Valletta, Malta

Iniala Harbour House

Price per night from$702.65

Price information

If you haven’t entered any dates, the rate shown is provided directly by the hotel and represents the cheapest double room (including tax) available in the next 60 days.

Prices have been converted from the hotel’s local currency (EUR656.07), via openexchangerates.org, using today’s exchange rate.

Style

Merchant’s manor

Setting

Above the parapet

It’s all plain sailing at Iniala Harbour House in Valletta, a Maltese masterpiece formed from four honey-coloured houses, whether you’re up on the roof enjoying fine-dining with a view, down at the spa or anywhere in between. New maritime murals have joined the St Barbara Bastion bolthole’s original features that include ancient vaults (now with a bonus bar), a grand staircase and a painted cupola. The three cities unfold in front of you – and you can board the ferry right beneath the hotel to wander their winding streets in person.

Smith Extra

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A bottle of Cassar de Malte

Facilities

Photos Iniala Harbour House facilities

Need to know

Rooms

23, including 21 suites.

Check–Out

11am. Earliest check-in, 2pm.

Prices

Double rooms from £603.48 (€702), including tax at 7 per cent. Please note the hotel charges an additional local city tax of €0.50 per person per night on check-out.

More details

Rates usually include breakfast.

Also

The hotel has an accessible Junior Suite for disabled guests.

At the hotel

Free WiFi throughout, gym, roof terrace. In rooms: air-conditioning, Nespresso coffee machine, minibar, USB charging points, TV with Chromecast and Diptyque bath products.

Our favourite rooms

We especially love the rooms in the Harbour House and the Grand Residences – the style of the Hideaway Home differs from the other buildings and the rooms are on the smaller side. For a balcony where you can watch the boats bob, book a Grand Harbour Penthouse Suite and you’ll even be able to spy the Three Cities from your bath tub.

Spa

The spa in the vaults has a heated pool, open for swims from 9am until 7pm, along with treatment rooms, a sauna and steam room.

Packing tips

As many Breton stripes as you can stash in your suitcase.

Pet‐friendly

Pets are welcome in any of the rooms for €30 a night. See more pet-friendly hotels in Valletta.

Children

All ages are welcome and cots for babies can be added on request.

Food and Drink

Photos Iniala Harbour House food and drink

Top Table

Admiring the harbour and counting all three cities out on the terrace.

Dress Code

Captain the ship.

Hotel restaurant

Up on the roof above St Barbara Bastion and the Grand Harbour, Ion serves food that’s as elevated as its setting. Elaborate tasting menus are likely to feature ingredients such as Brittany lobster, Kaluga caviar and Limousin sweetbreads – and we promise that the ‘hunter chicken’ has absolutely no relation to its barbecue-sauce-smothered British counterpart.

Hotel bar

Pair your michelin-star meal with one of Ion's many wines. 

Last orders

Lunch is served on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 1pm until 2.30pm. Dinner reservations can be made for sittings from 6.30pm until 9.30pm.

Room service

Your butler can see to any room-service requests.

Location

Photos Iniala Harbour House location
Address
Iniala Harbour House
11 St Barbara Bastion
Valletta
1961
Malta

The harbourside hotel is close to St John’s cathedral and just above St Barbara Bastion in Malta’s golden capital city, Valletta.

Planes

Malta’s international airport is nine kilometres away – the drive should take around 15 minutes. If you ask nicely, the minibar-enhanced house car will be ready to greet you with cold drinks.

Automobiles

You’ll be right in the centre of Valletta, with plenty to do within walking distance; plus, driving on the island can be on the wild side for the uninitiated – stick to taxis and boat trips instead.

Other

Ferries call in at Valletta’s port from other parts of Malta, including Gozo and Sliema, as well as Catania in Sicily.

Worth getting out of bed for

In Malta, you get three cities for the price of one, and you’ll be able to see the trinity of Birgu (AKA Vittoriosa), Senglea and Cospicua without having to leave the hotel – but if you want to get up close, hop on a ferry and you’ll be strolling those winding streets in fewer than 10 minutes. Also accessible by boat from below the hotel, Gozo is a dream day trip, especially if you want to enjoy the great outdoors with some walking, cycling or sea-kayaking. Or stay right here in Valletta to admire the walled city’s golden architecture, baroque cathedral and coastal gardens. 

Local restaurants

Terrone in Birgu is a 10-minute ferry ride from Valletta, but worth it for the emotional eating experience that awaits. Closer to home, try Guze, a brilliant bistro on an unassuming side street, or Fifty Nine Republic, for fine-dining right next to the Grandmaster’s Palace. And in Senglea, also a short ferry ride away, don’t miss Hammett’s Macina for dishes such as cuttlefish risotto and aubergine carpaccio.

Local bars

For creative cocktails, try Alchemy, where the name gives away the cocktail mastery you’re in store for; or join the locals for aperitivo hour, all the way until late-night drinks at La Bottega. Jazz fans can enjoy the music with a glass of wine and a sharing platter at Bridge Bar. And at Cafe Society, which spills out onto the stairs that lead down to the harbour, you can enjoy craft beers, cocktails and those views.

Reviews

Photos Iniala Harbour House reviews

Anonymous review

Every hotel featured is visited personally by members of our team, given the Smith seal of approval, and then anonymously reviewed. As soon as our reviewers have returned from this waterside hotel in Malta and unpacked their bizzilla lace and Mdina blown glass, a full account of their boutique break will be with you. In the meantime, to whet your wanderlust, here's a quick peek inside Iniala Harbour House in Valletta…

With a World Heritage Site in one direction and three cities for the price of one in the other, Iniala Harbour House is the Maltese capital’s preferred address for stylish seafaring sorts. The Unesco status was bestowed for the walled city’s honey-coloured architecture, baroque buildings and its mediaeval military order with a sideline in tending to the sick (AKA the Knights Hospitallers of the Order of Saint John). 

The rooms are set across a handful of golden townhouses and their vaults, all of which were given a modern makeover courtesy of Turkish studio Autoban. The original features – including the grand staircase and painted cupola – were perfectly preserved, and we’re sure even the crusaders would enjoy a meal up on the newly created harbour-facing terrace. Whether you’re pretending to be a merchant in your room, enjoying the chef’s creative concoctions up on the roof or feeling blissfully adrift in the spa, you’re sure to find safe harbour here.

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Price per night from $702.65