Rosselli

Style

History-buffed bedrooms

Setting

Market-lined Merchants Street

Luxury hotel Rosselli, at Valletta’s historic heart, was the 17th-century home of wealthy goldsmith, philanthropist and Knight of Malta Don Pietro Rosselli and his wife Alusietta Massa. Admittedly, the don wouldn’t recognise his former abode with its reams of marble, custom floral wallpaper, avant-garde furnishings and suites variably fitted with spiral staircases, bowl-shaped bath tubs and private saunas for two. Since his tenure, a bar and pool now grace the chill-out roof terrace and first-class dining tops and tails guests’ days with baroque breakfast spreads and fanciful fare (try the signature squid-ink lasagna). But, he lives on in liberally applied monograms and his family crest above the entrance.

Facilities

Rooms

25, including four Don Pietro wellness suites, four double-height Three Herons suites and and one lavish Sixteen 34 Suite.

Checkout

Noon, but flexible, subject to availability. Earliest check-in, 3pm. Reception is open 24 hours a day.

More Details

Rates usually include a generous Continental breakfast spread (otherwise €18 a person) of fresh breads and pastries, cereals, fruit and juices and à la carte picks (a full English, omelettes, scrambles, porridge, smoked salmon).

Also

At Rosselli, there’s a lift to all floors. The Mezza Croce rooms are wheelchair accessible and some rooms are fully adapted, but the Three Herons and Sixteen 34 suites have stairs. Guide dogs are welcome to stay, too.

Free Internet Access

Laundry

Pool

On-Site Restaurant

Room Service

At the Hotel

Roof terrace with a bar and pool, on-call butler, free WiFi throughout. In rooms: Smart LCD TV; bedside USB charging ports; bathroom speakers; espresso machine; tea-making kit; minibar; laptop safe; slippers and flip-flops; bathrobes; his ‘n’ hers L’Occitane products; bottled water; and air-conditioning. The Don Pietro rooms each have a two-person sauna and twin rain showers, and the Sixteen 34 Suite has a dining room.

Our Favourite Rooms

Named for the master of the house, the Don Pietro suites are our pick for spa spoiling, superlative style and nifty tech. But, the Three Heron suites, on the former piano nobile, are the spiffier for their green-velvet sofas and mosaic-marble flooring – plus, a spiral staircase to dramatically sweep down come breakfast, and double-height ceilings, all the better for the city view.

Poolside

Set four storeys up on the hotel roof, what the petite unheated pool lacks in size it makes up for in scenery: from here you can gaze out at the Basilica’s dome, the Cathedral’s spire, the harbour and blue, blue Med beyond. It’s open during the summer months (May to October) and you can cool off here until 7pm. Just around the corner cocktails are shaken and corks popped at the bar; ask nicely and staff will deliver your drinks poolside.

Spa

There’s no bricks-and-mortar spa, but you can pamper yourself privately in the Don Pietro rooms, where the sauna leads to a shower for hot-cold invigoration. In-room treatments can be arranged with local therapists, too: black-soap scrubs, couples massages, vinotherapy body-wraps, Thai massages and the like.

Packing Tips

Toss your heels into the sea and replace with sensible, grippy flats for running up and down Valletta’s hilly, highly polished steps. UK visitors, leave your adaptor: this former British colony has handily adhered to three-pronged plugs.

Also

Return stays here bring certain privileges: a free one-way airport transfer; 15 per cent off your stay; a free room upgrade; and discounts, free drinks and VIP treatment at local shops, a beauty salon and photographers.

Children

Under-12s stay free. Extra beds and baby cots can be added to the Executive Rooms. The hotel is, however, a bit of a romantic, so it's better suited to couples.

Gallery

Food & Drink

Top Table

Watch the world go by from the table closest to the window, or have a more intimate meal at the corner table next to it.

Dress Code

Coastal comfort is key: wafty dresses, linen shorts, flats both fancy and functional.

Hotel Restaurant

Under Grain restaurant (now Michelin-approved) lies to the right of the lobby (it has a street entrance for walk-ins, too). Its vaulted stone roof is original, but zooms forward in years from the ceiling-line down: decorated in midnight blue, orange and millennial pink. Lunch and dinner are hymns to wantonness: ingredients luxuriate in skillets of sizzling butter, or lie spent atop a silky sauce. The signature lasagna is dramatically blackened with squid ink and spread thickly with ‘nduja; pillowy, pungent chicken livers are as flavourful as foie gras; and aromatic local pork has been massaged with cocoa beans and tarragon. Breakfast has incremental tiers of indulgence: pick from a relatively healthy buffet, omelettes or a full-English (there’s a veggie version, too), or splash out on the supplement for truffled eggs on toast and Mr eggs Benedict and friends. For smart-casual dining, divert to the lobby for triple-decker sandwiches, an ‘umami’ burger with truffle-mayo and smoked cheddar, sweet tarts, tiramisu and more.

Hotel Bar

Under Grain’s bar has stools to pull up, but it’s the sort of spot where you’d wash down a parmesan panisse and handful of anchovies with a glass of vermiento before vamoosing. You’ll be much comfier in the lounge, where you can sit and sip on comfy velvet pews as you plot out the night ahead. Or elevate your aperitivo to the roof terrace for fragolino sundowners as you watch the stars come out.

Last Orders

Breakfast runs from 7am to 10.30am, lunch from noon to 2.30pm, dinner from 6pm to 10pm (till 10.30pm Friday and Saturday). In the courtyard, food is served from 10.30am to 6pm.

Room Service

All three breakfast menus (Continental, à la carte, Under Grain breakfast specials) are served in-room from 7am–10.15am. Under Grain’s full lunch and dinner menu and drinks list can be ordered to your door from 10.30am–10.30pm.

Planes

Malta International Airport is a 20-minute drive from the hotel. If travelling within Europe, Air Malta and low-cost airlines run direct flights from most major cities. Flights from further afield will stopover in the UAE or Europe depending on your departure point. The hotel can arrange private transfers (€30 each way) on request, or by Mercedes for an extra charge.

Automobiles

Brits, rejoice: you can drive on the left in Malta – although the experience may sometimes seem less sedate and speedier than at home. Buses and ferries make exploring beyond Valletta a breeze, but you can secure some wheels at the airport to see the beaches and historic bits in the north. A 24-hour MCP car park is a 15-minute walk from the hotel; or there’s a park-and-ride service in Floriana, just outside the city gate.

Worth Getting Out of Bed For

What Valletta (the EU’s smallest capital) lacks in square metres, it makes up for in grandeur. It nabbed the top-city spot from ancient capitals Mdina and Vittoriosa (now Birgu) because it can claim centuries of history for itself and has the highest concentration of landmarks – with some determination, you can easily walk to them all in one day. Start with the flea market on your doorstep, sweeping the stalls along Merchants Street for bargainous antiques, vintage books and Maltese crafts (from Monday to Saturday, 8am till noon). Valletta’s gridded streets make it nearly impossible to get lost (but the hotel has maps if needed). Stroll east to see the star-shaped Fort Saint Elmo, west to find the City Gate (recently given a divisive update by the Shard architect Renzo Piano) and Triton Fountain. It’s de rigueur to stop by St John’s Co-Cathedral to coo over Caravaggio’s The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist, the exquisite craftwork and Trump-trumping legions of gold within. The National Museum of Archaeology puts Maltese history into breathtaking context, with fragments of megalithic temple complexes and icons that predate Egypt’s pyramids by a millennia, while MUŻA gallery showcases the island’s more contemporary culture and Teatru Manoel has shows for all ages. Don a hard hat for the Lascaris War Rooms and tunnels below the Upper Barrakka Gardens, and to easily explore beyond Valletta, hop in one of Rolling Geeks’ pre-programmed self-drive tour cars. Take the ferry to the three cities – worth it alone for the view of Valletta – and Sliema or book a taxi to ‘silent city’ Mdina (nicknamed so after it lost its ‘capital’ status). It’s also well worth heading north to Ċirkewwa (a 40-minute drive or 90-minute bus ride) to catch ferries to petite isles Comino and Gozo (both a 25-minute ride away), for world-class diving, supernaturally hued lagoons and superlative seafood.

Earn or Redeem Points with World of Hyatt

This Mr & Mrs Smith hotel participates in the World of Hyatt loyalty program. As a member, you can earn and redeem points and enjoy exclusive benefits for qualifying nights. .