The lobby of The Westin Dragonara Resort is so exceptionally large and lively it gave us the same adrenalin kick we get stepping aboard a luxury cruise liner. The wonderful views of the glistening blue Mediterranean Sea along its impressive length add to the experience. This size contrasts sharply with Malta itself, the 10th smallest country in the world.
But for what Malta may lack in size, it certainly makes up for with its 300 annual days of sunshine, the warmth of its people, whose two languages are English and Maltese, its great variety of attractions, and for its ease of access, just below Italy and an hour’s flight from Rome.
The Dragonara, which was the first Westin in Europe when it opened in 1997, is on a private headland embraced by the sea in the resort town of St. Julian’s, a 15-minute drive from the capital Valletta and from the international Luqa Airport.
Family-friendly, it has a wealth of indoor and outdoor facilities, from the lobby with its comfortable couches, piano bar and sun-drenched veranda, to its two large pools, small sandy cove and a rocky sun deck with loungers. Then there are the heated indoor pool, kids club, fitness center, two tennis courts and the lively nightlife, shops and restaurants in St. Julian’s, which is a short walk, while busy Paceville and Sliema are a quick taxi ride away.
The peak season for the property, and for Malta, is from May to October (but don’t forget those 300 days of sunshine!), so be sure to make reservations early. For special queries, general manager Michael Camilleri Kamsky said to contact him through his PA and director of quality assurance, Petra Portelli Lenicker (petra.lenicker@westin.com; 356-2138-1000), and for concierge needs the go-to person is Tony Salim (tony.salim@westin.com; 356-2138-1000). We spoke to doorman Peter Attard, who told us they arrange cars, boats and guides for tours, and that the hop-on-hop-off buses on the Valletta, South, North and Malta by Night routes, are also popular with guests.
There are a total of 412 accommodations. The guestrooms include Deluxe, Westin Executive Club, Luxury Garden View and Tower rooms, while there are also a hundred suites, including the five top-of-the-house newly opened Presidential Penthouses with private terraces and pools. The décor throughout is uniformly in soft hues with striking touches of Mediterranean blues and turquoise. The suites have open plan living and dining areas and kitchenettes and the bathrooms are spacious with free-standing bathtubs and walk-in rainfall showers.
Tall windows—many opening to full-panoramic sea views—start from the lobby and extend to all the guestrooms, with others looking out over the gardens, the pool, the kid’s area and the rocky promontory with the 24-hour Dragonara Palace Casino. This iconic columned building was built in the late 1800s by a wealthy Maltese nobleman as his summer residence.
Top Pick: Of the 69 Luxury Bay Suites, 10 are Luxury Bay Infinity Suites, one of which has two bedrooms. These should be your choice for honeymooners as they have private pools and garden decks practically on the water’s edge, overlooking intimate St. George’s Bay or the open sea.
Of the five Presidential Penthouse Suites with large pools that have just opened on the seventh floor, two have one bedroom, one has two bedrooms and two have three bedrooms. We particularly liked No. 7786, which is on a corner and has two bedrooms, a powder room, a huge terrace with a Jacuzzi, and views from the Casino Palace promontory right around to St. George’s Bay, home to one of Malta’s most popular sandy beaches.
There is no full spa, but the Beauty Salon has a range of body and beauty treatments and the fitness center is well equipped and has personal trainers. Executive Chef James Mifsud helms the restaurants. Quadro offers a menu of local choices like his signature wild seabass with scallop pâté, white asparagus, pearl couscous and hollandaise foam; The Terrace serves breakfasts and buffets; the Palio’s Trattoria’s menu is pure Italy; and the lobby’s ORVM Lounge is perfect for light bites.
With just 500,000 inhabitants, Malta (the other two inhabited islands are Gozo and Comino) gets over 6 million international visitors every year, and it really knows how to show them a good time. From showcasing its handsome history and art, like the two priceless Caravaggio paintings in St. John’s Co-Cathedral, to al fresco dining on cobblestone streets, water activities and the lively summer festivals with music, street food, and fireworks in parishes around the islands—Malta boasts an astonishing 359 churches.
Malta is also unique in that it has three World Heritage sites that can be visited in the same day; UNESCO calls one of them, Valletta, “one of the most concentrated historic areas in the world.” The sea is omni-present in the islands’ traditions and daily life, and for visitors this means swimming and water sports, diving and fishing off the rocky coastline as well as visits to the famous Blue Grotto and Grand Harbour cruises.
Distances are short, and on Sunday mornings, the little fishing village of Marsaxxlok is just half an hour’s drive from The Westin Dragonara Resort. It has a local street market, which is a prelude to great seafood lunches in the little restaurants around the port. Other not-to-miss attractions are the Hagar Qim megalithic site, the Fort San Elmo War Museum and the “Game of Thrones” movie sets like Fort Manoel, on an island in Valletta’s harbor, and the Sant Anton presidential palace. And of course no visit is complete without at least a day spent on Gozo, which is 20 minutes away by ferry, and is much greener and a lot less hectic than Malta.
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