- Malta Holidays
- Valletta
- Grand Hotel Excelsior
1/38
View 37 Photos
Grand Hotel Excelsior
Malta and Gozo, Europe
Valletta
Valetta isn't just Malta's capital, but a UNESCO world heritage site. It's a window on a world of history and culture, it's the ideal starting point for an idyllic and deeply satisfying holiday experience. Given all of that, why would you entrust your accommodation to anything but the best that the region has to offer?
The five star Grand Hotel Excelsior with its prestigious location (just a couple of minutes walk from the gates of Valetta) and its astonishing views across Marsamxett Harbour and Manoel Island is as much a draw as Valetta itself.
Experience Malta's rich cultural heritage from the exquisite Grand Hotel Excelsior:
Guests of the Grand Hotel Excelsior are treated to the best of everything: wonderfully comfortable, tastefully appointed rooms, exemplary spa and leisure facilities, and renowned cuisine at its Stellar Valletta Restaurant (one of three restaurant choices). This is, in every sense, a five-star facility.
You will find your room comfortably spacious with enough room for a king-sized bed (or twin beds). Deluxe Partial Seaview rooms and Deluxe Seafront rooms are also available at a premium, but each and every room boasts a large, well-equipped bathroom with a bath and/or seperate shower and all sorts of facilities including satellite TV with additional paid channels, as well as a mini bar, direct dial phone and tea and coffee making facilities.
Wi-Fi internet access is available throughout the hotel, and reassuringly, reception is manned twenty-four hours a day. As you would expect from a hotel of this quality, nothing is too much trouble for the staff to ensure your comfortable stay. You can take your pick of the indoor and outdoor pools, we'd certainly recommend a visit to the hotel beauty centre too.
Rich in the history of Malta, Valetta is a fascinating holiday destination. And when you stay at the Grand Hotel Excelsior, you're perfectly placed to make the most of the experience. Revel in the trip and make the most of the magical experience.
Exclusive Car Hire Offer when you book with Mercury*
Explore more of Malta when you book with us by taking advantage of our exclusive car hire deal. For only £25 you will get the use of a category A style car for 3 days allowing you to get around the island with ease. If you want to know more, please speak to our Reservations team. The offer does not include an optional collision damage waiver which can be booked locally for €10 per day. * Please note that the offer is only available for departure dates between November-March.
Special Offers
Stay for free! Book a 7 night stay and only pay for 6 nights!
Or stay longer and save even more!
Book 14 nights, pay for only 12 nights. Book 21 nights, pay for only 17 nights.
Valid for stays 01/11/2026 - 28/02/2027.
Not combinable with other offers.
It pays to book early! The earlier you book the more you will save!
10% Early Bird Discount
Valid for stays 01/11/2026 - 28/02/2027, if booked by 31/10/2026.
Not combinable with any other offers,
Facilities
- Indoor and outdoor pools
- Children's pool
- Sundeck
- Health and beauty centre with gym
- Indoor pool
- 30 berth marina
- 3 restaurants (1 open in summer only)
- 4 bars including a 24 x 7 Harbour View Bar#
- Courtesy transport to Valletta City Gate+
- Wi-Fi Internet access
- + Departures at 10am and 6pm
- Some facilities may incur an additional fee
- # 2 open in summer only
Due to the surrounding area and the number of steps around the hotel, it may not be suitable for those with mobility difficulties.
Room Types
The Local Area
EXCLUSIVE CAR HIRE OFFER* - Add 3 days Car Hire for just £25! For more information please call our Reservations Team Today. * Please note that the offer is only available for departure dates between November-March.
This luxurious hotel is located near to the impressive 16th Century bastions of Valletta and offers superb views across Marsamxett Harbour and Manoel Island. The Grand Hotel Excelsior offers standards of service and comfort that one expects from a 5-star establishment. A selection of fine restaurants give the hotel a wide reputation for its high standards of cuisine.
Tripadvisor Reviews
4.0 Very Good6,485 reviews
Excellent
46%
Very Good
32%
Average
14%
Poor
5%
Terrible
3%
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
A great base for exploring Malta
A fantastic base for exploring Malta We had a great family stay at the Grand Hotel Excelsior. The hotel's biggest strengths are its superb location, excellent staff, spacious rooms, lovely pool area and direct access to the sea – something that's very rare in Valletta. The location is hard to beat. It's just a five-minute walk into Valletta's beautiful old town, with its history, restaurants, bars and incredible harbour views. If you're visiting in July, expect frequent local festivals, concerts and spectacular fireworks across the island. The hotel itself feels grand but is definitely showing its age. The décor, furniture and bathrooms are very much 1990s, although everything was spotlessly clean and housekeeping was excellent. We understand a refurbishment is planned, which should make a huge difference. A tip for families: if you book an interconnecting family room, they're all on the ground floor, so don't expect the famous harbour views. Ours overlooked the gardens, but the room was large, comfortable and had an excellent terrace. We were offered a move later in the week but were perfectly happy to stay where we were. Breakfast offered plenty of choice, although the pastries and some of the breakfast meats didn't quite feel up to five-star standard. The pool was excellent, with plenty of loungers, pool towels included and attentive staff throughout the day. The hotel's private sea access was another real highlight, with crystal-clear water perfect for a swim. Every member of staff we encountered was friendly, professional and helpful. The shuttle bus into Valletta is also a nice touch, especially during the summer heat, and the air conditioning coped brilliantly even when temperatures topped 40°C. Overall, while the hotel could certainly benefit from its planned refurbishment, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. If you're looking for a comfortable luxury hotel in the best location for exploring Valletta and Malta, it's an excellent choice. We'd happily stay again.
Honeymoon
We recently stayed for a short honeymoon break and the hotel was 5 star all the way from arrival to departure. A very special mention to guest relations for making our stay perfect they went above and beyond we will be back. Great hotel, great location, fantastic facilities nothing was too much and Valletta WOW Amazing thank you Rich and Sasha.
Cool stay in super hot Malta...
Grand Hotel Excelsior (GHE) is a spacious hotel and a good base from which to see Valletta and the rest of Malta. It was also very close to where Katy Perry performed as part of Isle of MTV.
Our fourth visit to GHE was a relaxing week in a 'Deluxe Sea Front with Terrace' room (815) with amazing views of Marsamxett Harbour and Manoel Island - not cheap but worth it - space to sunbathe, dine and watch the activity on the water.
The staff are outstanding and we are grateful for attentive housekeeping, lovely buffet breakfasts (they manage the dozens of diners very well), helpful room service (when we were too tired to dress for dinner) and the taxi desk (thanks Joseph) dealing with airport transfers, a trip to Farsons Experience and a dinner date in Strait Street. The complimentary 'GHE to Valletta' shuttle was great on the super hot days when the walk up the hill was too much - one shuttle spotted us walking back to GHE on one scorching afternoon and he pulled up to give us a lift home!
We used the gym each morning and my wife had a daily circuit of the pool. The 'couples' massage at the spa and dining at Admirals Landing and the Spice Island buffet are all recommended. The table service at the Harbour View bar was poor occasionally but that was easily remedied by strolling to the bar.
The smoothies at Bougainvillea were refreshing but the food offer was limited and the terrace could do with more shade.
We used our Tallinja cards for bus trips to the Blue Grotto and The Malta Classic Car Collection.
Thankfully GHE avoided the power cuts that caused chaos in neighbouring Valletta.
GHE plans a major refurbishment next year and we wish them good luck with that challenging project - we do hope that they can keep the splendid workforce together.
We hope to visit the new GHE in 2028 on visit number five!
Review by Jet810095 Watford, United Kingdom
Mixed standards
Perfect location to explore Valletta. Room dated but clean. Most staff amiable and helpful. Downsides, the usual towels left on sunbeds but what was surprising was the pool attendant reserving beds for people and allowing food to be served and consumed by people whilst they are in the pool. Definitely not 5 star
Amazing stay at a warm welcoming hotel
Stayed here last July with my family booked 2 rooms had an amazing time. The reception is so beautiful we were given the warmest welcome with a nice drink. Check in very easy we were early but the rooms were ready for us. They brought our luggage up which was such a relief so we got to go to our rooms straight away get swimwear on and straight to the pool. Pool area very clean with pool service for drinks and food all the staff friendly, could be slow service sometimes when it got busy but we always got a spot at the pool. We were bed and breakfast with plenty of choice at breakfast fresh poached eggs everyday. It was breakfast we found 1 lady quite rude and dismissive however all the other staff fantastic. Drinks at the hotel in the evening were pleasant staff so friendly and welcoming. Ordered a cheese board 1 night paid alot for it however half the items missing, even a member of staff asked is that how it came out so we knew it wasn't just our opinion. Had a lovely evening meal by the sea in one of the restaurants however was cut short and ruined by an older female taking all her clothes off in front of our table to jump in the sea, having teenagers you can imagine it was uncomfortable as we chose a 5 star not an 18/30s resort... told the staff straight away the manager didn't respond and my kids decided to skip the meal brought out and go back to the room as she was swimming naked in front of our table. With that we all left the restaurant after paying for uneaten food and drinks and I told them why and at that point the manager did step in to get her out the water however she was drunk and wouldn't put a towel on. At any age I wouldn't find this appropriate it was rude and disrespectful of the woman. They then sent a bottle of red wine to my room however it didn't get drunk as I cant drink red wine in that heat. I emailed the hotel while on holiday of the few negative experiences and management were amazing. So unexpected however I got apology after apology they were themselves horrified at the skinny dipping and upset about some other minor things they invited us to have drinks and snacks with all the managers of the hotel and gave us a free meal in the buffet restaurant with drinks which was unexpected and appreciated. Had a great night with managers discussing everything malta was great to find a lady who had the same surname as my late maltese mum. Was told we would be welcomed back. They went above and beyond to make sure we were happy and it felt really good. We loved the hotel and we would love to go back. Miss/Mrs Galea a member of management emailed me a great email when I got home with details on getting my maltese passport but sadly I got hacked and can no longer access that email address anymore so I couldn't respond. We are hoping to go for a few days in December to Valletta and will definitely want to go back to this hotel. It has such great character and really felt maltese. It was an amazing stay we stayed 10 days and loved our time there and we still talk about the hotel now. Thank you for helping us make amazing memories.
Review by marija74 South Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Your holiday to Malta is just a phone call away
Call our Travel Specialists today on 01732 809 181
