In Żurrieq, two historic Maltese properties to become a 21-room five-star hotel

The south of Malta has never been a destination for luxury hospitality. The archipelago’s five-star hotels are concentrated in St Julian’s, Sliema and around Valletta, and Żurrieq is only known to visitors for the Blue Grotto along its coast. A 21-room project could change that, establishing a five-star hotel on the village’s main square, opposite St Catherine’s Church. The Planning Authority has recommended its approval; the board will make its decision on 10 September 2026.

Two buildings, two centuries, one address

The future hotel will occupy two adjacent structures located at numbers 8, 9 and 10 Triq San Mikiel and numbers 25 and 26 Misraħ ir-Repubblika. The first is the surviving part of a 17th-century palazzo, the other a 19th-century townhouse. The entire site lies within the Urban Conservation Area of Żurrieq and directly faces St Catherine’s parish church, a monument scheduled at the highest level of Maltese heritage protection.

The developer is Baldacchino Holdings, a Maltese group that already operates the Garden of Eden wedding venue and owns the Kempinski San Lawrenz in Gozo. They are therefore no newcomer to the archipelago’s hotel industry.

From an unbuilt care home to a hotel

The site already has a complex planning history. A permit was granted in 2011 to develop a care home, then renewed in 2017, though the project was never realised. This initial permit was approved despite the objections of the Heritage Advisory Committee and the case officer, both of whom recommended refusal, and it already authorised a recessed upper floor highly visible from the square.

The same owner is therefore redirecting their investment towards hospitality, building on an already approved envelope. This is an important point in the case: the case officer confirmed that the maximum height permitted by the 2017 permit would not be exceeded.

What the heritage guardians achieved

The project did not pass without resistance. The Superintendence of Cultural Heritage initially expressed serious reservations about the proposed internal demolitions, including that of the main staircase, and the volume of the rooftop superstructures, which risked creating blank party walls. The architects went back to the drawing board: the pool, originally planned for the roof, was moved down to the ground floor, and the internal layout was modified.

The Superintendence then lifted its architectural objections, subject to strict archaeological monitoring during construction. The heritage NGO Din l-Art Ħelwa had also opposed the initial plans, arguing that a commercial operation of this scale would overwhelm the street and regretting the loss of a pleasure garden in favour of terraces. Moving the pool defused most of the controversy, without entirely resolving the underlying question: that of the commercialisation of Maltese village cores.

A scattered hotel in the village

The originality of the project lies in its operating model. These 21 rooms do not constitute a standalone hotel: they form the third link in a cluster of three planned properties in Żurrieq, designed to operate as a network. The central hub, which will house the reception, administration and likely the main restaurant, will occupy another building on the same square, the application for which is still being processed.

This is the *albergo diffuso* model, born in depopulated Italian villages and designed to reoccupy existing buildings without new construction. The Planning Authority validated the approach on the grounds that the main access is located in the secondary urban centre, where Class 3B hotels are permitted.

Parking: a pre-resolved issue

There remains the thorn of any project in an old town centre: parking. Standards require five dedicated parking spaces for an establishment of this size. The Authority did not request any additional financial contribution, on the grounds that the care home project, which had higher requirements, had already made a full payment to the Urban Improvement Fund. This past payment is deemed sufficient to cover the needs of the new use.

Our view

This project is significant less for its size than for what it tests. Restoring a 17th-century palazzo rather than building anew on the outskirts is the opposite of what Malta has done for twenty years, and the south of the island, long neglected in favour of the north, needs exactly this kind of demonstration.

The method is worth noting. A permit was not forced through against conservationists: it was amended until the Superintendence withdrew its objections. Moving the pool might seem like a detail; in reality, it is what separates an intact historic roofline from a fifth level covered in sun loungers opposite a listed church. If the scattered hotel model proves operationally viable, it could be replicated in other villages across the archipelago. It is then, and not on 10 September, that we will know if Żurrieq has paved the way.

Practical information on the future Żurrieq hotel

• Address · 8-10 Triq San Mikiel and 25-26 Misraħ ir-Repubblika, Żurrieq, Malta
• Capacity · 21 rooms, five-star rating
• Developer · Baldacchino Holdings
• Planning Authority decision · expected on 10 September 2026