The George Hotel

Paceville Avenue, St Julians, Malta

Describing itself as an ‘urban boutique’ hotel, The George is situated in St Julian’s Bay (six kilometres along the coast from the capital Valletta), and a couple of streets in from the coastline. The views from the freshwater rooftop pool and ‘Sky Lounge’ bar happily compensate. While you’re just a stone’s throw from Paceville, the island’s nightlife hotspot, noise is not an issue. It lacks many of the quirky decorative finishing touches that one might expect in a boutique hotel (and with 112 bedrooms it couldn’t be considered cosy), but the ‘urban’ description sums up its chic atmosphere perfectly. Malta is just 27km by 14.5km, so nowhere could be considered far – but The George offers a great base from which to explore the island. Doubles from £85.