After our very mediocre experience at Damare Resort & Spa, we decided to move back towards the action for our last two nights in Malta, and picked Be Hotel, right in the heart of St. Julian’s.

Arriving to the hotel is interesting; it’s actually located at the far end of the Bay Street shopping mall entrance, which threw us off at first, but we quickly found our way into the hotel and on to reception. This also makes it a super handy location for very nearby eateries, shopping or – in my case a last-minute trip to the barber.

We were very quickly seen to, greeted, and informed we were being given a very welcome upgrade to a suite.

The hotel is arranged in a unique layout, with two separate tower blocks divided by a middle floor atop the shopping complex, where you can cross from one block to the other. Our room was housed in the same tower as reception, but the opposite tower had ‘Fornelli’, the restaurant where breakfast was served, and the rooftop pool.

Anyway, up we went and down the long corridor to our room – and I was absolutely elated by the size, cleanliness and luxury of our beautiful suite.

It opened up into a living area, complete with sofa, work desk and TV; with views out over the neighbouring St. Julian’s hotels’ and – as we would discover later – nightlife.

Directly behind the living area, we had the bed, again with floor-to-ceiling windows on one side, and then the door to both a balcony, and the bathroom on the other.

The suite – I can’t actually figure out which one looking through their website – was incredibly spacious, and stepping out on the balcony, gave us great views out from behind the neighbouring tower across to the sea and nearby beach.

Our bathroom was also incredibly spacious with a full-sized bathtub adjacent to the floor-to-ceiling window view out over downtown St. Julian. The glass, which we checked to be sure, is one-way only, though the non-exhibitionist in me still never felt quite comfortable enough without the blind down.

There’s also a large shower cubicle, toilet and double sinks.

We were very tight for time on this trip, being in Malta mostly to attend a wedding in Valetta, but we did naturally find time to zip across to the other tower and visit the rooftop pool.

Again, the views and setting are lovely, and the pool is ample big enough for a reasonable crowd – while we were visiting there were never more than a handful of guests making use of it, and plenty of sunchairs.

There’s also a – cleverly-styled – rooftop pool bar, called be.Kini bar. Sadly we just didn’t get time to have a drink at the bar, but it seemed like a perfect setting especially at sunset to sit back and enjoy the view.

The one issue that did come to light, which potential guests should keep in mind, is the noise level from the bars and clubs nearby. This is obviously in no way the hotels fault, but is worth keeping in mind – it might be worth specifically requesting a quieter room towards the back of the towers if this is likely to bother you. In our case, our room was right on the corner and meant audible noise until as late as 4am.

Thankfully we both brought our earplugs and it didn’t trouble us too much, but is worth keeping in mind if this would bother you otherwise.

Breakfast is served at Fornelli each morning, and along we went for what turned out to be a very hearty buffet spread of both hot and cold food items.

Kudos to the chef too, I did overhear one guest with some very particular food allergy asking if she could be catered to, and he promised to cook a number of items for the following morning allergen-free.

The restaurant stretches outside too, so you can enjoy some early morning sun if you wish (we didn’t), which seems popular with folks keen to soak up as much sun as possible, or sneak in an early morning cigarette as slyly as possible.

It was a shame we were only visiting for two nights, especially after spending three in the far more expensive and far less enjoyable previous resort we’d come from.

Staff, facilities, and the room were all on point at Be Hotel, and if we could be assured of a slightly quieter stay from the nearby street, it’d certainly be our top choice on any future visit to Malta.