Two tourists were forced to find alternative accommodation after discovering a hole in the door to their Sliema hotel room where a lock should have been.

Tourist Alan Brooks said the Windsor Hotel refused to refund the May booking and that its management repeatedly failed to show up to meetings about the issue.

He said he reported the hotel to the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA) only to be told the authority was investigating but provided no further details.

Calling the hotel a “total scam”, Brooks said he was shocked at the way the authority handled the case, saying “they couldn’t care in the slightest... They’ve failed in every way”.

Meanwhile, the hotel manager said the floor Brooks and his partner stayed on was closed for refurbishment – including the fitting of new locks – and should not have been sold by the booking agent.

He said the lock issue had been resolved “way back in May”, the month of the booking, and that he was “shocked” to hear of the incident.

The manager added that he would have booked Brooks and his partner into an alternative hotel had he known in advance or been present when they arrived.

A spokesperson for the tourism ministry said the MTA had “thoroughly investigated” the complaint but could not provide further details for legal reasons.

The spokesperson said the ministry and the MTA believed the complaint had been “misrepresented”, but stressed they took such incidents seriously.

Brooks and his partner travelled to Malta in May to visit his sister, who has lived in the country for around 10 years. He said he “loves Malta” and, although he had stayed with his sister in the past, he decided to book into a hotel to give her family more space.

People said strangers were walking into their room in the middle of the night and some had things stolen... they wanted to leave but most couldn’t afford to book a new hotel Alan Brooks- Alan Brooks

After reading positive reviews of the Sliema hotel, he and his partner decided to book a room for their week in Malta.

However, after checking in, things took a turn for the worse.

Upon getting to their room, Brooks and his partner found a gaping hole in their door where the lock should have been. And when they checked other doors on the same floor, it was the same story, he said.

Brooks said he spoke to around 25 other people at the hotel stuck in the same situation – some, he said, did not even have a door to their room – describing the hotel lobby as being full of angry guests when he went to complain.

“People said strangers were walking into their room in the middle of the night and some had things stolen... they wanted to leave but most couldn’t afford to book a new hotel,” he said.

Asked about the general conditions at the hotel, he said “that was the bizarre thing; the rooms were fine”.

Brooks and his partner left the hotel but kept returning daily after repeatedly being promised meetings with the manager to address the issue. But the manager never showed up, he said.

Brooks showed Times of Malta a signed document appearing to show the hotel’s management company Sovereign Hotels Ltd promising to refund him for the booking – a refund Brooks said was later refused when requested by booking agent trip.com, which ended up refunding the couple instead.

Speaking from his home in Dublin, Brooks said he was left feeling “angry and really sad” by his experience at the hotel. “We just hated that this would happen in Malta.”

Times of Malta found numerous mentions of issues with door locks in online reviews about the Windsor Hotel posted on Google, TripAdvisor and Booking.com.

‘Rooms were being refurbished’

The hotel manager said the floor the couple stayed on was closed due to refurbishment works, “but guests apparently went to the floor and used the rooms”.

Asked about claims of people entering rooms at night and thefts of personal property, the manager reiterated the rooms “weren’t ready to accommodate guests”.

Confirming the MTA had investigated the incident, he said the issue was resolved “way back in May” when “only a few rooms” did not have locks. He said all rooms were now fitted with “smart locks”.

The manager added that despite parts of the hotel being closed for bookings due to the refurbishment, some third-party booking agents had allowed guests to book rooms anyway, leaving the hotel overbooked.

Calling the idea of allocating rooms to guests without a lock “ridiculous”, he stressed the situation was not the fault of the hotel and that he would have found alternative accommodation – if necessary, at a different hotel – for those affected had he known in advance or been present when they checked in.

He said he was “not aware” of the meetings to discuss the issue, stressing “of course I would have met the guests personally”.

MTA ‘failed in every way’

While still in Malta, Brooks complained to the MTA about his experience and asked the authority to “urgently intervene” describing the hotel as “woefully inadequate in terms of safety and security measures”.

The authority responded that day, promising him they would investigate and informing him that, should he “wish to follow up on the case”, he should contact the MTA enforcement department.

But, over the following couple of months, Brooks said he received no updates on his case, apart from repeatedly being told the authority was investigating.

Two months after his original complaint, he finally received a response from the MTA saying it “together with its legal advisers has determined the best way forward and taken action as deemed necessary” but was provided with no further information.

Commenting on the MTA’s response to his case, Brooks said the authority had “failed in every way; the regulator has a moral and legal responsibility to tourists in Malta – the buck stops with them”.

But a tourism ministry spokesperson said the hotel management was “already implementing measures to address the concerns raised” when the MTA inspected the premises “immediately” after receiving Brooks’ complaint.

He said the authority was “continuously monitoring the situation and will take further action if necessary”.

Noting there were “discrepancies” between Brooks’ and the hotel’s version of events, the spokesperson said Brooks had been advised to seek a refund privately, noting the MTA “does not have jurisdiction in such matters”.