Xlendi's Serena Hotel, which was investigated by police last summer after scores of tourists accused the owner of charging their credit cards without authorisation, has changed name and management.

It is now called the Hotel Xlendi and is being run by the owner's daughter, Maryrose Vella, together with experienced hotel operator Tony Coleiro, who is currently also coordinating the General Workers' Union's social tourism project.

Although no new complaints have been reported this year, owner Joe Vella, who used to manage the hotel himself, is still facing charges of fraud in the Gozo court.

When contacted, Ms Vella referred The Sunday Times to Mr Coleiro who said the hotel had gone through a complete overhaul since he took over in January.

"We changed everything from top to bottom. Everything is back to normal. When I took over I did everything possible for things to change immediately and everyone cooperated. Now, as you can notice, there are no complaints. Things have changed, the service has changed and the hotel has been refurbished."

In 2007 the Serena Hotel accounted for 10 per cent of all tourism-related complaints in Malta and there was a steady flow last year.

According to a spokesman for the Malta Tourism Authority, "the complaints were very similar to each other and all related to some form of alleged fraud or payments which they felt were unfair".

Mr Coleiro said despite the negative publicity the hotel had kept up its occupancy rates even while others were struggling. He attributed this mostly to the hotel's prime location, but also to the old adage that publicity is good publicity.

"As The Sunday Times, you helped us because even though the 'adverts' were negative, people kept coming, either due to curiosity or something else."

Since most of the complainants were foreign, getting them to testify in the Gozitan court has been a logistical nightmare, and the police have now resorted to getting their testimonies from abroad.

A source close to the police investigation said that questions are being sent to the British authorities so that testimony can be taken in the UK and then forwarded to the local court.

"This is a procedure which will probably take several months, if not more," the source said.

The MTA confirmed that no new complaints had been made this year and that the hotel changed its name in line with its regulations.

When asked whether the MTA could now recommend the hotel, a spokesman said:

"The MTA cannot recommend any specific hotel or business. The authority's responsibility in this regard is to ensure that standards are maintained and regulations observed. Not having received any complaints with regard to an establishment is a positive indicator nevertheless."

Despite the changes in management, Mr Vella is still one of the main owners of the hotel.

However, Mr Coleiro said: "He is absolutely not involved in the management but he owns half the place so he is obviously still a shareholder. Bear in mind that everyone is innocent until proven guilty and these things are still in court. The way he was portrayed in the newspapers was very unlike him. He is quite normal with us."

Hotel Xlendi has now applied to upgrade itself from a three- to a four-star resort, but even once such an upgrade is given, Mr Coleiro is considering leaving it as "a very good three-star", and keep the prices down.

Mr Coleiro said this was mainly due to the fact that the Hotel Xlendi is in an exclusive partnership on the GWU's social tourism project through which a database of some 94 million trade union members from around the world are being encouraged to visit Malta.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com

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