Hotels in Mellieħa, Malta's northern beach base

Mellieħa is where I’d base a beach holiday on the main island. It sits at the northern end of Malta above Għadira Bay, with the best sandy beaches around it and Ċirkewwa, the port for the Gozo ferry and the Comino boats, close by. The trade-off is simple, and worth accepting before you book. Valletta is at the other end of the island.

Few hotels, all of them big

On the MTA’s official list, Mellieħa has 11 licensed hotels once you include the Radisson Blu Resort & Spa Golden Sands, registered as «Ghajn Tuffieha Mellieha». One is five-star, eight four-star and two three-star. There aren’t many, but with a median of 240 rooms they’re by far the biggest in Malta. The Seabank declares 593, the Riviera Spa Resort 358 and the Maritim Antonine 280.

In practice, that means resorts, hotels designed for long days on site with pools and facilities, where location is measured in minutes to the beach. Mellieħa is one of the areas where all-inclusive in Malta is sold most. If you’d prefer something small, the register also lists the Lure, a four-star with 12 rooms on the parish square, and there are 4 guesthouses and 450 licensed holiday lets in the area.

What sets Mellieħa apart

The first is the Riviera Spa Resort, the only hotel in the whole of Malta that the MTA flags as adults only. For couples who’d rather not share the pool with toddlers, that’s a useful detail, and I say more in Malta for couples. The second is the Mellieha Holiday Centre, the country’s only licensed holiday village, with 738 beds on Triq il-Marfa. The third is Għadira’s sand on the doorstep.

And one absence. The Mellieha Bay Hotel, a name people still search for, isn’t in the MTA register of 28 September 2026. Whether it has shut or changed its name I can’t say, but I wouldn’t pay for a deal with that name without checking the licence first.

Beach and boats on your doorstep

Several of the big hotels, the Seabank, the Riviera and the Ramla Bay Resort, are on Triq il-Marfa, the bay road. Għadira has a sandy beach and a Natura 2000 nature reserve behind it, which I cover in Mellieħa Bay. Golden Bay and Għajn Tuffieħa lie to the west, and bus 101 links them with Mellieħa and Ċirkewwa.

Gozo Channel boats leave Ċirkewwa for Mġarr and take roughly 25 minutes; the €4.65 return is paid when you sail back from Gozo. Staying in Mellieħa means catching the first boat without a brutal alarm, and the same goes for Comino and its booked Blue Lagoon slots. Everything else is on my Malta Gozo ferry page.

Travelling with children

Mellieħa has one more card to play for families. Popeye Village, the set built for the 1980 film at Anchor Bay, is within its boundaries and on the route of bus 101. If you’d rather have a flat than a hotel room for a family fortnight, the village has 450 licensed holiday lets, and a kitchen goes a long way when the children want fish fingers rather than rabbit stew. More in my Popeye Village guide.

Can you do Valletta from here?

Yes, you can, but I wouldn’t try it every day. Route 42 runs from Valletta to Ċirkewwa via Mosta and Mellieħa, and it’s a long ride. I’d plan one or two days in the capital and spend the rest of the week in the north, with Gozo and Comino. If your plans lean the other way, with more sights than sunbathing on the list, have a look at where to stay in Malta first.

Arriving from the airport

The Airport Direct TD1 goes from the airport to Ċirkewwa via Rabat, Buġibba and Mellieħa, hourly, for €3.50. The Ministry for Gozo says it runs from 5am to midnight, so if your flight lands in the small hours you’ll need a taxi; the official one at the airport is Malta Taxi, with fares on its calculator. One dated warning. In January 2026 Malta Public Transport introduced a free shuttle in the village because of long-term roadworks; check whether it’s still running before you travel.

Last of all, each guest aged 18 or over pays €1.50 a night in eco-contribution, with a ceiling of €22.50 a stay.