The owners of Malta’s largest hotel – the Seabank Hotel in Mellieha – are set to launch Malta’s second largest next month, reopening the San Antonio Hotel in Qawra just four months after it closed for refurbishment.

During a visit to the Qawra hotel by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Tourism Minister Karmenu Vella, chairman Silvio Debono announced that the group’s aim is to establish a chain of hotels, and that the process has started to unite the two hotels it presently owns under one brand.

The company has invested €28 million in the refurbishment of the San Antonio Hotel, whose number of rooms is going up from 300 to 485. The workforce will increase by 100 as a result,

The hotel closed down in late November and was set to reopen on 16 April. But works are running ahead of schedule, and Mr Debono announced that it is set to reopen on 15 March. The company had also rebuilt the Seabank Hotel in record time – eight months – to ensure it was ready for the peak tourist season.

Mr Debono pointed out that the group has invested a total of €68 million over the past two years, stressing that it had faith in the country’s future.

In his address, Dr Muscat hailed the company’s efforts to set up a new Maltese hotel chain, expressing his hopes that it would emulate the success of another Maltese chain which has achieved success overseas, in a clear reference to the Corinthia Hotels.

He also stressed that the government was hoping to transform the Qawra and Bugibba area into a quality tourism hub, stating that the area has suffered because of years of neglect, even though it hosted a great concentration of hotels.