One of Malta’s oldest hotels to be extended and restored

The planning authority approved a full development permit to build two new wings at the Phoenicia, one of Malta’s oldest hotels.

The permit covers the restoration of the facade and the construction of 41 bedrooms and a landscaped roof.

The property also includes a stable house in St John’s Ditch that was built by the British and which will now be restored.

The hotel property covers an area of about 40,000 square metres of which three per cent is taken up by the main building.

The permit, which was recommended for approval, was granted by the Malta Environment and Planning Authority board against a bank guarantee of €50,000. The board also asked the applicant to pay €109,000 to make good for the loss of 52 parking spaces. The money will be deposited in the Commuter Parking Payment Scheme, a fund used to build car parks and facilities related to public transport infrastructure.

The Phoenicia Hotel was built partly on the place-of-arms – a place outside a fortified town where troops could assemble for defence – just outside Valletta’s main gate.

Plans to build the hotel started in 1935 and British architect William Bryce Binnie was commissioned to oversee the project one year later. The site was hit during World War II, leaving the east side badly damaged. The hotel was opened in 1947 and several alterations were made in the 1960s. Another floor was added in the 1990s.