IBB Hotel Collection on Thursday celebrated the opening of the legendary Macina as Cugó Gran Macina Grand Harbour in Senglea.

Cugó Gran Macina is also the first member of Design Hotels in Malta.

The opening ceremony was held on the property’s rooftop event venue, The Sheer Bastion, part of the Hammett’s Collection of the eponymous Chris Hammett, a 24-time award winning restaurateur.

The 16th century building required 40,000 total man hours and a multimillion euro investment on restoration and rehabilitation to turn it into a hotel offering 21 suites, which chairman Sven von Heyden said had brought it “another step closer to being a UNESCO World Heritage Site”.

Built in 1554, during the reign of Grand Master Claude de la Sengle, Macina has been one of the Grand Harbour’s most renowned landmarks, deriving its name ‘Macina’ (originally ‘macchina’) from the large sheer crane structure, used to hoist masts and other heavy cargo, which was eventually dismantled during the British period in 1864.

IBB Hotel Collection is a subsidiary of Von der Heyden Group, a Valletta-based real estate development, investment and group of hotels, which is now working on the new IBB Hotel Valletta Merkanti adjacent to Suq tal-Belt.