The new five-star Le Meridien St Julian’s Hotel, overlooking Balluta Bay, yesterday opened its doors to the first few guests. This hotel brings the number of five-star hotels in Malta up to 15.

This hotel is one of the three set to open in 2006, while another hotel is undergoing extensive extension works. The hotels opening this year will increase the number of available beds by 1,770. Five-star hotels in Malta together offer more than 6,300 beds.

The Le Meridien St Julian’s Hotel will be officially inaugurated next month.

During the soft launch of the hotel yesterday morning, Tourism Minister Francis Zammit Dimech said the development was important for the Maltese tourism industry because it is located at the heart of St Julian’s. The Spinola Bay restaurants and the bars and nightclubs of Paceville – Malta’s entertainment Mecca – are all within walking distance from the hotel.

The hotel was built in the grounds of Villa Cassar Torreggiani, which was built in the 18th century. The villa is expected to be restored to its original glory and used as a dining area.

It has 277 rooms and suites including 78 sea view rooms, 21 junior sea view suites, 24 executive sea view suites, 13 suites, 132 standard rooms and nine family rooms. There is an entire floor dedicated to conferencing and meeting space with a choice of 14 meeting rooms and an amphitheatre with nearly 150 fixed seats.

The hotel also offers a range of spa facilities including an indoor pool, a Jacuzzi, a sauna, a beauty salon, a rooftop swimming pool and a sundeck with panoramic views.

More than 260 people will be employed at the hotel.

Dr Zammit Dimech said more than 75 per cent of those tourists who come to Malta for conferences or incentive travel choose to stay in five-star hotels.

88,500 who visited Malta in the first 11 months 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, which is an increase of 6.8 per cent over 2004.

It is estimated that these visitors spend three times as much as other people who visit Malta as ‘normal’ tourists.