenced by the huge number of tourists and locals staying at the same hotel.

I would like to conclude by thanking the acting general manager, Malcolm Buhagiar, Sylvan Azzopardi (Reservations), Geoffrey Chetcuti (Reception) and last but not least the technician (unfortunately I did not manage to get his name). I would appreciate your publishing this letter as a small gesture of thanks on our part. (Martin Hampton)

While adding my compliments to the staff at the Coastline Hotel, I must add that my wife and I recently spent a weekend at the Coastline Hotel. Indeed, the service we had was excellent.