Mellieha Bay Hotel extension proposed

The latest plans submitted in the past weeks propose a 431-metre square footprint extension east wing of the hotel and 1,371 square footprint extension on its west wing. This will create an additional 58 rooms for the hotel. Plans also propose a 270-metre square extension to the restaurant.

Mellieha Bay Hotel, which is partly owned by Mizzi Associated Enterprises Ltd, had presented an application to develop 98 new units including 47 bungalows on the pristine area surrounding Mellieha Bay hotel in 2007.

Plans for the proposed bungalows were presented in October and December 2007 but plans for the hotel extension have only been presented in March and April 2012.

The 165,246 square meters of land surrounding the Mellieha Bay hotel is leased to a company owned by business magnate Albert Mizzi which pays an annual ground rent of  €349.41.

The site was granted for a temporary emphyteusis of 150 years in 1963 at a yearly ground rent of €349.41, "for the development of a tourist resort hotel".

The land was handed over to the private developer after a request by the Malta Government Tourist Board, which had approved financial and fiscal assistance to the company in conjunction with the development of a self-contained resort hotel.

 "This piece of land was given to us by the government for development. What we are expecting is for MEPA to come back to us to tell us what sort of development can take place on this site," developer Albert Mizzi had told MaltaToday in 2007 when asked how the proposed development can fit with the character of the area.