Where to stay in Malta, and where I'd skip

Malta looks tiny on the map, and that’s exactly why people get the base wrong. From Valletta to Mellieħa is the whole island by bus, and saving a few pounds on a hotel in the north can cost you hours each day in traffic. So before I look at a single hotel, I work out what I want to do each day and where I want to be when the sun goes down.

To size up what’s on offer, I counted the Malta Tourism Authority’s public register as it stood on 28 September 2026. It lists 196 licensed hotels, 23 of them five-star, plus 255 guesthouses, 44 hostels and 8,361 licensed holiday lets. Anything advertised that isn’t on that register would make me think twice.

Sliema versus Valletta

Most first-timers end up choosing between these two, and I’d put them almost level. Valletta puts you inside a World Heritage city, with the co-cathedral and the Barrakka Gardens a short walk away. The catch is size. Its 16 hotels have a median of 28 rooms, and if you leave out the Excelsior, which declares 433, the other fifteen share 508. They fill early and charge accordingly, as I explain in my guide to hotels in Valletta.

Sliema is the one I recommend to more people. It has 24 hotels, 32 guesthouses, 12 hostels and over a thousand flats with a licence, a long seafront for evening walks and the Valletta ferry, which costs €3 single by day and crosses without stopping. Sleeping opposite the capital and hopping over each morning strikes me as the smartest way to do Valletta without paying Valletta prices.

Which area suits which holiday?

St Julian’s, which includes Paceville, has more hotels than anywhere else in the register, 58 in all, and 10 of the 23 five-stars. It’s right for a lads’ or hens’ weekend or for a big resort hotel with a pool and spa. The Foreign Office warns about drink spiking in Paceville, so if sleep matters I’d pick a hotel around St George’s Bay or Spinola rather than the club strip.

Buġibba and Qawra sit within St Paul’s Bay, the budget choice by the sea. There are 37 hotels, none of them five-star and most of them large, and 1,135 licensed holiday lets, the most anywhere. Mellieħa, further north, is for people who came to swim. It has the sandy beaches and the Gozo and Comino boats close by, but Valletta is a long way for a daily trip.

Gozo as your second base

I wouldn’t make Gozo the only base on a first visit, but I’d happily make it the second. Of Gozo’s international visitors in 2024, 91.2% were there and back in a day, according to the MTA, which means most people see it at its busiest. Three or four nights in Marsalforn, Xlendi or a farmhouse with a pool changes the whole feel of the holiday. More in my guide to hotels in Gozo.

Package, hotel or holiday let

British visitors lean towards packages. The MTA found in 2025 that 62.4% of British trips to Malta were packages bought from a tour operator or agent, a higher share than for any other nationality it surveyed. If you go that way, look for the ATOL certificate, and compare against my notes on Malta holiday packages. From four nights, or with children, I’d weigh up a flat instead, because a kitchen saves more than you’d think. Check its MTA licence first, as I explain in Malta apartments.

Costs that creep in after booking

Two things rarely show up in the headline price. One is the eco-contribution Malta has charged since July 2026, a euro and a half per adult per night up to €22.50, always on top. The other is season. In 2024 hotels filled 83.9% of their rooms in the third quarter and only 51.3% in the first, so for the school holidays I’d book months ahead, while in winter I’d wait and compare.

From the airport, the Airport Direct bus costs €3 and each route serves an area. The TD4 goes to Valletta, the TD3 to Sliema and St Julian’s, the TD2 to St Julian’s and the TD1 to Buġibba and Mellieħa. If your hotel isn’t near one of those stops, better to know before you book than when you land. And one thing you won’t need is an adaptor, since Maltese sockets take British three-pin plugs.