Excelsior Hotel seeks permit for two new storeys

A two-storey extension is being proposed to the existing Grand Hotel Excelsior on Great Siege Road, that will increase the hotel to 12 floors

The extension will give the hotel 196 new rooms but is expected to “substantially change the present skyline” – a preliminary screening report by the Environment and Resources Authority warns – especially as viewed from Sliema, Gzira, Ta’ Xbiex, Msida and Pietà.

The works will be carried out in the vicinity of the Grade 1 scheduled Kwarantina bastion. In view of the potential impacts of the project the ERA has called on the developers to conduct an Environment Impact Assessment.

Recent planning rules allowed hotels to increase their overall heights, but the Excelsior’s plans cannot be justified by the new policy because it does not apply to urban conservation areas and scheduled sites.

The existing hotel comprises 433 guestrooms, a 30-berth yacht marina, an indoor and outdoor pool, a spa and fitness centre, a private sandy beach, conference facilities and two separate car parks.

The extension would increase the hotel’s total gross floor area from 65,000 to 100,343sq.m, and the built-up footprint would grow by 84% from 6,000 to 11,000sq.m.

The proposal foresees the extension of the main hotel building to 12 storeys, as well as a lateral extension in the form of a stepped building, rising from six to 10 storeys. The hotel also wants to build two freestanding exhibition halls, of two and three storeys, while a grand staircase is also being proposed at the junction of the main hotel building together with a new accommodation wing.

The project also foresees a new outdoor swimming pool, and the extension of the existing perched sandy beach, which will increase from the current 350sq.m to 828sq.m. The beach as proposed will extend for 65 metres along the coastline.

The applicants claim the project will increase bed space to support tourism expansion in Valletta, Floriana, the Three Cities, and the south of the island, and provide enough conference space for over 1,000 delegates.

How Excelsior triggered Malta’s first conservation movement

The development of the Excelsior hotel was one of the first rallying causes for conservationist movement Din l-Art Ħelwa, founded in 1965 under the leadership of Judge Maurice Caruana Curran.

An artist’s impression of how the hotel will look once the extension is completed

Din l-Art Ħelwa vehemently opposed the building of the Excelsior Hotel which tore a hole in Valletta’s fortifications. The organisation was founded at a time when the first post-independence government was encouraging rapid growth in tourism.

In 1967 Din l-Art Ħelwa organised a public lecture at the Manoel Theatre to condemn the Government to stop ‘the destruction of our island heritage’ and the various Ministries who ‘threaten to destroy most of our beauty spots’.

The original hotel was proposed by the Malta and Europe Hotels Ltd, a company formed in 1964 by Italians Antonio and Nada Ghidoli. When the Excelsior hotel was completed Cecil Pace, a main creditor to the Ghidolis, proceeded to convert this debt into shares.

The Excelsior became embroiled in the BICAL bank scandal which saw the government taking control of the bank. Yet the hotel survived only to close its doors in March 1990 after dismissing its 145 employees.

The hotel was then sold to Hopewell Holdings, which planned to demolish it and build a new one. The original hotel was demolished in 1992 and initial work began to develop a 420-room hotel and a marina with berths for 20 yachts. By 1999, however, work on the site slowed down and came to a halt.

In 2003 the hotel was bought by its current owner, Hong Kong-based Stewart Elliott and reopened in 2007. Back then Eliott did not hesitate to point out “eyesore developments across the harbour, which marred the landscape”.