Terra Maltese Natural Retreat | Mykonos

“Our philosophy is simple. Each guest is unique so should our services be!” Terra Maltese

It’s official, luxurious hotels in the UAE spoil you forever. Although the Terra Maltese Natural Retreat in Ftelia, Mykonos had a certain rustic charm it was definitely airing on the basic side, let’s call it minimalist to be kind. However, the peaceful rural location with views across local farms and Ftelia bay beyond was stunning, watching the sunset over the Aegean Sea was definitely a highlight.

First things first the positive aspects; the Greek weather was fantastic and I had a great holiday with the teenager but the hotel was under par. Without a doubt the best thing was two dedicated members of staff, Dennis and Eleni. Their friendly service and cheeky banter (Dennis) was consistent from start to finish, they immediately made us feel welcome and nothing was too much trouble. Dennis also made good coffee and cocktails both of which are always a bonus.

Built in traditional cycladic style, the whitewashed cubic ‘boutique’ hotel with blue accents has just thirty-two ensuite rooms with either a balcony or terrace. The small pool area was lovely but way too small for the number of guests, bagging a lounger pre-breakfast was the only way to secure a spot. Other facilities included a small restaurant with an alfresco terrace and the bar overlooking the pool.

Our seaview room at the bottom of the resort had a large terrace with sunloungers and a pretty vista. Unfortunately the room looked nothing like the photos on the website and my expectations were immediately dashed. The furniture and the textiles were completely different and while the shower water pressure was ok the compact bathroom was in need of some redecoration and the bed wasn’t that comfortable.

Despite my dissatisfaction with the room it was clean and made up daily with fresh towels supplied. Thankfully the aircon was good but the advertised mini bar, pillow menu, slippers, robes and hairdryer were all non-existent and there were only a couple of hangers in the small wardrobe. Once I had got over my initial misgivings (ok slight rant followed by a de-stress walk to the beach) I relaxed and decided to embrace the traditional stone white interior in all its simplicity.

The biggest disappointment was the restaurant. The serve yourself continental breakfast that was included in our booking was limited, the Greek yogurt and fruit were sadly the best option. Stodgy scrambled egg was the hot option but if you wanted croissants or fried eggs that incurred an additional cost which is outrageous. Lunch and dinner options were also limited and overpriced, vegetarian choices were pretty much non-existent. We found the food to be below average as did others that we chatted too, dining out was the preferred option.

Free WiFi is available throughout the site but it was intermittent especially in our room but strangely fast and efficient on the outdoor terrace. The resort is a pleasant ten minutes stroll down to the lovely Ftelia beach and the bus stop for transport into Mykonos Town is in the opposite direction. I would suggest that anyone staying here really needs to hire some kind of transport to escape and explore the island fully as well as saving on expensive taxi fares.

I loved Mykonos and overall I had a lovely holiday. I would revisit Ftelia but I would not stay at Terra Maltese again or recommend it. The hotel’s website is misleading, the manager was indifferent, the receptionist rather miserable and the only saving grace is the two aforementioned members of staff, Dennis and Eleni. The hotel needs to heed their own simple philosophy ‘Each guest is unique so should our services be’ to ensure that the accommodation and food are vastly improved.