66 Saint Pauls

66 Saint Pauls opened in 2017 within a converted historic townhouse at 66 St Paul's Street, Valletta VLT 1122 — a 3-star hotel with 62 rooms spread across a building that pre-dates Maltese independence by well over a century. The address puts you at the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage city, with St John's Co-Cathedral roughly 400 metres on foot and the Upper Barrakka Gardens around 600 metres away. For travellers who want to spend evenings eating local rather than eating hotel, this location makes it viable to dine out every night without needing a taxi.

The hotel draws a primarily European leisure crowd, particularly UK visitors travelling on direct KM Malta Airlines services from London Heathrow and Gatwick. Malta International Airport is approximately 8km away — around 20 minutes by taxi, or 30 to 40 minutes via the direct bus service that terminates at Valletta's City Gate, itself a 10-minute walk from the hotel. The best time to book is April through June or September through October: temperatures sit between 20°C and 27°C, crowds are manageable, and the hotel operates at 80 to 90 per cent occupancy so room choice is better.

A guest score of 4.8 out of 5 from 542 verified reviews places 66 Saint Pauls well above the average for its category. Guests consistently highlight the central location and attentive staff. The trade-off versus a larger resort is space: rooms average around 22 to 25 square metres, which is standard for a city boutique conversion. Travellers who prioritise a rooftop pool and immediate access to Valletta's historic streets will find this a strong option among Valletta hotels.

The 62 rooms at 66 Saint Pauls fall into standard, superior and suite categories. Standard doubles average 22 square metres and include a queen-size bed, air conditioning, en-suite bathroom with rainfall shower, flat-screen TV and complimentary WiFi rated at 50Mbps. Superior rooms on the upper three floors add around 4 square metres of extra space and benefit from better natural light through the original tall windows characteristic of Valletta's historic streetscapes.

The suite category — approximately 40 square metres — adds a separate sitting area with a sofa bed, making it workable for two adults travelling with one child or for a longer stay of seven nights or more where extra living space becomes valuable. Rooms on the St Paul's Street side can carry some traffic noise during festa weekends in June and July when celebrations run until midnight; the quieter courtyard-facing rooms are worth requesting. Check-in is at 14:00 and check-out at 11:00, with early baggage storage available on request.

The rooftop pool measures 10 metres by 5 metres with a maximum depth of 1.5 metres — large enough for casual swimming laps. It is seasonal, open from May through October, and flanked by sun loungers. Adjacent is the hotel's rooftop bar, The Roof at 66, which serves cocktails, Maltese wines and light snacks from midday. On clear evenings the bar offers views across Valletta's terracotta roofscape towards Fort St Elmo, a setting that few hotels in the city can match at the 3-star price point.

The gym is a compact but functional space equipped with two treadmills, two elliptical machines, stationary bikes, dumbbells up to 30kg and a multi-gym station — sufficient for maintaining a basic exercise routine rather than athletic training. Breakfast is served daily in the ground-floor dining room: a continental spread supplemented by Maltese pastizzi and ħobż biż-żejt. Valletta's independent restaurant scene begins immediately outside the door, with around 40 restaurants within a 10-minute walk serving everything from rabbit stew to contemporary Maltese tasting menus.