Valletta garnered the lion’s share of early hotels in the Maltese islands, closely followed by Sliema and St Julian’s. Other localities like St Paul’s Bay and Gozo were also adequately served with hotels, some of which survive to the present day, though many folded long ago.

The Imperial Hotel, one of the earliest and best known hotels in Sliema.

The old guest houses in St Paul’s Bay like Veċċja and Gillieru came in quite handy for travellers from Valletta or Sliema to Marfa for a sea crossing to Gozo. Before the widespread use of motor cars and charabancs, that trip took a whole day by karozzin and the exhausted traveller would welcome a break for a snack and a rest, halfway at St Paul’s Bay. 

"Rabat boasted of two iconic hotels, the Pont de Vue, which claims it has served as a guest house since the 16th century, and the Grand Hotel Verdala, which is no more"

The Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, Victoria, next to the Barclays Bank.

Gozo hospitality enjoyed a fine pedigree, with 19th century guest houses, like the one run by Mr Griffiths, (who later sadly took his own life) singled out for special praise. Already in 1892, the Duke of Edinburgh Hotel, in Victoria, popularly known as ta’ Axisa, and later run by the Portelli tal-Lingi dynasty, became the in-place. My father, with me as a small child in tow, frequented it after the war, though the Lingi owners were reputed to be unpardonable colonialists. Their factotum Gerit and Tereża the cook served a hearty dinner.

The Victoria Hotel, located in the main square of Victoria, was the competitor of the Duke of Edinburgh.

Other hotels cropped up in unexpected localities, like the Sans Souci outside Marsaxlokk, which acquired, possibly unfairly, the reputation massage parlours monetise today. There were Dowdall’s and the Sea Maid in Birżebbuġa, and the Panorama in Mellieħa, which has changed beyond recognition over the years.

Sans Souci, an old hotel outside Marsaxlokk which enjoyed a doubtful reputation. Photo: Richard Ellis

The Sea Maid Hotel, a favourite with the British armed services in Birżebbuġa.

Family run, Dowdall’s Hotel became a landmark in Birżebbuġa.

The original Hotel Panorama in Mellieħa before it underwent considerable enlargement.

Rabat boasted of two iconic hotels, the Pont de Vue, which claims it has served as a guest house since the 16th century, and the Grand Hotel Verdala, which is no more.

The Point de Vue Hotel in Rabat, Malta, c. 1910

All photos from the author’s collections.

The Palace Hotel, in Marfa, built on an old fortress of the Order, was popular in the interwar years.