Four hotels were ordered to close in the past 10 years, according to the Malta Tourism Authority.

A spokesman for the authority, which is tasked with ensuring that standards are maintained, said two hotels were ordered to shut down in 2011 and another one was forced to close its doors in 2013. 

Last week, a four-star hotel in Sliema was told to shut its doors after a court found that it was so run down that it was not suitable to host guests. Following the court decision, the Park Hotel was instructed by the MTA to refuse further bookings and guests were made to pack their bags and move to different hotels. 

Prior to its closing down, the authority had already slapped the hotel with an enforcement notice after a number of shortcomings were flagged. Tourists who wrote reviews online also said the hotel had not been up to par, with photos uploaded on various websites exposing the hotel’s rundown state.

Last week’s closure has now prompted calls for standards in hotels to be maintained and reviewed more rigorously by the authority, with guests coming forward with claims that other places of accommodation are in a similar, poor state.

Despite these claims, when asked by Times of Malta how many enforcement orders have been handed out by the authority in recent years, the MTA spokes-man said these amounted to 20 over a period of 10 years.

These included one in 2009, two in 2010, three in 2011, four in 2013 and two in 2015.

The highest number of enforcement notices were handed out in 2017, when the authority issued five. 

A further two were issued in 2018 and one was issued this year. 

The spokesman did not say how many hotels were slapped with enforcement notices nor did he provide their names despite a request by Times of Malta.