A young hotel receptionist has spoken about how he was scared for his life when a robber pressed a gun to his head during a hold-up at a Sliema hotel on Monday night.

Despite his terror, Nissan Singh Thapa, 29, managed to remain calm enough to think clearly – before fleeing from his captor and entering a guest room where he could call for help.

“Today you will die… If you make any sudden movement you will die on the spot,” – were the words the armed robber kept telling Nissan as he pressed the silver gun against his head and into his back and stomach.

In a blow-by-blow account, two days after the hold-up, Nissan spoke about how he kept replaying the scene in his mind once the ordeal was over.

Two men wearing black helmets charged into The Windsor Hotel in the heart of Sliema at night.

“When the gun was pointed to my head, my back… I was scared for my life. Really scared. In 29 years, this is the first time anything like this happened to me or anyone in my family. After seeing the gun, my mind went blank for a second. I didn’t know what to do. But I knew I had to stay calm in this situation because one wrong decision would cost me my life. I knew I had to do whatever they were telling me to do and look for any opportunity to escape,” he said.

Nissan came to Malta in September 2022 to study hospitality at MCAST, graduating with a diploma just last February.

On Monday, he had the night shift at the hotel where he works part time. At around 11.30pm he was inside the small office leading to the reception area when he heard a knock at the reception desk. He saw two men wearing helmets, with balaclavas covering their faces.

The men, who the receptionist initially mistook as food deliverymen, asked for a room.

But seconds later all of that changed.: “One of them got out a gun and put it on the reception desk and said: ‘Give me all your f** money’ and jumped over the counter,” he said.

The robber started searching the area, frantically opening drawers and cupboards and demanding to know where the money was kept.

When the gun was pointed to my head, my back… I was scared for my life. Really scared

Nissan explained to him there was no money because most people paid by card. He handed over €200 which one guest paid in cash as well as his mobile phone and wallet.

The robber then pushed Nissan into the office and told his accomplice to jump over into the reception area to continue searching.

Once inside the office the thief smashed the security camera.

'I’ll kill you if you don’t give me the money’

“He then told me to kneel in the corner and put my hands on my head. He looked around the office.

Every couple of seconds he would come to me and put the gun against my head, my back or stomach and say: ‘Where’s the money, where’s the money?’ He told me: ‘You’re gonna die. I’ll kill you if you don’t give me the money’.”

Nissan’s cry that there was no money was in vain. The robber asked for a safe and the manager’s main office.

“It was on the sixth floor. He asked for the key to the offices, but I explained I don’t have them. He insisted.

"He started looking through drawers and found a lanyard with a master keycard and a key. He decided that was the key he needed.”

They walked up six flights of stairs.

Through the whole time the gun was planted on Nissan’s back with the robbers threatening to kill him if he stepped out of line.

‘It was now or never’

When they arrived on the sixth floor the key did not fit the glass door that led to the office area. There was a guest room next door, and the robber opened it with the master keycard. Thankfully, there was no one inside.

He then broke the glass and jumped into the office area and ordered Nissan not to move. When the receptionist heard him rummaging through an office down the corridor, he knew it was now or never.

“I knew he would not find anything here and would take the frustration out on me. I knew I had five seconds. I always keep a master card in my pocket in case a guest needed something. I knew I could not run downstairs as there was the other guy and I would get sandwiched between them.

"As soon as I saw the opportunity, I just ran. I knew there were three rooms on the floor and which were not occupied. I ran and went in one room and waited. I heard him run down the stairs. I stayed in the room for about 10 minutes,” he said.

Nissan then emerged slowly and quietly from the room and headed to another room on the fifth floor where he knew a guest was staying.

“I knocked at the door. I told him what was happening and that I needed his phone to call the police. I told police they had a gun. We stayed in the room until we heard the police arrive,” he said.

When the police arrived he called his boss who turned up immediately. The two unidentified robbers had fled the scene.

Nissan was taken to Mater Dei Hospital to get certified, according to procedure, but his ordeal was protracted further – he waited in the emergency department alone for about seven hours.

“I was about to faint. My body was breaking down slowly. I started replaying things in my head. I was making decisions every second. So many things could have gone wrong. By God’s grace, not even a bruise,” said Nissan.