Malta’s premier hotel group, Corinthia, is on the threshold of breaking into a new class of hoteliering with plans to develop what it is describing as a mega resort that will include the island’s first six-star hotel.
Group chairman Alfred Pisani, obviously aware of the new national awareness of the need to protect the environment, immediately scotched fears that the development would be yet another environmental scar. He said at the launching of the group’s plan: “This is not going to be some monster development. I guarantee it will be a very particular development and one of the most striking in the Mediterranean.”
It is not difficult to believe the group’s commitment. Their style is a mark of excellence wherever they operate, both in Malta and in a string of countries abroad, including London. Corinthia’s vision is to turn a 76,000-square-metre plot in St George’s into an oasis of excellence, a step which, the chairman said, would take them into the future.
If Corinthia’s vision were to infect even a small segment of the island’s hotel and entertainment industry with a zest for excellence, the country would be set on the road to making a leap forward in the development of the tourist industry.
Although there are pockets of excellence here and there, the island badly needs to take stock of its current facilities and go into a regeneration phase. Far too many services are inferior in quality and a number of hotels badly need refurbishing or upgrading. As it happens, the oasis of excellence the Corinthia plans to develop will sit next to an entertainment district that has anything but excellence.
Paceville’s glitzy, tacky environment will contrast sharply with what the group has in mind to develop and, also, with Portomaso on the other side of the planned development site. Yes, Paceville can be upgraded and kept in a decent state, but few would expect to see Corinthia’s brand of excellence there.
Overall, the country cries out for sprucing up. There has been a welcome change in the way public places are being developed, but the major problem is that far too often they are not well maintained after works are completed.
Railings are allowed to go rusty before they are painted again while bins are left overflowing and it takes time for the government or councils to replace those that are vandalised or damaged.
Many of the roads are sub-standard and outright shabbiness in so many places gives the impression that there is a marked lack of civic pride.
It would seem that taste, a basic sense of what is fitting, is frowned upon and, most unfortunately, the government is far from leading by example. The plans to relocate Valletta’s market stalls from Merchants Street to Ordnance Street, next to an area that has been so tastefully redeveloped, is a first-class abomination.
If the stalls are moved, the site will be robbed of all its elegance. The place ought to be left as it is, completely unencumbered by stalls, boarding of any sort, posters and, also, cars. The Speaker of the House of Representatives does not need to wait for Transport Malta to revoke his permit to park next to the main door of the new parliament building. All he has to do is just to stop parking there. And when are the horrendous stalls just outside City Gate going to be removed?
We need a Corinthia mindset to make progress.