Malta Hotels

Pick the area before the hotel

Where you stay shapes a Malta trip more than which hotel you book, because the island runs on buses and a single ferry rather than quick cross-town drives. For a first visit without a car, Sliema and St Julian’s are the natural base – a continuous seafront promenade, the direct ferry to Valletta and the main bus routes all start here.

Mellieħa and the north sit next to the sandy beaches and the Gozo ferry, at the cost of a longer run into the capital. Bugibba and St Paul’s Bay are the cheapest mainland bases and well served by bus, while Valletta itself is characterful but quiet after dark and Gozo suits the slower half of a trip. The area-by-area rundown is in where to stay in Malta.

Then match the hotel to the trip

Family hotels cluster in the north near the beaches, with pools and children’s clubs, while adults-only hotels are mostly spa properties in Sliema, St Julian’s and Gozo. For more character, boutique hotels occupy converted townhouses and palazzos in Valletta, Mdina and the old cores.

True all-inclusive resorts are rarer here than in most Mediterranean destinations and sit almost entirely in the north. If you want a pool of your own, hotels with a private pool and swim-up rooms exist but are few and priced at the top end – a farmhouse or villa with a pool, mostly on Gozo, reaches the same result for less.

What it costs and when to book

A mid-range four-star double runs from roughly €90–160 a night, rising sharply through July and August. Peak summer sells out early: the well-priced places on the Sliema–St Julian’s strip and the family resorts in the north are usually gone by spring, so book those first.

Shoulder season – May, June, late September and October – keeps similar weather with more availability and lower rates. The month-by-month picture is in best time to visit Malta, and a realistic daily budget is set out in is Malta expensive.

Getting there and getting around

Whichever area you choose, sort the arrival first: a pre-booked airport transfer is the quickest door-to-door option, while the X1–X4 express buses are the cheapest way to the main resort towns. From a Sliema or St Julian’s base you rarely need more than buses and the Valletta ferry, both covered in getting around Malta.

A hire car earns its keep only for the beaches, the south coast and Gozo, and parking in the resort towns is tight – many visitors rent for a day or two rather than the whole stay.

Splitting your stay with Gozo

If Gozo is on the itinerary, the usual pattern is most nights on Malta plus one or two on Gozo, timed so you have the island to yourself in the evening once the day-trippers leave. If that is more moving around than you want, a Gozo day trip from a Malta base takes in the headline sights instead, and Malta vs Gozo sets the two approaches side by side. Couples after a quieter, more romantic trip should also look at Malta honeymoon ideas.