I’m including Senglea for the sole purpose of the Cugo Gran Macina Grand Harbour Hotel. It was truly that stunning! The small island of Senglea doesn’t have a lot to offer and probably isn’t the key tourist attraction like other parts of Malta, but for a day or two of walking around, or taking the ferry over to Valetta, or just relaxing at the pool, I found this island of the Three Cities charming and inviting.
Nites
I honestly can’t think of the right adjective to use to describe the Cugo Gran Macina Harbour Hotel (https://www.cugogranmalta.com/). So I’ll just go with sheer perfection! There really is no other place to stay in my opinion. Deservingly part of the Design Hotels collection (https://www.designhotels.com/), I was given room 108, a corner room overlooking the harbor. Although the hotel describes itself as all suites, this is beyond a suite. I really didn’t want to leave! The sitting room is larger than any of the other hotels that I had stayed in. The bedroom could be closed off from the sitting area (you know, in case someone snores and you had to go out to the lounge, or left open for a phenomenal sense of grandeur). And the bathroom was gorgeous! The only thing that could have made it better was a bathtub but since I’m not a bath person (kinda freaks me out to be honest), I was happy with the rain shower. This, dear reader, is a true 5-star hotel and worth every euro they charge (which should be more) and is deserving of every “Best Of” list possible.
Bites
I’m embarrassed to say that my research didn’t turn up too many dining options in Senglea so I opted to dine at the hotel restaurant Hammett’s Macina (https://www.hammettsmacina.com/) (also because I knew I needed something other than more pasta for at least one night and their menu showed a lot of vegetarian options). This really was an extraordinary experience. Describing themselves as cooking based on Mediterranean-semitic roots, the food is meant to be shared but also small enough for the intrepid single traveler like myself. And when you can sit outside, have a cocktail before dinner, and observe the world passing by, there really is nothing better.
Sites
Senglea doesn’t really offer much in terms of sites to see, but I encourage you to pull yourself away from the Cugo Gran Macina Grand Harbour and take a stroll around the old town that is above the harbour. The tiny streets are gorgeous and the architecture of the homes breathtaking. There’s been a lot of remodeling going on which makes the old town very clean, but you can also see old homes that are yet to be updated just to have a sense of what the town used to look like.