[WATCH] €120 million Comino Hotel & Villas aims for zero net carbon hospitality

Stunning Comino Hotel’s €120 million reinvention

The Hili Group has unveiled its concept for a higher tier of hospitality with the new, €120 million Comino Hotel & Villas.

The hotel will feature a central foyer and restaurant, an underlying electro-mechanical plant, a spa and 70 hotel rooms with swimming pools at ground floor level and terraces on the upper floors.

The new villas will consist of a cluster of 21 residences, on a building gross floor area of circa 5,211sq.m.

The hotel waterfront from the east

The project is entirely privately held by HV Hospitality, a subsidiary of Hili Ventures.

The current properties and disturbed land will be reduced by at least 5,000 square metres. HV said there will be no land reclamation and the original concession will be respected.

Perspective of the hotel from the hillside, looking south

ARUP, one of the world’s leading engineering practices, has been tasked to capture sustainable design strategies for a “zero net carbon” scheme to use local forces to produce energy.

“The energy consumption is reduced thanks to the natural cross ventilation, thermal mass and installation of low consumption devices. The objective is to drastically reduce the need to turn on cooling systems. A photovoltaic array will produce a large amount of power while the total need for hot water for sanitary uses will be satisfied by the solar thermal units installed on the roof,” HV said.

The Comino Hotel as seen from the northeast

A holistic design strategy to respect the Natura 2000 Management Plan will include prefabricated timber construction and the regeneration of important portions of disturbed land restored to its original condition.

The new villas will be one storey high whereas the current properties are two storeys high, while the hotel will rise to a similar height as the existing property.

An Environmental Impact Assessment will be carried out which will highlight any specific areas to protect. “In any event, HV Hospitality will ensure that it engages eco and marine consultants throughout the entire process to ensure protection. An appropriate dismantling/demolition process followed by a prefabricated timber construction technique will minimize the impact of construction on, and not only, the marine life.”

HV Hospitality said it wants to reuse construction waste from the existing hotel as much as is practically possible. “In line with the project objectives of minimising waste disposal, prefabricated construction methods will be adopted. The restoration of areas such as the tennis courts to their original natural state will be implemented with recycled material. Any other construction waste will be disposed of in line with all Maltese environmental legislation.”

HV Hospitality is a subsidiary of Hili Ventures, the Maltese-owned group engaged in multi-sited operations in partnership with McDonald’s and Apple, logistics, marine & engineering, technology, property, oil & gas, hospitality and leasing.