With its history, culture, and love of the arts, staying in Malta is something everyone should do at least once. The people are friendly and cool, the museums excellent, the cathedrals magnificent, and the food is delicious and diverse. With a Mediterranean location and climate thrown into the deal, staying in a luxury hotel adds a little something extra to any Malta visit.

You’ll be pleased to know that luxury accommodation can be found across Malta with hotels in Mellieħa, Valletta, Gozo, and other locations. You can easily find one that is right for you, thanks to the range of offerings. This guide offers choice selections of some of Malta’s finest hotels.

1. Solana Hotel & Spa

The Solana Hotel & Spa offers four stars of luxury in the heart of Mellieħa, a vibrant town located in the north of Malta. Its location isn’t secluded as it is in the heart of the town, but it is perfect if you want to combine luxury while staying connected to the rest of the Mellieħa.

As well as a spa, the hotel features three restaurants, good spacious rooms, is family-friendly, and features a rooftop terrace. The views from here over the town and wider Malta are something to behold.

2. Radisson Blu Resort & Spa, Malta Golden Sands

Radisson Blu offers luxury in every sense to business and leisure travelers. Featuring good sized well-equipped suites and rooms, one of the main selling points of this five-star hotel is the coastal location. If you want luxury by the sea, this one should feature near the top of your list.

3. Palazzo Consiglia

Palazzo Consiglia is a converted townhouse in the heart of Valletta, Malta’s capital city. This is a boutique hotel featuring ornate ceilings, marble floors, and it is fair to say it meets most people’s expectations of luxury. The elegance, the luxury, and the Valletta location are an appealing combination to consider.

4. The Phoenicia Malta

Located in the heart of Valletta, the Phoenicia Malta puts you a short walk from all of the attractions in the city. It offers balcony rooms overlooking the marina. Taking breakfast on a beautiful day watching the boats is genuinely luxurious. Elegance abounds, the outdoor pool, fine dining, and cocktail bar will complement any visit to this exquisite Mediterranean island.

5. Excelsior Grand Hotel

Commanding a breathtaking sea view of Marsamxett Harbour and Manoel Island, the five-star Excelsior Grand Hotel offering is located in the sixteenth-century fortifications of Valletta. Its facilities and level of service match the premier location. Not many hotels can compete with having a private 30 birth Marina. The rooms are large and fuse classical and modern design to produce elegance.

6. Hotel Ta’ Cenc & Spa

If you prefer to stay on the northern island of Gozo, and why wouldn’t you, it’s fantastic, then the Hotel Ta’ Cenc & Spa offers you five stars of luxury and relaxation. As well as indoor and outdoor pools, hydrotherapy baths, sauna, and steam rooms, the hotel has great access to the beach. If Gozo is your choice of location, this is a place to consider.

7. Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz Malta

Offering five stars of luxury, the Kempinski Hotel San Lawrenz Malta may seem a little too big to provide exclusivity. What it may lack in intimacy it more than makes up for in the sheer scale of restaurants, rooms, bars, and other facilities. Detail to luxury is found around every corner, and it is set in magnificent tropical garden grounds.

8. Hilton Malta

The Hilton brand is well known throughout the world, and their Malta offering affords five stars of luxury. Situated in the fashionable district of St. Julian’s, the Hilton gives you both an ocean and marina view from many of its luxury rooms that feature either a balcony or terrace.

9. The Westin Dragonara Resort

Located in trendy St. Julian’s, The Westin Dragonara Resort Hotel could be featured in a James Bond film. Featuring sea view rooms, a casino, and direct access to the sea, this is a luxury hotel that you may want to place at the top of your list. Its exclusiveness of the beach lidos and outdoor pool may want you to have at least one relaxing day in the hotel during your visit.

10. The Palace

Based in Sliema, The Palace hotel is perfect if you want luxury on a smaller, more intimate scale. The urban location is ideal if you like to be in the heart of things, and the hotel’s exclusivity ensures you have privacy when you need it. Featuring European elegance and inspiring views, take a look at the suites as they probably have one to suit your taste.

Tips for Visiting Malta

Malta’s location and compact size mean you can see a lot of the country on any visit. Here are a few tips to help you make the most of your stay.

• When choosing your hotel, take into account what you need and want it to have. All the hotels here are luxury, but some are more geared towards families, while others are more geared to couples.
• Take into account its location. Do you want a more urban hotel or one with sea views?
• Hire a car. Getting around Malta is possible and easy by bus, but car hire is a lot more convenient. Malta’s ferry services are excellent, and so you should be able to travel between Gozo and Malta easily.
• Take your time. Malta is diverse and offers plenty of choices to travelers. Soak up what you see and do and combine attractions as you’ll find great places to see and things to do that are close to one another.
• Consider boat trips. Malta offers several boat trip tours that take you between the three islands that comprise the country. There are also themed boats that provide a chance to see Malta in a different light.

Malta is a wonderful location, and with the right accommodation, you will want to return again and again.

For more information on traveling to Malta, email Ed Lansink at ed@maltauncovered.com or visit www.maltauncovered.com