A hotel shaped by memory, old stone and a disappearing Malta

When Christopher and Suzanne Sharp first saw the 18th-century palazzo in Attard that would become Casa Bonavita, it was too big, too expensive and almost certainly too ambitious. 

A decade later, they have turned it into a 17-room hotel that says as much about the couple behind it as it does about the kind of Malta they want visitors to find. The Sharps, seasoned travellers and founders of the global Rug Company, have poured their heart, soul and taste into this family project. 

“This is the sort of hotel we have always sought out,” says Suzanne. 

The renovation drew heavily on Maltese craftsmanship. Photos: Boz Gagovski

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They have been driven by the Malta they love, investing in and preserving a gem of a village property and now eager to share it with like-minded visitors.

It opens this weekend in a country where mass tourism has increasingly been associated with budget beds, short stays and anonymous accommodation blocks. Casa Bonavita is trying to do something quieter. 

Their connection to Malta is not new. Some 35 years ago, they lived in what is today the French ambassador’s official residence in Żebbuġ, restoring the house “stone by stone”. That project left its mark, and so did Suzanne’s childhood memories of Sliema, where she remembers admiring buildings that have since disappeared. 

A room in the converted 18th-century Attard palazzo. Photo: Boz Gagovski

“I have always drawn inspiration from Malta. Now, we have to go out and seek it,” she said.

Casa Bonavita had been on the market for some time when the Sharps first came across it. They loved it immediately, but the scale and cost were daunting. Years later, when the opportunity returned, they bought it, first using it as a home and hosting friends who were wowed by the house. 

Turning it into a hotel was not a straightforward business decision. Suzanne acknowledges that restoring a property of this kind can cost as much as buying it. 

“It is good we did not know what it would cost us to restore it to this level,” she said. 

That level is visible throughout the property, though not in the polished, impersonal way often associated with luxury hotels. The final days before opening were full of movement and disorder: craftsmen completing details, rooms being dressed, objects being placed after years of collecting, commissioning and designing. 

Some bathrooms have marbling hand-painted by Italian artists. Photos: Boz Gagovski

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Suzanne spoke to Times of Malta from the Valletta Bar, among handwoven flame stitch cushions, surrounded by hand-painted wallcoverings by de Gournay, depicting calming scenes of the capital city.

The job, one of many, took a whole year to complete after experts studied the Maltese stone and how the climate could affect it.

Elsewhere, antiques sourced from auctions sit alongside bespoke furniture, retro telephones, ceramic switches, handmade ceiling fans and family-made pieces. Personal collections appear in corners and under staircases. The walls hold vibrant artworks; fabrics, colours and patterns collide without apology. 

It is not a minimalist hotel; not one designed to please everyone. Its 17 rooms are intentionally different from one another, each with its own details and mood, defined by vintage pieces and embroidered fabrics. Some bathrooms have marbling hand-painted by Italian artists.

The house kitchen at Casa Bonavita. Photo: Boz Gagovski

The family’s involvement runs through the project. Suzanne, who shaped the Rug Company’s identity and designed its shops around the world, and Christopher were helped by their children to turn the home into a hotel. Much of the trove, some of it with a Malta connection, was bought from youngest son Jamie, an antiques dealer. Custom-made tableware, lamps and decorative pieces are the fruit of her daughter Sophie’s Villa Bologna Pottery, while son Jack has been mostly on lighting.

The dining room with garden plants painted on its walls. Photo: Boz Gagovski

The renovation also drew heavily on Maltese craftsmanship. Suzanne singled out fourth-generation master stonemason Stephen Buhagiar as central to the project. 

Money and creativity do not necessarily come together

The Valletta Bar at Casa Bonavita, where wallcoverings depicting scenes of the capital took a year of create as experts studied stone samples and climate conditions before painting the “capriccio”. Photo: Boz Gagovski

A new building in an adjacent field, originally part of the house, blends into the property. It was built out of old stone and could have accommodated more than double the number of rooms than it does. The Sharps chose space over numbers, including an underground spa that has yet to be fully unveiled. 

The lush gardens of Casa Bonavita. Photo: Boz Gagovski

The hotel’s garden offers another kind of contrast. It’s an enclosed, shaded space with date palms from Spain, orange trees and greenery that softens the surrounding village. The dining room echoes the planting outside, with leaves and branches painted across its walls, doors, handles and hinges. 

“We have been asked why we are investing so much in this.” The answer is embedded in the idea of leaving their mark.

Nestled in Attard, with its own fair share of stunning properties, palaces, gardens, art galleries, a five-star hotel, and real, everyday Maltese living, Casa Bonavita would be the antithesis of rampant development across the island.

Guests can step out to explore “the best of Malta” and retreat from the heat and crowds to the quiet, peaceful “oasis”.

Suzanne and Christopher Sharp, seasoned travellers and founders of the global Rug Company, have poured their heart, soul and taste into this family project. Photo: Boz Gagovski

For the Sharps, Casa Bonavita is not being treated as a hotel; it should flow and feel like staying in a home. Guests can step into the homey house kitchen and help themselves to a sandwich and a fresh pomegranate juice if they are peckish at 11am, or fancy something sweet at teatime. 

It is about “building on the story and going with what you have,” said Suzanne about its romantic, nostalgic feel, referencing Chateau Marmont, LA’s historic hotel reminiscent of old Hollywood, or Hotel Flora in the heart of Venice, another 17th-century intimate palazzo, known for its quiet and enchanting garden of escape.

One of the 17 rooms in the new hotel. Photo: Boz Gagovski

Casa Bonavita has already featured in numerous prestigious international publications, putting Malta on the map for a different holiday experience as seen through its owners’ eyes.

“You need confidence, and you need to know what high-spending people want,” Suzanne said. 

“There are so many great Maltese, with great imagination, but also a shocking lack of it. Money and creativity do not necessarily come together.”

It is hard to precisely define Casa Bonavita’s clientele, but, as the Sharps put it: “they will be people who appreciate history, beauty and privacy – people who get the nuances of life. 

“We are really just creating something that feels true to us,” they said.