Cornucopia Hotel

Cornucopia Hotel is a 48-room hotel in Xaghra, suited to divers who want the practical comforts of a full-service base rather than a bare room and a key. There is a restaurant, a bar, a snack bar, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a garden and a sun terrace, so the day does not have to end when the sea does.

You can keep things simple here. The hotel offers air conditioning, Wi-Fi, parking, room service and a 24-hour reception, with laundry, dry cleaning, vehicle hire and airport transfers also available. English is spoken by the hotel staff, which removes one small piece of holiday admin when all you really want is food and a shower.

The hotel is in Xaghra, on Gozo, about 1 km from the village centre. That gives you a base away from the busiest waterfront routine, while keeping everyday practicalities within reach. The hotel is also near the beach, although the location is not presented as a seafront address.

For drivers, the arrangement is straightforward: on-site parking is available, with additional parking nearby. A car is useful for exploring Gozo and reaching different parts of the island, and vehicle hire can be arranged through the hotel. The setting works best if you want a Gozo base rather than a resort built around one strip of restaurants.

The room choice is unusually broad, running from single rooms to options for three, four and five guests, with apartments, cottages, bungalows and suites alongside the standard categories. That matters if you are travelling as a group and would rather keep dive kit, luggage and people from competing for the same square metre. For two, the double rooms with either a double bed or twin beds keep the decision uncomplicated; balcony and view options are also available.

The most useful room details are the practical ones. Air conditioning, a fan, blackout blinds, a minibar, a wardrobe, a hairdryer, towels, toiletries and tea-making facilities appear in several of the fuller room specifications, while a private bathroom is available across the named room options. Do check the individual room card before booking, because the equipment is not identical from one category to another.

For a solo diver, single rooms keep the arrangement sensible. For three or four people, the larger standard rooms and apartments give you more choice than a typical couple-focused hotel, while cottages add a separate accommodation style. Safes, televisions and telephones are available in selected categories, and some rooms include a balcony or patio. The useful rule is simple: choose by the feature that affects your night, not by the grandest label.

The hotel has a restaurant for a proper sit-down meal, a bar for the slower part of the evening and a snack bar when a full dinner feels like unnecessary paperwork. A buffet breakfast is available, with coffee and tea also served for guests. Room service gives you another option when the day has taken more out of you than planned.

The dining format depends on the room booking, so check what is included before you arrive. There is no need to build every evening around finding a table elsewhere: the essentials are on site, from breakfast through to a drink and something lighter. The snack bar is particularly useful when lunch has been delayed by boats, weather or the usual dive-centre version of “five minutes”.

The indoor and outdoor pools give you two ways to spend an afternoon without making another excursion of it. Add the garden and sun terrace, and there is room for the quiet business of drying off, reading and deciding whether the next move is a swim or a nap. Pool facilities are available, including a separate children’s pool.

When you want to move rather than lounge, the hotel offers billiards, cycling, bicycle hire and hiking. Those are useful choices for a non-diving day on Gozo, especially if you want to see more of the island under your own steam. The terrace and garden cover the less ambitious days, which are often the ones the shoulders appreciate most.

Families can also use the babysitting and childcare service, making the hotel workable for mixed-age groups rather than only travelling divers. The reception operates around the clock, so the practical side of returning late or leaving early is easier to manage.

Check-in starts at 15:00 and check-out is by 12:00. A 24-hour reception, luggage storage and a wake-up service help with awkward travel days, while airport transfers can be arranged through the hotel in the form of a shuttle service. Vehicle hire is also available if you want to make the most of Gozo beyond Xaghra.

Wi-Fi and internet access are available, although the room and public-area arrangements differ, so check the conditions attached to your booking. The hotel also offers laundry, dry cleaning, a safe, currency exchange and a small on-site shop, with a souvenir shop for the less urgent purchases.

Air conditioning and heating are available, and the hotel is entirely non-smoking. Visa, Mastercard and American Express are accepted. For international arrivals, remember that Malta uses Type G sockets and a 230-volt supply, so pack the appropriate adaptor rather than hoping one will appear in the minibar.