The Hilton Malta
After the sensory overload of the Cathedral of St. John, we needed a little brain break and headed to the Hilton Malta to check in for our overnight stay. Frank had been e-mailing Edward the concierge for several months, and was looking forward to meeting him. Frank has a habit of annoying concierges the world over via e-mail, fax, phone, and smoke signal if necessary. Edward had replied swiftly and enthusiastically to all of Frank's demands requests and Frank wanted to thank him. Edward had arranged for Marisa to take us on our day tour, and so far, she was great. Marisa had informed us in the van the Edward managed to score some tickets for the three of us to go the Hal Saflieni Hypogeum, something you normally need months of advance notice to get. I had no idea what or who the Hypogeum might be, but Frank was thrilled. Frank muttered something about "underground cave" and "tombs" but I really didn't get a clear picture of what it was. It sounded like a repository for dirty needles.
We saw the tall royal blue tower of the Hilton sticking up over the otherwise quaint landscape from several points n the city. Marisa told us that the Hilton Tower and Conference Center was something of a controversial building project in Malta. Some of the Maltese locals thought it was an eyesore, while others thought it was sort of cool and modern. I tended to be on the "eyesore" side, although as a building itself it was not bad, it just didn't fit in with all other buildings that were more subdued colors and classical style architecture.
We walked into the Hilton, and it was incredibly beautiful, with a sunken restaurant overlooking a series
of large swimming pools. We felt a little underdressed, surrounded by chic looking men and women in business attire, all speaking different languages. I overheard people speaking Italian, Arabic, French, Maltese, and English just standing in the lobby for five minutes. Edward was at the Concierge Desk and greeted us immediately. He told us he had secured tickets for the 2 pm Hypogeum tour for the three of us, and Frank could not have been more delighted. "This guy," he exclaimed, "Is the best concierge in the world!" I'm not sure I've ever seen Frank be more effusive about a hotel employee. Edward seemed to appreciate the compliment. Marisa told us she would be coming back for us in a few hours to take us to the Hypogeum, so we had some time to settle in and eat lunch.
Edward sent us up to the VIP Honors Lounge to check in, since Frank evidently has some exhalted status at Hilton due to his frequent business trips. On the show TV show So NoTORIous, there is an episode where Tori Spelling has a flashback of her mother taking her to a swanky hotel as a little girl and warns her not to sit on the bedspread because, "Sometimes poor people stay in nice hotels because they have coupons and so you don't know what icky things they've left behind." That was us. The Coupon People. Frank booked this using his Hilton Honors points that he racks up on business trips throughout the year. So, this fancy hotel and the lovely suite were not costing us anything. We could not believe our luck.
Our room had a balcony overlooking the series of swimming pools surrounded by palm trees. We could see the city in the distance, and a spectacular view of the Mediterranean. The outside balconies were stacked up like sandy-colored boxes with window cut-outs. It was a beautiful, clear day. We wanted to relax, so we ordered some room service and sat out on the balcony and had lunch. Alex was interested in checking to see what was on Maltese TV and plopped himself down on the bed with the remote. Frank and I sat outside, drinking tea, and just taking in the view. I'm don't think we've ever been to a lovelier or more relaxing setting. I asked if we could stay a week, but didn't dare ask how much this would cost. Sadly, we just didn't have enough coupons.
