Three new Sliema hotels proposed

A brand-new 139-room hotel built over 16 levels is being proposed along the seafront at Qui-Si-Sana in Sliema. 

The development would replace a contemporary 10-storey building with no conservation value, but would effectively create a pencil development because of its additional height. 

The new hotel is being proposed by Carlo Stivala, who is behind a number of hotel developments in the area, including two new 15-storey hotels along The Strand.  

Plans for the Qui-Si-Sana development propose the internal demolition of the existing first seven floors, with full demolition and reconstruction from the seventh level upwards. 

Building heights along the Qui-Si-Sana frontage are generally limited to around 35 metres, equivalent to roughly 10 levels. However, hotels in Sliema are allowed one additional floor under the local plan, and up to two further floors under policies regulating hotel heights. 

The latter policy is currently under reconsideration following the presentation of proposals put forward by Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg at the end of last year. 

But the Qui-Si-Sana development is only the latest in a series of new hotel applications presented over the past weeks in Sliema. 

These include the proposed demolition of the existing Chalet Hotel, which is built over eight floors, and the erection of a new three-star hotel rising to 15 levels instead of it. The proposed hotel would include 108 rooms and 216 beds. The development is being proposed by Ephraim Schembri’s Sliema Chalet Co. Ltd. 

Another 15-storey hotel is being proposed on an already demolished site, previously earmarked for apartments, between The Strand and Manoel Dimech Street, close to the Busy Bee Cafeteria. The hotel is being proposed by Christopher Grech’s Strand House Limited. 

Another hotel development involves the extension of the Victoria Hotel, owned by AX Holdings. The extension, mainly carried out on the existing upper floors, will see the addition of 36 rooms and 72 beds. 

Another hotel extension (2552/26) is also being proposed by the Waterfront hotel at the border between Sliema and Gzira in the corner between Parisio Street in the corner. The extension consisting of 107 new rooms is being proposed instead of an adjacent five-storey school, with the new building rising to same height of the existing hotel (11 levels).

Taken together, the projects underline the sustained shift towards tourism-driven redevelopment in Sliema, intensifying pressure on infrastructure, public space, and the residential character of one of Malta’s most densely developed urban areas.