This prestigious palazzo in Malta’s Silent City has a lot to say for luxury, with a Michelin-star restaurant, private palace extension and royalty scrawled in its guestbook.
Location
Within the walls of fortified Mdina – known as the Silent City – the Xara Palace holds a privileged position on a corner of cobbles by an ancient Benedictine convent. The car-free citadel in central Malta is a 35-minute drive from the airport, and well served by buses, taxis and tourist trains to discover Rabat and Valletta. As one of only two hotels in the country’s former capital, guests are free to play nobility at night, roaming Mdina without the cruise crowds.
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The vibe
The converted 17th-century palazzo is less hotel, more museum – full of finery, but still homely. Delicately updated to indulge modern comforts, the Relais & Chateaux property retains its former palatial standing, paying homage to its history with splashes of original art atop Mdina’s groomed gardens.
You’ll find nods to the past from discarded church altar headboards to ancient amphorae jugs in hallways as the distinct clomp of horses and chiming church bells ring into rooms. Rugs in a rich red pad the glass-roofed courtyard, windows are shuttered behind weighty gold drapes and vines climb the stone arches in a leafy flourish.
The service
This is a family-run hotel and guests are its favourite cousin. Polite and personalised attention follows classy champagne check-ins, with owners the Zammit Tabona family being part and parcel of general proceedings. Long-term staff are dedicated to sharing snippets of the hotel’s history, and waiters well-versed in the finer details of multi-course tasting menus upstairs.
Bed and bath
There are 17 individually designed rooms and sizeable suites arranged around the inner courtyard. Bedrooms come in standard and deluxe categories, all fitted with plush king size beds, antique furniture and Parisian fabrics in a marriage of calming neutrals and gemstone hues. Some feature a terrace and jacuzzi, others comprise two floors with panoramic views of the Maltese countryside from…
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