Beautifully quiet and relaxing

I recently stayed at the Ta Cenc and was somewhat apprehensive having read the reviews on this site.

However, I very much enjoyed my stay and would thoroughly recommend this hotel to anyone in need of a restful break.

Pros: helpful staff, spa, quiet location,

Cons: hotel is clean and v.comfortable but decoration in need of a bit of modernisation

Peaceful holiday

We did have second thoughts about going here - particularly following some of these reviews. We were pleasantly suprised on arrival, however.

Not really 5* accomodation, but pretty, peaceful, and pools very nice.

The spa was one of the best features - great prices and not fully booked. The food was on the good side of average. Room was dark and 1980s painted wardrobe doors. Definately not 5* - more rustic!

Staff were really helpful, and all in all, a pleasant holiday that we enjoyed.

Basically a nice place to go but really a nice 3/4* - it is probably only 5* because of the facilities it offers.

Ta Cenc is perfect paradise

like one of the previous reviewers i had also read the bad reviews of this hotel after i had booked it! My husband and i were worried but i am glad to saywe were pleasantly surprised! This hotel is beautiful, we payed the Trullo suppliment and i would definately recommend it, our trullo was fabulous with a sea view and private terrace. It was kept immaculately clean every day by the wonderful cleaning staff.

The food was first class and the restaurant was beautiful with polite and attentive waiting staff and what a romantic place to eat beneath the stunning carob tree.

We had no complaints whatsoever, the design and layout of Ta Cenc has been very sensitively thought out and blends in with the island. We shall be returning next year for another dose of paradise!

Brochure disappointed

In my brochure it was recommended as 5 star, 3 stars is more than enough.

Very friendly people but the hotel needs to be refurbished, painted, decorated etc...

Food was OK but the flies drove me crazy.

Cleaning was OK, but could be better.

Thumbs up

I read the other reviews before we left but after we had booked the hotel & I must say the bad reviews some people had submitted did worry me. Fortunately they were unfounded. We found the hotel setting beautiful-the buildings & gardens were totally in keeping with the area & were kept immaculately clean. The food & service in the restaurant ar breakfast & dinner were excellent.

There are 3 pools & so the areas were never crowded.

The staff & local people were always helpful & friendly.

As regards the accomodation, we did pay the supplement for a trullo & the aspect & design were fantastic- we had our own un-overlooked terrace area.

If we were to nitpick you could say it would have benefited from a few very minor repairs & redecoration but other than that we had no complaints.

The discerning few

My wife and I stayed at the Ta' Cenc Hotel in the first week of June '03 and we are just about to book another holiday in the hotel in May of next year. We had a great week, had good food and service in the restaurant and bar and enjoyed the facilities. We were not looking for a typical modern 5 star hotel and we liked the rather individual and unusual nature of the Ta' Cenc, particularly our Trullo. We also loved the peace and tranquillity.

To be critical, our Trullo was certainly in need of some redecoration and many times we felt like doing some work in the garden that it overlooked. This is something management should be aware of and it will be interesting to see if the situation has improved next time around.

We believe this hotel would be more likely to suit the discerning few who appreciate the character and tranquil nature of the place.

Local charm

Tastefully decorated, relaxing and spacious hotel with lovely views over Comino and Malta from the bar and terrace. Excellent table d'Hote menu mixing sophisticated Italian with local Gozitan dishes. All with the most professional service from managers and waiters alike.New 'Wellbeing' and treatment spa allowed us to unwind after a long day's walking and made the holiday for us.If you like unflashy hotels built in a style sympathetic to the locale - this could be for you. Hopefully the other less favourable reviews were one offs as we would like to go back before Gozo becomes a lot more popular.

Shabby 3 Star hotel at 5 Star rates

If you consider shabby, damp, dirty accommodation, interminably slow service and poor hygiene to be worth five star money, by all means book the Ta Cenc. The 'private' beach is not private, or to quote the owner, "It's my private beach, its open to whoever I want, which would appear to be most of the islands diving schools & anyone else who happens to find it. I attach no blame to the absolutely charming kittens who wander around the breakfast tables hoping for scraps (although even they did not appear to find the selection particularly inspiring), but some guests might find it a little off-putting to watch them playing with a dead rat while they are eating (the corpse was still in the flowerbed the following evening). A very few rooms have spectacular views across to Comino and Malta; most overlook either (through overgrown foliage) one of the two small outdoor pools, or just walls. This property has the potential to be a superb hotel; it simply isnt. If you know what 5 Stars should be about, book the Kempinski San Lawrenz instead.

Ta Cenc - Definitely to return!!

I wanted to follow up the message left regarding the Ta Cenc hotel on Gozo. It seems that person had an awful experience, which is a real shame, as my wife and I have just returned from what was a fantastic vacation in a fantastic hotel! I have stayed in a great number of hotels, including those from Le Meridien, Grand Hyatt and Inter-Continental groups, (not just the old Howard Johnson!), and I can honestly say that the Ta Cenc is one of the best hotels I have ever stayed in! Our room was very large, clean and well-furnished, we had a lovely terrace over looking the family pool (one of 3 at the hotel), and it was blissfully cool from the air-con. The whole hotel is very tastefully and subtley decorated, and the staff were extremely helpful and friendly in our experience. The atmosphere is tranquil and relaxed, and the hotel's location gives an air of complete isolation. Perfect for a vacation to recharge the batteries. There is also a brand new spa just opened, which offers a jacuzzi, steam room , sauna as well as a hydrotherapy pool, and extensive range of beauty treatments and massage. Wonderful! My only reservation in awarding the hotel the full 5 stars was that the service in the restaurant and bar was EXTREMELY slow! You really have to switch over to Gozo time, which can be frustrating if you are planning any activity after dinner, or need a drink fast! Otherwise, it was a great place to while away a week.

Never to return!

My husband and I have just returned from a one night stay at this hotel. Upon arrival we were taken to our room which was described as "most unique and unusual" - indeed it was! It was in an old palace at the back of the hotel, it was dark, the supposed "terrace" was 2 old sun loungers on a particularly unattractive roof with no view. And it got worse, we soon discovered there was no running water, 4 complaints to reception and 6 hours later we were given the key to another room. Not too keen on traipsing between rooms we moved into this second room which was even darker and no balcony or terrace. Other complaints included no cable TV, no proper shower, machine diggers starting up outside our window at 8am, coming out in the morning to find the path had been dug up and we had to climb over a building site to get out, the list goes on. We asked to see the manager the next morning who insisted that the room we had was lovely and that we had not been wronged in anyway and that his hotel was certainly a 5 star and our opinion that the way we had been treated was appalling was a mistake! Half an hour later he gave us a 50% discount, but it wasn't worth even that.