Ramla Bay hotel to rise to seven storeys in Cirkewwa

Three years after getting a permit for a controversial heart-shaped extension which now dominates the Marfa coastline, the owners of the Ramla Bay resort have applied to demolish the existing four-storey hotel to construct a seven-storey hotel.

The new hotel will have 405 rooms, two restaurants, an indoor pool, gym, parking area and conference facilities.

Holden Development’s new project will occupy the same footprint of the existing one but its gross floor area will increase substantially from 23,102sq.m to 32,887sq.m thanks to the development of three new levels.

The hotel will include extensive landscaping, including a pool surrounded by lush vegetation and a sandy beach in the vicinity of the restaurant area.

In 2016 the Planning Authority approved the heart-shaped extension to the Ramla Bay Hotel on the merits of its “iconic architecture as a permanent attractive landmark” at Malta’s northern tip, designed by architect Ray Demicoli who has now been entrusted to redesign the hotel.

The application approved in 2016 increased the massing of the resort, replacing 45 apartments with 100 apartments through seven-storey apartments, three restaurants, a nightclub and a bar.

The development was approved despite concerns expressed by NGOs on the visual impact of the development especially when viewed from the Comino ferry and the rocky foreshore along Triq il-Marfa.

The PA had already approved a 102-room extension in 2009.