The new-look San Antonio Hotel in Buġibba will be welcoming its first guests on March 15. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

The San Antonio Hotel in Buġibba is set to become the second largest on the island, following a €28 million investment by parent company Seabank Group.

The hotel, which closed for refurbishment in November, will reopen next month with its overall capacity doubling to top 1,400 beds.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat visited the site yesterday as more than 700 employees work around the clock to complete the project .

The work includes building an additional three storeys as well as a new block to increase the number of rooms from 300 to 485, including 80 suites.

The new-look Moorish-styled hotel, which opened in 2001, will include four pools, a private beach and three restaurants including one specialising in Moroccan cuisine.

Seabank Group chairman Silvio Debono said works were well ahead of schedule and announced that the reopening had been brought forward by a month.

As a result, the hotel will be welcoming its first guests on March 15, with the official opening set for June.

An upbeat Mr Debono said that, in the past two years, the group had invested a total of €68 million, which included upgrading Mellieħa’s Seabank Hotel, now the largest in Malta.

He said the company was very confident that the tourism industry had a bright future, especially after the introduction of low-cost airlines some years ago, and that Seabank’s rapid expansion would result in 100 extra jobs.

He said that, in the coming weeks, Seabank would be unveiling its own brand, including its hotel chain.

Dr Muscat lauded Mr Debono for the company’s investment in the tourism industry, remarking that the project would help to raise standards in the north.

He added that the government was committed to upgrading the Buġibba and Qawra areas, which were neglected in recent years.

It was trying to do its part by reducing bureaucracy and promoting innovation.