Accommodation

You could call the Phoenicia Malta the island’s original and best grande dame: the elegant pile on the edge of Valletta has hosted luminaries as diverse as Queen Elizabeth II, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sir Alec Guinness since it revealed its art deco-infused looks in 1947.

The best rooms are those with balconies, on higher floors, for views to infinity. The pool, in the gardens, is magnificent, and refreshments can be ordered by sunbathers. Hotel highlight? White-tableclothed restaurant Contessa, where Med dishes are presented with fanfare.

Charlie and Dorothy, the husband-and-wife team at the helm of this cute baby-boutique B&B, are the reason for so many returnees. They leave flowers for new arrivals, and warm welcome notes in the trio of rooms, which honour the Maltese aesthetic with limestone-pale, bare-brick walls, marble floors and simple white-dressed beds.

Lined with tiles, antiques and stop-and-stare frescoes, it’s a quirky beauty, with a tranquil courtyard and wine cellar serving artisanal cheeses, prosciutto, chutneys and honey to help down the vino. Fascinating city on the doorstep, too.

Fancy staying in a 400-year-old palazzo in the heart of Valletta? Make the Vincent Boutique Suites your base. The 13 suites embrace a sense of fun, with furniture in all the colours of the rainbow, sun-yellow walls and quirky beams and arches.

Pick the Araba for carpets and cushions that recall Malta’s Eastern heritage, or Dolce Vita for jazzy wallpaper and retro dressers. Food isn’t served but excellent restaurants proliferate in the surrounding streets, whether you want cheesy filo pastry pastizzi or fenek (rabbit) in saucy spaghetti.

With covetable art on its walls and two Michelin stars anointing in-house restaurant ION Harbour, Valletta’s ultimate luxury boutique hotel — a blue-shuttered former townhouse — is in demand among smart travellers.

With only 23 palatial, exotic-wallpapered rooms, it books up solid. But do persevere — a weekend here, overlooking the harbour from your sweet little balcony, will be memorable. The staff are unflappable pros, able to sort the pickiest demands, from yacht hire to exclusive party access.