Xemxija Bay Hotel

A six-floor apart-hotel with 107 rooms, Xemxija Bay Hotel suits divers who want a straightforward base rather than a resort built around grand promises. You get room categories for couples, groups and families, plus apartments and a penthouse, with the useful advantage of being able to choose between balconies, pool views, sea views and more basic arrangements.

The tone is practical and easy to use. There is a 24-hour reception, free Wi-Fi throughout the hotel, a bar open around the clock and a choice of indoor or outdoor swimming. English and German are spoken by the hotel team, so everyday conversations should not require underwater hand signals.

The address is on Ridott Street in Xemxija, St Paul’s Bay, on Malta’s northern coastline. The hotel sits by the sea, with the centre of Xemxija Bay about 0.6 miles away. This is the actual location to put into your transfer plans, rather than the alternative place name sometimes used for the wider area.

A bus stop is about 0.05 miles from the entrance, useful if you would rather leave the hire car parked and explore by public transport. By car, the airport takes around 35 to 45 minutes. The setting is coastal, but no beach details are attached to the hotel, so think seafront location rather than a stated hotel beach.

The room choice is unusually broad for a three-star apart-hotel. Couples can keep things simple with a twin room, while groups of three or four have standard rooms and one-bedroom suites. Families or longer stays can look towards the two-bedroom apartments, and the penthouse brings the panoramic-view option into play. The cards below the description give the precise layouts and capacities; the useful distinction here is what kind of evening each category supports.

Balconies and views are available across several categories, including sea, pool and street outlooks. If the view matters, choose it deliberately rather than assuming every room faces the water. Air conditioning appears in selected rooms, as do Wi-Fi, television, a safe and a telephone. Private bathrooms are available, while the pool-view two-bedroom apartment also has a fridge and microwave — handy when you want cold water and something simple without turning the evening into another expedition.

Some of the suites add a separate bedroom, which can make a difference when one person is up early and another has no intention of seeing daylight before coffee. The apartment layouts suit a group that wants more room to spread out; twin rooms keep the arrangement uncomplicated. Balconies are there for sitting out, not for inventing a new equipment-rinsing system.

Breakfast is served as a buffet and is included in the accommodation formula. The stated breakfast window runs from 7.30 to 10.30, giving you room for an early start or a slower morning when the first serious decision of the day is whether coffee counts as breakfast.

The hotel also has a restaurant, buffet dining, a snack bar and café service. There is no detailed menu or named culinary style to build a dinner around, so the attraction is convenience rather than a gastronomic itinerary: food on site, something lighter when required, and no compulsory search for an open table after a full day out.

The 24/7 bar is the clear signature. It covers the first coffee of the morning, an afternoon cocktail and the evening drink, with no closing-time scramble attached to the description. A food vending machine and picnic lunches are also available, giving you a few practical options when the day’s timetable refuses to behave.

Two pools divide the non-diving hours neatly. The outdoor free-form pool sits beside a broad sun deck with views towards the sea and countryside, while the heated indoor pool offers a warmer swim in the Maltese winter. Pool and beach towels are available, so the transition from room to water does not require packing half the bathroom.

For recovery rather than laps, Pearl Spas provides massage treatments in your room. There is also a fully equipped gym for those who still have energy to spend, along with a library and a sun terrace when the correct post-dive exercise is turning pages slowly. The hotel can arrange excursions, and cycling and hiking are available for days when you want to see more of the island without booking another boat.

Families have a games room and a children’s pool, while the hotel also provides family rooms and accessible facilities, including wheelchair access and a lift. That makes the property workable for mixed groups: one person can take the pool, another can disappear into a book, and nobody needs to pretend that every afternoon must be adventurous.

Check-in starts at 14:00 and check-out is by 11:00. The front desk operates around the clock, which is useful for late arrivals and early departures. Early check-in and late check-out can be requested, subject to arrangement with the hotel.

Airport transfers are available in the form of a hotel-arranged service, and car hire can be organised. On site, you have parking, luggage storage, a lift, laundry and dry-cleaning services, ironing, a safe and a cash machine. Free Wi-Fi covers the hotel. Card payments accepted include Visa and Mastercard, while the city tax must be paid in cash.

The electrical supply is 230 volts with Type G sockets, the standard British-style arrangement used in Malta. The hotel also has accessibility facilities and wheelchair access. If you are travelling with dive luggage or a larger group, the combination of a nearby bus stop, lift and broad choice of room layouts is worth factoring into the booking rather than leaving it to chance.