Valletta tourist accommodation operators have described a “nightmare” situation during the recent power outage to hit the capital, reporting guests sleeping on the beach and others ending their stay early.
Operators described being inundated by complaints and demands for refunds after the power cut, which lasted around 30 hours in some parts of the city, left electronic locks unresponsive and apartments and hotel rooms without lights or air conditioning.
Vast swathes of Valletta were left without power from Wednesday through to yesterday afternoon after a cable fault blocked the city’s main power supply.
The outage followed days of nationwide power cuts as Malta sweltered in record temperatures, leaving residents to endure sleepless nights or seek refuge with friends and family or at rented accommodation.
“It’s an absolute mess – we’ve had guests leaving a hotel, then coming back after finding no alternative… Some have been understanding, but others have not,” said one short-let accommodation operator.
“We’ve had customers sleeping on the beach after they returned late at night to find their electric lock not working,” he said, noting that while electric locks were typically equipped with backup batteries, they were not designed to last the duration of the recent cuts.
And with only one staff member usually assigned to respond to overnight enquiries, the unplanned outages had left some stranded guests without assistance. He has since increased overnight staffing levels to meet demand should the cuts return.
The operator, who asked not to be named, complained that the outages had left his accommodation offerings unable to provide services such as breakfasts for guests, while the accompanying “huge number of power surges” had disrupted IT infrastructure.
“It’s not about the refunds and financial losses, it’s about the reputation of the island,” he said, adding that one guest, a lawyer from the UK who had visited the country on several occasions in the past, had remarked “never again” about booking further holidays in Malta.
“An event like this really trashes your reputation”, he said, explaining that edging up a hotel’s rating on platforms like Booking.com – even just from 8.5 to 9 – could take up to two years.
Meanwhile, Wednesday night’s Isle of MTV performance, headlined by US pop star Katy Perry and featuring elaborate lighting and sound amplification, was a “slap in the face to tourists” while the rest of the city remained dark, despite the show being run on generators, he said.
Turning to authorities’ handling of the situation, he called the response “a joke… Stop blaming global warming; this is because of a lack of preparation for global warming, a lack of investment in infrastructure and a lack of investment to cope with the population increase”.
“In today’s age, having a capital city crippled like this is quite unbelievable.”
Also read: Sleeping in corridors, sheltering in cars: The struggle to cope with power cuts
Energy Minister Miriam Dalli and state energy company Enemalta have blamed the outages on record temperatures and electricity demand.
The Business Picture is informed that several Valletta hotels joined forces on Wednesday to provide each other with assistance, relocating guests to hotels equipped with a generator – including some outside the capital – and making their pool facilities available to guests from other hotels.
‘Nightmare’
Short-let accommodation operator Henry Attard, who manages four apartments in Valletta, called the outages in the capital a “nightmare”, with the power cuts leaving guests complaining and demanding refunds.
“It was horrible, I would have expected Valletta to be fixed more urgently,” he said, noting that some parts of the city had been left without power for around 30 hours.
He described receiving no assistance from “helpless” authorities, with Enemalta unable to provide him with a timeframe for restoring power when he called their customer support line.
Attard was left to distribute candles and power banks to frustrated guests on Wednesday night, some as late as 10.30pm. “They were disappointed; they didn’t expect this to happen in Malta,” he said.
Also read: PN tables no confidence vote in Miriam Dalli as minister dodges questions
By the time power returned on Thursday afternoon, he had already paid around €200 to rent a generator in case of further outages that night and was now “seriously considering” investing in a permanent generator – despite the steep costs involved in such a purchase.
He said he had been prepared to cancel his family holiday planned for later this week should the outages continue.
Attard, who also works as an architect, added that the saga had “ruined two days” of work outside his short-let business.
Enemalta said earlier this week that an “intense heatwave” had pushed demand to a record 741MW on Tuesday, placing sustained stress on the country’s energy distribution network.
Company chair Ryan Fava told journalists on Wednesday afternoon that Enemalta had been taken by surprise by the “alarming” demand.
The energy ministry has said that households and businesses that experienced outages of six hours or more during this week’s heatwave would be compensated for their losses.
