db San Antonio Hotel + Spa
The db San Antonio is a large, Moorish-themed all-inclusive on the seafront at Qawra, in St Paul's Bay on the north coast of Malta. Families come for its pirate ship pool with slides and water cannons, up to seven themed restaurants and a walkable spot with the bus terminal, the National Aquarium and Bugibba's shops all close by.
On this page
Is it worth it?
Who it suits, what the all-inclusive covers and the facts to skim before the detail.
The db San Antonio is a large 4-star all-inclusive on the Qawra seafront, in the north of Malta. Its headline feature for young children is the pirate ship pool, a play structure with slides and water cannons that families single out again and again. The board is all-inclusive, with up to seven themed restaurants in summer, and the staff draw warm praise across the review sites. The atmosphere is busy and lively from the moment you arrive, more so at weekends and through peak summer, because this is a hotel of over 500 rooms rather than a small, quiet one.
There's no conventional sandy beach here. The Qawra coast is mostly rocky limestone, and the hotel's own beach option, the Nine Lives club, charges extra and is set up for sunset drinks rather than toddler paddling. The one recurring complaint is the air conditioning, which several families say struggles in the July and August heat, though most describe their stay warmly. If daily sand is what you're after, the group's sister hotel, the db Seabank at Mellieha, sits right by the sand at Mellieha Bay.
Best for
You want a lively all-inclusive with a big pirate ship pool, plenty of themed restaurants and a walkable town with island-wide buses on the doorstep.
Maybe not for
You want sand to walk onto, a quiet low-key resort, or a room you can rely on staying cool in peak-summer heat.
Best ages
Toddlers and young children, for the pirate ship pool and splash pool. There's a heated indoor baby pool too. Ask the hotel about current kids' club age bands.
What stands out
The pirate ship pool, up to seven themed restaurants and a hammam that's exclusive to this hotel within the db group.
What to check
The kids' club age bands and hours, which the hotel doesn't publish, and whether any pool maintenance is planned if you're visiting in early September.
Where is it?
On the Qawra seafront in St Paul's Bay, northern Malta, about 30 to 40 minutes from Malta International Airport.
Quick facts for families
What the resort is like
Where it sits, how it's laid out over ten floors and what that means with a pushchair.
The db San Antonio is a 10-floor hotel on Triq it-Turisti in Qawra, on the seafront in St Paul's Bay on the north coast of Malta, run by the Maltese group db Hotels & Resorts. It's built and decorated in a Moorish style, with a curved white facade, carved wooden lattice windows and a grand domed lobby, which gives it a clear identity among Malta's all-inclusives. It's a big, busy hotel of over 500 rooms, and the lively atmosphere is noticeable from arrival, more so at weekends and in peak summer. The hotel's own site calls it the second largest on Malta.
Rather than sprawling across grounds, the hotel goes up: ten floors, with lifts and internal corridors linking the rooms, restaurants and pools. The main pool deck sits at ground level, so you don't need a lift to reach it, which helps with a pushchair, and the seafront promenade and the walk into Bugibba are flat. The lifts are the one weak point, and guests report them slow at peak times, which means queuing with a buggy on a busy August morning. The adults-only infinity pool and two of the rooftop restaurants are up on the 10th floor.
A major renovation and extension, costing around €32 million, was completed in 2015, modernising the interiors while keeping the Moorish theme throughout. Some areas show their age a decade on, with older corridor carpets and soundproofing between rooms that guests describe as variable. The hotel holds Green Key eco-certification and runs an active sustainability programme: reusable-cup drink tokens at the pools with a refundable deposit, filtered drinking-water stations on every floor, bicycle hire and a free airport shuttle for guests who book direct. It employs around 300 to 400 staff, and because it also takes conference and events business, weekdays can mix holidaymakers with business groups.
One thing to check before you pay: the db San Antonio and its sister hotel, the db Seabank, share a similar name and the same booking engine, and the two are easy to mix up online. They're very different for beach access, so confirm the address reads Qawra, not Mellieha, before you book.
Every restaurant and bar
The buffet, the specialty restaurants, the bars and how the booking actually works.
The board is all-inclusive, and the food is one of the things families rate most. There are up to seven themed restaurants in summer: six run year-round, and the rooftop Taza barbecue opens from June to September, Thursday to Sunday. House spirits, beer, cocktails, soft drinks and water are included from 10am to 11.30pm.
| Restaurant | Cuisine | Where and when | In the all-inclusive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gueliz | International buffet | Main dining room, all meals, year-round | Yes, the everyday buffet |
| Salia | Italian, sharing menu and à la carte | Year-round | One booking per stay; free any night on AI Plus |
| Tagine | Moroccan and Indian buffet | Year-round | One visit per stay |
| Yushan | Asian buffet, live stations | Top floor with bay views, year-round | One visit per stay |
| Rivaj | Indian sharing plates | 10th floor, evenings, year-round | One visit per stay |
| Saboroso | Brazilian and Latin buffet | 10th-floor rooftop, dinner only | One dinner a week |
| Taza | Rooftop barbecue buffet | 10th floor, June to September, Thu to Sun | One dinner a week |
The Gueliz buffet is the main dining room, named after the modern quarter of Marrakesh, and it serves every meal: breakfast 07:00 to 10:30, lunch 12:30 to 15:00, afternoon snacks 15:30 to 17:30 and dinner 19:00 to 22:00. It also hosts the all-inclusive Sunday lunch. It gets hectic at dinner, with queues in peak season, and it's the one restaurant you can walk into for breakfast and snacks; lunch and dinner need booking like the rest. It's the venue families praise most, a little ahead of some of the specialty restaurants, where reviews are more mixed.
The rooftop restaurants share the 10th floor with the adults' pool and the Taza Sky Bar, and they're the ones guests rate best. Saboroso serves a Brazilian and Latin American buffet from 7pm to 10pm; a non-resident table costs €28 for an adult, €14 for a child aged 6 to 11 and nothing for under-5s, card only (last checked June 2026). The seasonal Taza is an open-air barbecue looking over the St Paul's Islands, running June to September, Thursday to Sunday, 7pm to 9.30pm; a non-resident dinner there is €32.50 a head, again card only (last checked June 2026). Salia is the Italian, with a sharing menu alongside its à la carte dishes, and Tagine a Moroccan and Indian buffet with dishes inspired by Marrakesh and Mumbai. Up on the top floor, Yushan is an Asian buffet with live cooking stations and bay views, though its sushi came in for specific criticism in at least one review, and Rivaj is a 10th-floor Indian sharing menu that only launched in 2024/25. One of the restaurants runs a Maltese-themed evening if you want a taste of the local cooking.
Three bars round it out. Café Maroc is more of a café-restaurant than a bar: it does a full English breakfast, pancakes, crepes, omelettes and light lunches alongside coffees and cocktails, with pavement seating, which makes it a handy quicker option outside the main buffet hours. The Taza Sky Bar is the rooftop bar on the 10th floor, casual by day and a cocktail bar with panoramic bay views by evening, next to the adults' pool. The Kosy Bar is the largest bar and the hub of the evening entertainment, with live shows, karaoke and games every night.
How restaurant booking works
The specialty restaurants all need a table booked in advance, through the hotel app or the kiosks in the lobby, and in peak season they fill fast, so walk-ups are often turned away. It's the practical thing first-timers get caught out by. Gueliz takes walk-ins for breakfast and snacks but wants a booking for lunch and dinner. The all-inclusive covers one visit per specialty restaurant across your stay, except Saboroso and Taza, which are one dinner a week each. Dinner has a dress code everywhere: no sportswear, beachwear or sleeveless tops.
Dining is set up for all ages on the all-inclusive model, and the hotel lists its restaurants as child-friendly. If your child has a food allergy, speak to the head chef or sous chef. Any external booking, such as a non-resident dinner at Saboroso or Taza, is card payment only.
The All-Inclusive Plus upgrade
The hotel sells an optional upgrade, All-Inclusive Plus, on top of the standard board. It's for adults and children aged 12 and over, with a minimum stay of five nights from May to October and four from November to April, and it costs around €22 per person per night if you pre-book direct, or €24.50 per person per night if you add it at the hotel, with a reduced rate of around €15 a night for 12- to 16-year-olds (last checked June 2026). You can pre-book it for the whole stay, or take it at the hotel partway through, in which case it runs from the day you take it to check-out. It doesn't combine with other discounts.
The upgrade centres on the Plus Lounge, open 07:30 to 22:00, with its own breakfast, snacks, aperitivo and drinks, plus a minibar stocked from the lounge with wines, soft drinks and beers and a choice of branded spirits. It also brings late check-out to 2pm, a welcome amenity in the room, upgraded wines with meals and no supplement to dine at the Salia Italian. Spa treatments come with 20% off the signature massage, facial, scrub and hammam, and the hotel shop is 10% off, or 25% off on alcohol. Guests on the upgrade also get 20% off the bill at db's sister venues elsewhere, such as the Blu Beach Club and Nine Lives, with booking required.
Rooms and suites
Every room type with its official size, the pools across the site and the beach question.
The hotel has over 500 rooms, all in the same Moorish style with warm colours, tiled bathrooms and a balcony or terrace. Every room has air conditioning and a ceiling fan, a flat-screen satellite TV, tea and coffee making, a mini fridge, a free safe, free wi-fi, a hairdryer, international sockets, a retractable clothes dryer and a direct-dial phone. There are five room types.
| Room | Size | Sleeps | View | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard Room | 23 m² | 2 + cot | Sea or inland | Bathtub and shower. Tight once a cot is in |
| Family Room | 29 m² | 4 + cot | Pool, sea or inland | Sofa bed and trundle. The main family room, 248 of them |
| Duplex | 43 m² | 5 | Sea, pool or inland | Two levels, two twin/double beds and a sofa bed. Shower only. Just 9 |
| Suite | 45 m² | 4 + cot | Sea or inland | Like the Family Room but roomier, with a bathtub. 15 of them |
| Accessible Room | 29 m² | 3 + cot | Inland | Roll-in shower, resting rails, wide door. 12 of them |
For a family, the Family Room is the one most will book: at 29 m² it takes a sofa bed and a trundle alongside the main bed, a cot fits, and with 248 of them availability is good. The Standard Room at 23 m² is tight once a cot is in, fine for a couple with one baby but not for more. The Duplex is worth knowing about if you're juggling nap times: at 43 m² it splits over two levels, sleeping upstairs and a lounge below, so you get two zones, though there are only nine, they have a shower rather than a bath, and a cot isn't listed for them, so ask if you need one. The Suite is the roomiest of the family options at 45 m², much like the Family Room but with more space and a bathtub. Cots come on request in the Standard, Family, Suite and Accessible rooms.
The Accessible Room has a roll-in shower, a shower chair, resting rails and a metre-wide door; there are twelve, booked through the hotel's reservations email, with nurse assistance on request. The rooms overall are clean and the Moorish style is well kept, though the décor is starting to date: the 2015 refit is over a decade old now, and some corridor carpets and finishes feel a touch below four-star. If you spot a "Deluxe" room on a booking site, that isn't a separate room type here; it's the label some sites use for a room booked with the All-Inclusive Plus upgrade.
Pools and water features
The pirate ship pool is the hotel's signature, a big play structure with slides and water cannons and a mushroom waterfall, and it's the single thing families mention most. Beside it is a shallow toddler splash pool you can get into with a small child. The official description calls these two shallow pools "intended for toddlers" and gives no set age or depth. Both open with the main pool season, mid-April to mid-November, 09:00 to 18:00.
The main outdoor pool is the largest, down on the ground-floor pool deck overlooking the sea, with sunbeds and a poolside bar, open the same mid-April to mid-November season, 09:00 to 18:00; children must be supervised. Up on the 10th floor is the adults-only infinity pool, over-16s only, open June to September, with panoramic views over St Paul's Bay next to the Taza Sky Bar, the main child-free spot for parents.
Indoors, in the spa and fitness complex, a heated pool runs all year, 08:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and 09:00 to 18:00 at weekends, adults-only between noon and 3pm and otherwise open to accompanied under-16s. It has a whirlpool and a small heated baby pool alongside, the only dedicated baby pool at the hotel and a useful all-weather option for the youngest children. Short maintenance closures of the indoor pool and spa areas do happen out of season, so if you're visiting in early September it's worth checking nothing's shut.
Only armbands and swimming aids are allowed in the pools, no rings or lilos. Drinks at the pool use a reusable-cup token with a refundable deposit, part of the hotel's sustainability scheme rather than a charge for towels. If friends or relatives are staying nearby, the hotel also sells non-resident day passes, a Day by the Pool for the main pool and an adults-only version for the rooftop infinity pool, each including all-inclusive food and drinks for the day.
The beach and Nine Lives
There's no conventional private sandy beach at the db San Antonio. The Qawra coast is mostly rocky limestone, with only a small stretch of sand. What the hotel has instead is Nine Lives, a beach club on the "Perched Beach" below, which you can reach without leaving the hotel grounds. It has sand underfoot, cushioned sunbeds and food and drink service, and it's styled as a sunset-and-cocktails spot rather than a shallow, sandy bay for toddler paddling. It isn't part of the standard all-inclusive, so charges apply, with 20% off for All-Inclusive Plus guests. For a proper day on the sand, Mellieha Bay and Paradise Bay are 40 to 60 minutes away by bus, and Golden Bay is another option; families who want daily sand tend to prefer the db Seabank or the Radisson Blu. Beach volleyball is available as a facility.
Babies and toddlers
The kids' club, babysitting, what the hotel confirms for babies and everything there is to do.
A kids' and teens' club is run by the hotel's animation team, with colouring, dance, sports, language lessons, cartoons and crafts that change day to day on the lobby noticeboards. The hotel doesn't publish the club's age bands, hours or cost anywhere, so check those directly before you count on it for daytime care.
Older children can book into the spa's kids' menu: a Kaumara Abyangham massage, a chocolate wrap, a plain massage, a quick manicure and pedicure, a unicorn facial and a yogurt and cucumber facial.
Cots aside, plan to bring or buy baby bits like a steriliser, bottle warmer and nappies locally. Guests wear a wristband through the stay to show they're on the all-inclusive.
Spa, fitness and entertainmentThings to do
The Pearl Spas spa has ten treatment rooms, a steam room and sauna, the indoor heated pool, a hydrotherapy bath and a jacuzzi it calls the Sultan's Bath, plus a relaxation area. Its standout is the hammam: the signature hammam treatment, in Moroccan and Turkish styles, is exclusive to the San Antonio within the db group. Non-residents can book day-spa packages too. The Newform Fitness Club gym is open around the clock to guests, with cardio and weights machines and qualified trainers offering personal training and dietary advice, and access takes in the indoor pool, jacuzzi, sauna, steam room and hydrobath; fitness classes cost extra, sold singly or as a block of eight.
Evenings centre on the Kosy Bar, with professional song-and-dance shows, karaoke and games every night, and a daytime animation team runs poolside games and activities around the hotel. Other bits and pieces: a hair salon by the main entrance, an in-hotel shop, The Market, open 08:30 to 22:00 for snacks, drinks and pool bits (card only), a tour desk in the lobby for excursions and car or bike hire, and paid underground parking if you drive. The hotel also takes conferences, with four meeting rooms, which is part of why weekdays can feel more mixed.
Off the parkThe area and days out
Qawra runs straight into Bugibba, together one of Malta's busiest and most built-up resort strips, so this is a lively, urban base rather than a quiet village. Malta's National Aquarium is about a 10-minute walk along the seafront, with 51 tanks, 250-plus species and interactive areas for children, a good wet-afternoon option. Bugibba Square, with its shops and restaurants, is a similar walk, and the bus terminal is about five minutes on foot, with frequent services across the island. The small Malta Classic Car Museum is a short walk away in Bugibba. Off the seafront you can see the St Paul's Islands, the uninhabited group said to be where St Paul was shipwrecked in AD 60, with boat tours, snorkelling and diving from the area.
For a day of real sand, Mellieha Bay and Paradise Bay are 40 to 60 minutes by bus, both proper sandy beaches. The Blue Lagoon on Comino, reached by boat, has shallow, sandy-bottomed turquoise water, though it's very busy in summer, so go early. Valletta, the UNESCO capital, is 15km away, about an hour and a quarter by direct bus, buggy-friendly along Republic Street, with its noon cannon. Gozo, a quieter island with the red sand of Ramla Bay and its hilltop Citadel, is a full day out via the ferry from Cirkewwa. Popeye Village at Mellieha, the 1980 film set turned family attraction, opens daily in high season, and the Blue Grotto in the south runs sea-cave boat trips. Malta drives on the left, the same as the UK, if you'd rather hire a car; the shops and pharmacies of Qawra and Bugibba have most things you'll need, with Calpol and Aptamil easy to find and Cow & Gate and HiPP Organic harder, so pack those if your baby uses them.
Loves and gripes
What guests rate and what frustrated them, how it stacks up nearby, the journey in and the weather by month.
The db San Antonio rates solidly and consistently: around 4 out of 5 on TripAdvisor from roughly 9,400 reviews, 8.6 on Trivago and 8.3 on Booking.com, where staff score 9.2 and wifi 9.5, both well ahead of the other categories. The pirate pool, the food variety, the staff, the location and bus links, the all-inclusive value and the Kosy Bar entertainment come up again and again as what families like.
What families love
- The pirate ship pool, the top highlight for young children.
- The staff, warmly praised everywhere and the highest-scoring part on Booking.com.
- The food variety across the themed restaurants.
- The location, with the bus terminal, aquarium and Bugibba shops all walkable.
- The all-inclusive value.
- The evening shows at the Kosy Bar.
Common gripes
- The air conditioning, which several families find struggles to cool the rooms in July and August.
- The restaurant booking system, which catches first-timers out and fills fast in peak season.
- Slow lifts, especially with a buggy or at busy times.
- The specialty restaurants, rated more mixed than the strong Gueliz buffet, with the sushi at Yushan singled out as underwhelming in at least one review.
- Crowds in peak summer, felt at the pools, lifts and restaurants.
- Pool areas that can feel less pristine when the hotel is full, more a crowd issue than lack of effort.
The air conditioning is the one to weigh. In a Malta August it matters with a baby or toddler, though a ceiling fan and an open balcony door help, and most families still rate their stay well overall. If a reliably cool room is essential, factor it in. Timeshare representatives also operate in the hotel, so you may be approached.
Against the alternativesHow it compares
Within the db group and the wider area, the choice usually comes down to sand versus pool. The sister db Seabank at Mellieha sits 30m from the sand of Mellieha Bay and is the most-cited family hotel on Malta, so it's that daily sand against the San Antonio's pirate pool, hammam and walkable, well-connected location. Nearby in Qawra, AX ODYCY has an aquapark, indoor soft-play and a kids' club children can attend on their own, where the San Antonio offers the hammam spa, rooftop dining and its Moorish character instead. The Radisson Blu Golden Sands sits right on Golden Bay and feels more five-star and pricier, so you're weighing its beach and setting against better all-inclusive value and more restaurants here. Paradise Bay at Cirkewwa has a Blue Flag private beach and a free kids' club but is more remote, set against the San Antonio's wider range of restaurants and its transport links.
From the airportGetting there
Malta International Airport at Luqa is 16km away, about 30 to 40 minutes by car, and UK airlines including Ryanair, easyJet, British Airways and TUI fly there direct. A free airport shuttle is available, but only if you book direct with the hotel and request it in advance, so it isn't automatic. Otherwise a private taxi or transfer is the easier choice with young children, since the public buses have no car seats; the Tallinja bus takes 30 to 45 minutes to the area and isn't ideal with an under-3 in a car seat. Once you're there, you barely need to travel: Bugibba Square is about 10 minutes' walk and the bus terminal about five, so day trips are easy. There's no minimum stay at the hotel itself; the only minimum is the four- to five-night rule on the All-Inclusive Plus package.
When to goWeather
June and September are the best months with little ones: warm, a bit quieter and better value, with the pools open. May is quieter still but the sea is cool, around 19°C, so it's more of a pool stay than a swimming one. July and August bring the peak heat and the biggest crowds, which is when the air-conditioning complaints matter most.
| Month | Daytime high | Overnight low | Rain | Wet days | Sea temp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 16° | 9.5° | 77 mm | 10 | 16° |
| February | 15.5° | 9° | 74 mm | 8 | 15° |
| March | 17.5° | 10° | 41 mm | 6 | 15° |
| April | 20° | 12.5° | 22 mm | 4 | 16° |
| May | 24.5° | 15.5° | 7 mm | 1 | 19° |
| June | 29° | 19.5° | 5 mm | 1 | 23° |
| July | 32° | 22° | 0 mm | 0 | 26° |
| August | 32° | 23° | 14 mm | 1 | 27° |
| September | 28.5° | 21° | 55 mm | 4 | 27° |
| October | 25° | 18° | 79 mm | 6 | 24° |
| November | 21° | 14.5° | 86 mm | 9 | 22° |
| December | 17.5° | 11° | 80 mm | 9 | 18° |
Typical monthly averages from weather-station records. Sea temperature is the open-water figure, so a sheltered bay can feel a degree or two warmer.
Between June and September, Malta's village festas bring night-time fireworks and ground-level bangers. If Qawra's parish festa falls during your stay, pack ear defenders for a baby or toddler.
Passports, health and accessBefore you go
Malta is in the Schengen area, so your UK passport needs to have been issued less than 10 years before you arrive and have at least three months left beyond your departure. UK citizens don't need a visa for stays under 90 days. The EU's new biometric entry system, EES, is being rolled out, taking fingerprints and a photo on first entry, with children aged 11 and under giving a photo only, so allow extra time at the airport. The FCDO had no advisory against travel to Malta when this was written.
On the practical side, plug sockets are the same British three-pin as home, at 230V, so you won't need an adaptor, and English is spoken throughout. For health, the emergency number is 112, a UK GHIC or EHIC card covers medically necessary state care but isn't a substitute for travel insurance, and UK prescriptions aren't recognised, so a Maltese doctor would need to issue any medicine locally.
Getting around, the hotel is vertical: ten floors with the lifts as the main way up and down, and those lifts run slow at peak times, so expect to queue with a buggy. At ground level it's better for a pushchair, with no lift needed for the main pool deck and flat ground along the promenade, into Bugibba Square and to the bus terminal. If you'll use the Nine Lives beach club with a pushchair, ask about the route down when you arrive.
Questions
The things families ask most, the official pages worth a bookmark and when this guide was last refreshed.
How does booking the restaurants work?
Once you have checked in, book the specialty restaurants you most want through the hotel app or a lobby kiosk. In peak season the popular evenings can go within a day or two, so treat your must-do restaurants as a day-one job. The Gueliz buffet is the exception you can walk into, and only for breakfast and snacks.
Is there a sandy beach?
Not at the hotel. The coast here is rocky, and the Nine Lives beach club is a paid, cocktails-style spot rather than a toddler beach. For a day on real sand, take the bus to Mellieha Bay or Paradise Bay, or book the db Seabank if daily sand is your priority.
What age is the pirate ship pool for?
The hotel only calls it a shallow pool intended for toddlers and sets no age or depth, so use your own judgement and supervise closely. There’s a separate shallow splash pool beside it for the smallest, and a heated indoor baby pool for babies.
Is there a kids’ club, and what ages?
There’s a club run by the animation team, but the hotel doesn’t publish its age bands, hours or cost, so email or call before you travel if you’re counting on daytime childcare, and don’t assume every session runs all season.
db San Antonio or db Seabank?
Choose the San Antonio for the pirate pool, the range of restaurants and a walkable town with buses everywhere; choose the Seabank for a sandy beach on the doorstep. They share a booking engine and a similar name, so double-check the address says Qawra before you pay.
When is the best time to go with young children?
June or September are the easiest months. If cool rooms and smaller crowds matter to you, steer clear of the July and August peak, and if you come in May for the low prices, plan on pool days, because the sea is still cool at around 19°C.
What does All-Inclusive Plus add?
A lounge with its own food and drinks, a stocked minibar and branded spirits, late check-out, free dining at the Italian, plus spa and shop discounts. It’s for ages 12 and up with a four- or five-night minimum, and you can add it at the hotel partway through, so weigh it against how much you’d actually use the lounge.
How many restaurants are there really?
Up to seven in summer. Six run all year, and the seventh, the rooftop Taza barbecue, only opens June to September, Thursday to Sunday, so if it’s on your list, check it’s running for your dates and day.
See more db San Antonio photos
Open the db San Antonio photo gallery →
Useful links
- db San Antonio Hotel + Spa: the hotel's own site for rooms, restaurants and what's included.
- GOV.UK Malta travel advice: entry rules and safety updates before you travel.
- Malta with little ones: our guide to the wider island, its beaches and when to go.
Last updated 13 July 2026.
