You would not expect Prince and Princess Michael of Kent to check into a hotel that is not star-laden. Royalty is expected to stay in top-notch accommodation.

But that’s exactly what the couple did when they visited Malta in August 2018. The Kents stayed in a four-star hotel − the ritzy Domus Zamittello.

Domus Zamittello, like 18 other similarly sized hostelries in Valletta, is a ‘boutique hotel’, a term that has no precise defi­nition, although the Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “a small stylish hotel, typically one situated in a fashionable urban location”.

Boutique hotels are usually small, with fewer than 100 rooms – purists say the room threshold should be no more than 30; they may or may not have a restaurant or a bar, and leisure and meeting facilities are not de rigueur. Bluntly, boutique hotels do not appear to offer much. Usually in a historic or a grand building, what they do offer is a sense of style and service.

A boutique hotel does not need to be a luxury hotel too. “Hotels do not become ‘boutique’ by charging high rates or offering over-the-top amenities,” according to HotelTechReport. “Many boutique hotels are affordable and focus more on personalised service than glamorous decor or five-star facilities.”

Some hotel operators, such as Allelon Hospitality’s managing director Dirk Hili, stress that their properties “are not boutique hotels and we do not use the term ‘boutique’ in any of our literature”.

The moniker ‘boutique’, he says, “has possible implications, such as a lack of 24-hour front-desk services, lack of breakfast, fitness centres… which is not the market that we are in”.

“We prefer to see ourselves as small luxury hotels,” emphasises Hili, whose company runs the Palais Le Brun, La Falconeria Hotel and The Gomerino Hotel.

Many of Valletta’s boutique hotels do not provide a raft of facilities but what they all have in common is a desire to offer luxury “in a fashionable urban location”, which the capital has become.

Take the Rosselli, operated by AX Hotels. This 25-room, five-star hotel with a rooftop plunge pool “was intended from the outset to cater for the luxury market”, says Claire Zammit Xuereb, hospitality and care director at the AX Group.

“The Rosselli’s audience is after pampering, all the luxury and all the sophistication available.”

To underscore this, its restaurant, Under Grain, was awarded a much-coveted Michelin star.

Another hotel restaurant that boasts a Michelin star is the ION Harbour at another five-star, the Iniala Harbour House, that overlooks Valletta’s Grand Harbour. 

It is owned by Briton Max Weingard who “saw a huge gap” in the luxury market when he arrived in Malta nine years ago and decided it “would be nice to do something here”.

That something turned out to be buying four townhouses along St Barbara’s Bastion and spending €20 million converting them into a plush, 23-room boutique hotel with an indoor pool, gym, spa, and, of course, a restaurant.

“We are a small hotel that gives you the facilities of a big hotel,” Weingard beams.

Having an internationally recognised restaurant is not a vaccine against the effects of a pandemic.

With a few exceptions, most of the boutique hotels in Valletta opened before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and only one closed because of it.

Like all hotels in the country, they suffered throughout 2020 and 2021. At La Falconeria and the Palais Le Brun, for instance, occupancies pre-pandemic were at approximately 90 per cent, according to Hili.

“Throughout the COVID period this level fluctuated, with some of the more extreme months seeing close to zero per cent while we had a few fortunate months where occupancies climbed to 60 and 70 per cent levels. But, on the whole throughout the two-year crisis, I would say we averaged between 25 and 30 per cent occupancy,” he adds.

The Iniala Harbour House opened at the height of the pandemic in November 2020, with a skeleton staff. And, in 2021, “we struggled and lost a lot of money”,  Weingard explains, “because we didn’t have the occupancy or the price range we wanted”.

“With a few exceptions, most of the boutique hotels in Valletta opened before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and only one closed because of it”

However, he is confident both occupancies and rates will improve this year. His worry, like everyone else’s, is the onset of another wave of the pandemic.

The Iniala has reported “a good February” and the rest of the year looks promising.Another property that opened during the pandemic, in the summer of 2021, is the 44-room Gomerino in St Paul Street. 

“It was easier to open with lower occupancies compared to the mad rush we had with our two previous Valletta hotels,” Hili says.

“Occupancies began in the 60 per cent range as it was a period post-vaccine when restrictions had been lifted. We then entered the traditionally low winter season coupled with a new wave with the Omicron variant, which lowered occupancies drastically. However, they have now started to rise again.”

AX’s St John, in Merchants Street, opened in 2017 as a contactless hotel. 

“We were ahead of the game there, well before COVID,” Zammit Xuereb says with a smile.

“The product attracts a different audience to the Roselli,” she explains. “The St John is aimed at a more independent, digitally driven clientele; everything is automated. This was something new, a product not wholly dependent on human resources.” This contactless approach helped the hotel weather the pandemic.

Although boutique hotels often attract high-flying business people and a more affluent clientele that is after culture, high-end shopping and is willing to travel off-season, most of these properties are classified as guest houses by the Malta Tourism Authority (MTA), the accommodation sector’s licensing body.

MTA chairperson Gavin Gulia says the authority is reviewing the law regarding classifications and is “…going to be taking into consideration the new realities of the versatile accommodation types, including boutique hotels. We are also looking into other classifications for co-living spaces in view of the recent popu­larity which our country is having with digital nomads”.

“While hotels and resorts are still sought after, we have noticed that a fair share of tourists decide to go for the ‘live like a local’ approach and this would see them choose accommodation which would not be as large as a hotel but which is found at the heart of our cities and villages, offering the highest levels of quality, comfort and fine dining experiences,” he adds.

“Undoubtedly, Valletta is no exception, giving tourists that little something extra, as most boutique hotels in the capital are beautifully restored historical buildings which allow tourists to not only step into a history book upon entering but to spend a few days inside one.”