The new five-star Le Meridien St Julian’s Hotel, overlooking Balluta Bay, will be opening its doors in March, bringing the number of five-star hotels in Malta to 14.
This hotel is one of three due to open in 2006, while another hotel is undergoing extension work. The hotels opening this year will increase the number of available beds by 1,770. Five-star hotels in Malta together offer more than 6,000 beds.
Touring the new hotel, which is still under construction, Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said five-star hotels are very important for Malta, as more than three-quarters of conference and incentive travel visitors choose to stay in this category of hotel.
Dr Zammit Dimech said that more than 88,500 people who visited Malta in the first 11 months of last year came here as business tourists. This reflected an increase of 8.7 per cent over the same months the previous year. The number of delegates attending conferences held in Malta reached the 63,000 mark, an increase of 6.8 per cent over 2004. It is estimated that these visitors spend three times as much as “ordinary” tourists.
The Tourism Minister said the hotel was important for the Maltese tourism industry because it is located in the heart of St Julian’s. The Spinola Bay restaurants, and the nightclubs and bars of Paceville, Malta’s entertainment mecca, are all within walking distance of the hotel.
The hotel has been built in the grounds of Villa Cassar Torreggiani, which was built in the 18th century.
The villa is expected to be restored to its former glory and used as a dining area.
There will be 277 rooms and suites in the hotel: 78 sea view rooms, 21 junior sea view suites, 24 executive sea view suites, 13 suites, 132 standard rooms and nine family rooms. An entire floor is dedicated to conference and meeting space, with a choice of 14 meeting rooms and an amphitheatre with approximately 150 fixed seats.
Also offered are a range of spa facilities including an indoor pool, a Jacuzzi, a sauna, beauty treatments, a roof-top swimming pool and a sundeck with panoramic views.
More than 200 people will be employed in the hotel.