PA defers decision on Excelsior 77-room extension

The Planning board has deferred taking a decision on a proposed 77-room extension of the Excelsior hotel which had been recommended for approval by the case officer. 

The official reason for the postponement given by the board chairman was the “need for further consultation” but the decision came in the wake of reports that UNESCO is discussing this issue with the Maltese authorities. 

UNESCO, which is the world authority with the power to strike off sites from the list of world heritage sites, was not consulted during the application process but was alerted to the application in the past weeks by Architect Edward Said and the organisation Friends of Villa Frere. 

UNESCO director Lazaro Elounóou Assomo had recently informed Said that the international organisation was awaiting the review and comments of the Maltese authorities in line with the organisation’s operational guidelines. 

The official reason given by board chairman Emmanuel Camilleri, who never referred to UNESCO in his intervention, was the “need for further consultations” and the need for a better design.   

Earlier, Camilleri welcomed various aspects of the project and expressed no concern with its impact on Valetta views, noting the endorsement of plans by the Superintendence for Cultural Heritage.    

But he expressed concern on the design and landscaping. The same concern was expressed by Martin Camilleri, who described the design as “squattish” while calling for greater use of the Maltese stone. 

The developers’ architects rebutted that the design was constantly discussed with planning officials and the SCH. He argued that the extension was meant to be in harmony with the original hotel. 

The views of the board on the design of the project contrasted with those of the case officer, who had described the design as one which will  “positively contribute and merge with its immediate, medium and long-distance view context”. 

If approved, the new wing will practically cover the existing retaining wall along Great Siege Road. But unlike original plans presented in 2019, it will not rise above it in a way which obscures the overlying bastions.  

The Superintendence for Cultural Heritage has given its blessing to the hotel extension, describing it as an “improvement” over previous plans. 

Architect Edward Said, representing the Friends of Villa Frere and Din l-Art Helwa, gave an impassioned speech against the hotel extension. 

“Even in 1969 the Excelsior hotel was considered a blunder and all heritage experts concur with the view that its approval was a major planning mistake as its construction interrupted a continuous stretch of bastions. But instead of removing this mistake we are extending the hotel and making this blunder worse.” 

Said called on the board to postpone the decision till consultations with UNESCO are finalised.  UNESCO was only informed of the project by Said a month ago and the organisation is still communicating with the local authorities on this issue.  

An architect representing the developers shot down this criticism, arguing that UNESCO is always mentioned whenever a new development is proposed near Valletta, including that in Tigne point. But the organisation has never intervened in such matters, let alone on an application which had no impact on the bastions. 

He also argued that only three sites worldwide were taken away from the UNESCO list due to very exceptional cases like oil exploration in Oman. 

He accused objectors of “playing on people’s emotions” and even attacked the media for publishing reports regarding UNESCO’s concerns.  

The project architect also justified the need for 77 new rooms despite studies showing that Malta will need five million tourists to secure accommodation for existing and planned hotels. He argued that, at current rates of occupancy, the Excelsior is already turning back tourists attending large business conferences.  

The architect warned that this results in Malta losing these tourists entirely as organisers end up preferring other destinations as they want to stay close to cultural centers.   

He insisted that Malta still faces a shortage of facilities for conference tourists.  He added that Valletta needs more accommodation facilities as it represents the future of the tourism industry. 

Architect Danica Mifsud, representing the Phoenicia hotel, objected to the plans due to visual intrusion on their hotel resulting from development abutting on Valletta’s other major hotel.   

A lawyer representing Excelsior invited the Phoenicia hotel to address this issue in court as the planning board was not the appropriate forum for such a debate. 

According to a visual study prepared by ADI consultants, the new wing will “pronounce” the hotel against the backdrop of the Valletta fortifications, especially when the hotel is viewed from Msida, Pieta and Ta’ Xbiex.  This impact was described as one “of major significance.”