As I sit on my plane squeezing in a final Prosecco ( much to the annoyance of the hubster) I thought I’d share with you the details of our trip to gorgeous Malta.
This is my second trip to St Julian’s bay, the first being for my best friend Jayne’s birthday some 7 years ago when she turned 50. We had a great week back then with our two families & we vowed to return.
Fast forward mid covid times whereby in the land of Hospitality ( the sector in which the hubster & I work) coupled with not much choice of holiday destinations right now and a much needed break as we haven’t really stopped working throughout the pandemic.
So pleased we were to see Malta on the green list, we were double jabbed and booked some very reasonable Easy Jet flights and some awesome accommodation at the Intercontinental Malta and off we went for five glorious days.
We embarked on a flawless turbulence free flight which took only 2 hours & 50 minutes and took a very quick taxi ride to St Julian’s bay from Valletta airport. Since we took a mega early flight our room was not quite ready, so we left our luggage and hot footed it to the private beach. This is located in St George’s bay, a mere five minute walk from our hotel.
The service at the beach was a little shaky. Obviously new teams are getting used to new ways of working coupled with enhanced covid processes and to be honest much of the focus was on clearing away (quite rightly) and ensuring guest bills were signed immediately which kind of took some of the service journey one craves on holiday away. This said, we did stumble across some hospitality superstars along the way….
We opted for the Intercontinental because seven years ago we received the most marvellous service. The GM at the time was one of the best and has since moved to the Carlton in Cannes ( defo on the bucket once the refurbishment is finished). The hotel is in a great spot plus has the beach and a fabulous restaurant called Paranga. We dined there four times over five nights as the location right on the sea is unrivalled. The food and service was awesome, plenty of options for all tastes expertly delivered by an outstanding team.
After lunch on the beach and a couple of vinos, we basked in the sun before heading back to our hotel for a much needed long dribbly siesta before freshening up and heading for Paranga. We were seated on the balcony overlooking the bay which was lit up by the glamorous Corinthia and opted for a light Gavi di Gavi and some sumptuously grilled fish mixed grills. We then returned back to the beach which had turned into the place for chilled acoustic vibes and cocktails.
At Julian’s is a good place for a couples and family break, but is also somewhere to party. Google Paceville and you will see why. This is a Mecca not for the lighthearted and is frequented by the youth and actually a lot less worrying than your offspring celebrating the end of their GCSEs or A levels (as mine did) with a booze fuelled trip to Magaluf. Paceville does seem like a softer option with still many bars and clubs to choose from.
The next day, saw a repetition of day one. We were still in unwind mode and explored on food the local area to reacquaint ourselves with our surroundings. On the second night we went for Pre-Paranga cocktails to the Corinthia. The bar is al-fresco and the cocktails and views are simply stunning. There is also a Michelin eatery called Caviar & Bull. There are two of these, the other in the Corinthia Budapest. The chef is Maltese as is the Corinthia brand.
There is much going on in Malta, buildings are going up as land is scarce so there are plenty of apartments for sale but villas and houses are expensive. Malta due to its closeness to Africa is a desirable place to live as the climate is remarkable and you can swim in the sea until December, even then the winters are balmy in comparison to the UK.
We ventured out for dinner on day three to the glitzy Westin, situated higher up and offering fabulous views. We opted for Italian and dined on mussels, calamari, pizza and pastas washed down with some chilled Italian white. The restaurant was lovely and full of families and couples. It was so lovely to see hospitality and travel making its comeback.
Day four saw us taking our covid tests, thankfully negative before taking the speedy ferry from Valletta to Gozo. We hired a private air conditioned taxi the other side who stayed with us throughout the day for a very reasonable €60. We visited our lady of Ta ‘Pinu, the Citadel, the cute town centre with market Before enjoying aperol spritzes and a delicious lunch at Restaurant Il-Kartell. We were spoilt again with the positioning of our table being right on the waters edge. We dropped in at the beautiful sand Ramla Bay before taking (and snoozing) on the ferry back before refreshing ourselves for another evening on the beach and Paranga.
Day 5 saw us top up our tan, buy some presents for our children who were at home now working and looking after the rescue pups. We relaxed on the beach swam in the sea, even treated to a visit to the hotel hairdresser and enjoys lingering dinner at you guessed it Paranga. One more final digestive on the beach and off to bed before heading back today….
Malta is a fabulous country, steeped in history and sometimes overlooked I feel from a British tourism perspective. It has much to offer and we had one of our most memorable well received (after 19 months of covid) breaks. We’re going to return in October in fact!
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