Hotels' winter shutdown in the north will have serious repercussions on properties which continue to operate throughout the low season as Bugibba, Qawra and St Paul's Bay turn into ghost towns, a hotelier has warned.

"Guests staying at hotels in this area in winter have complained of being afraid to venture out at night because the streets are deserted. It is almost as if guests were trapped in their hotels," Robbie Borg told The Times Business. "Even the small businesses that surround the cluster of hotels will suffer because there is no clientele. There are repercussions for the entire area. Hotels need support if we are to advertise to salvage winter business."

Several three- and four-star hotels in the area are planning to close again this winter for a few weeks between November and March - some have been closed since the summer - even though hotel owners report mixed results for summer 2009.

Mr Borg is to close his 380-room, three-star Palm Court Hotel in Qawra again this winter after "a bad summer". The property will be closed from November to mid-February and some refurbishment will be carried out. Mr Borg, whose low-fare airline British Jet closed down in January 2008, has also given up on two other hotels he used to lease, the three-star Venus and two-star Sunstone, and ceased operations in the summer.

Mr Borg, who has been in the tourism business for nearly 30 years and owns the tourism portal Maltabargains.com, said the staff at the Palm Court had dwindled to 35 from 120.

"We have seen 40 per cent occupancy this year," Mr Borg lamented. "We used to be full in summer and winter. When we were overbooked, our business spilled over to other hotels in the area."

Malta's largest four-star property, the Seashells Resort at Suncrest, will close from the end of November to mid-March, AX Group director of hospitality Claire Zammit Xuereb confirmed. Intentions to close the hotel for the second consecutive winter were announced earlier this year.

Ms Zammit Xuereb now hopes to keep the hotel open the following winter "if a good deal is struck". This winter the hotel will undergo the usual upkeep and staff have been retained and given options on working hours.

The three-star Primera Hotel is to close for four weeks from January 7 to allow for some maintenance to be carried out, general manager Eman Borg said yesterday. Mr Borg described June and October business as "really bad" but said that July to September were average. The hotel, which has started to tap the German market to complement its UK business, owes four to five per cent of its occupancy to direct bookings.

The three-star Palazzin will continue its five-year-old policy to close in the winter and will shut its doors from November to mid-March. Staff said the hotel enjoyed a good summer which showed a slight slowdown.

Formosa Group will keep its four-star Canifor Hotel and the adjacent aparthotel open over the next few months but the three-star Coral Hotel will close between end November and mid-January. The hotel, which was acquired by the group two years ago, was also closed last winter until March. A hotel official said the closure would serve to give the hotel a facelift and save on utility bills. Its 20-odd staff would help relieve personnel at the other properties after a summer during which "there was nothing to complain about".

Sources said no decision has been taken on the fate of the Santana and Sunflower hotels this winter as yet.