Paradise Bay Resort
Paradise Bay Resort is an independent 4-star hotel on the northern tip of Malta, at Ċirkewwa, built above its own sandy beach beside the terminal where the ferries leave for Gozo. That beach was the first private hotel beach on the island to earn a Blue Flag, and the rooms look out across the channel to Gozo and Comino. It's a quiet, self-contained base for a relaxed family beach holiday.
On this page
Is it worth it?
The quick read before the detail: who it suits, what's in the price and the facts to weigh first.
Paradise Bay Resort is an independent 4-star hotel on the northern tip of Malta, sat above its own private sandy beach. That beach is the reason most families look at it: it was the first private hotel beach in Malta to be awarded a Blue Flag, the international mark for a clean, safe, well-run beach, and real sand is rare on a coast that's mostly rock. The trade-off is remoteness. The hotel is self-contained, with nothing within walking distance, so you'll need a taxi or a hire car for anything off site, and it's the furthest resort on the island from the airport. It's room-only at the base rate rather than all-inclusive, so meals are charged as you go, which is worth budgeting for if you plan to eat in every night. It suits families who want a relaxed, contained beach stay rather than an animation-heavy programme: there's a playground and a games room but no structured kids' club described by the hotel, and one real draw is the PADI dive school across the road for a parent who dives. The private beach, the views to Gozo and Comino and the quiet, good-value feel are what families rate most, with the remoteness the main thing to weigh.
Best for
You want a quiet, self-contained base with a sandy Blue Flag beach and sea views to Gozo and Comino, and you're happy to hire a car.
Maybe not for
You want everything within walking distance, an all-inclusive with an animation team and a structured kids' club, or a short airport transfer.
Best ages
Babies upwards for a relaxed beach holiday. There's a playground and a games room, but no confirmed kids' club, so older children who'd use a club programme may find less laid on.
What stands out
The private Blue Flag beach reached by underpass, the Gozo ferry next door and a PADI dive school across the road.
What to check
Whether cots and highchairs can be arranged, and the current beach season, since the private beach runs only roughly May to October.
Where is it?
On Marfa Road at Ċirkewwa, the far northern tip of Malta, next to the Gozo ferry and roughly an hour from the airport.
Quick facts for families
What the resort is like
Where it sits, how it's laid out and what the remote setting means day to day.
Paradise Bay Resort sits at the very northern tip of Malta, on Marfa Road at Ċirkewwa, right beside the terminal where the ferries leave for Gozo. It's an independent 4-star seafront hotel, built as a single mid-scale block above its own beach rather than spread across a resort strip, so it feels quieter and lower-key than the big db resorts down at Mellieħa Bay and St Paul's Bay. Rooms on the north side look out across the Gozo Channel to Gozo and Comino, rooms on the south side face down over Paradise Bay beach, and the west-facing terraces catch the sunset.
This is a self-contained spot in the full sense. There are no shops, restaurants or services within walking distance, so anything beyond the hotel means a taxi or a hire car. The nearest town, Mellieħa, is about five to ten minutes' drive south along the valley road, with the ferry to Gozo the one thing that's right on the doorstep. For some families the quiet and the contained feel are the point; for others the lack of anything to walk to is the catch, and it's the single thing worth being sure about before you book.
The hotel's own setting is flat, at sea level, with beach access through an underpass rather than up a hill, which should suit a pushchair reasonably well even though it isn't something the hotel formally assesses. Mellieħa town is the opposite: it sits on a hilltop with steep streets and steps, so it's harder going with a pram once you're up there. Porto Lounge, the hotel's sister restaurant down in Mellieħa, does list a lift among its own amenities, so at least that one venue is step-free once you've made the journey, even where the surrounding streets aren't. For the island as a whole, its beaches and when to go, see our Malta guide.
Every restaurant and bar
Where you eat on site, the off-site sister restaurant and how the room-only board works.
Because the board is room-only, meals aren't in the price: you pay for them as you go, on site at the hotel's restaurant and bar, at its sister venue in Mellieħa or off site. There are two places to eat and drink at the hotel itself, plus a few set-price dining events you can book.
Il-Merill is the hotel's main restaurant, a buffet named after the blue rock thrush, Malta's national bird, looking over the main pool and out towards the beach. It serves a continental and English breakfast, then Mediterranean and Asian dishes at lunch and dinner. Breakfast runs from 07:00 to 10:00, and dinner from 18:00 to 21:00 Sunday to Thursday, stretching to 18:30 until 21:30 on Friday and Saturday. It's air-conditioned and step-free, and the buffet format works well for young children who want to eat early or change their minds halfway through, though the hotel doesn't list a separate children's menu and doesn't confirm highchairs, so it's worth asking when you book. Proper dress is expected in the evening. The drinks poured with lunch and dinner, beer, wine, soft drinks and water, are included in the meal price rather than in your room rate, while bottled wine and cocktails cost extra.
The Cockerel Bar is the main lobby bar, with a west-facing terrace that catches the sunset, one of the spots guests single out. It serves coffee through the day and wine, beer and cocktails into the evening, open for drinks from 09:00 to 23:30 Sunday to Thursday and through to 00:30 on Friday and Saturday. There's a food menu too, but on its own separate hours, roughly 17:00 to 23:30 Monday to Thursday and 09:00 to 23:30 Friday to Sunday, so check the timings if you're relying on it for a meal rather than a drink.
Porto Lounge is the hotel's own terrace restaurant, but it isn't at the resort. It's down in Mellieħa town, about five to ten minutes' drive away, right on the water's edge with views to Gozo and Comino. The menu runs to salads, platters, pasta, pizza and meat dishes, with options for children. Lunch runs from midday to 17:00 and dinner from 18:00 to 22:00, with Friday and Saturday open straight through from midday to 22:30. Booking is advised, especially at weekends, and you'll need to get there and back.
Alongside the everyday menus, the hotel runs a few set-price dining events that non-residents can book too. The Sunday buffet lunch at Il-Merill runs all year, at €37.50 for an adult and €18.75 for a child aged six to eleven, with under-fives free and an aperitivo included per person (last checked July 2026); book by phone on +356 2289 5000 or by emailing [email protected]. The Saturday international buffet dinner runs in the cooler months from around October, at €30 for an adult and €15 for a child aged six to eleven, with under-fives free (last checked July 2026). Through summer, from 24 June to 30 September 2026, there's a poolside Sunset BBQ on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings: the pool is open from 17:00 to 22:00 with the BBQ buffet served from 19:00 to 21:00, priced at €32 for an adult and €16 for a child aged six to eleven, with children aged one to five free and a €5-per-person deposit to book.
Rooms and suites
Every room type with its official size, the four pools and the private Blue Flag beach.
The hotel lists six room types, and all of them have air conditioning and central heating, a balcony, satellite TV, a mini-fridge, tea and coffee making, a safe, a hairdryer, an en-suite and complimentary Wi-Fi. The table below is the full line-up with the official sizes, and the guidance after it is which suit a family.
| Room | Size | Sleeps | View and layout |
|---|---|---|---|
| Economy Sea View Room | 15 m² | 2 | Double bed only, partial sea view, bathtub with overhead shower. Couples only, and not step-free. |
| Standard Sea View Room | 30 m² | 4 | Views over the Ċirkewwa ferry terminal and the Gozo channel. Step-free versions available. |
| Standard Bay View Room | 28 m² | 4 | Twin or double, views over Paradise Bay beach for the sunsets, a ceiling fan as well as air conditioning. Step-free versions available. |
| Superior Sea View, High Floor | 30 m² | 4 | Floors three and four, uninterrupted views across the Mediterranean to Gozo and Comino, a ceiling fan, an armchair or sofa, a bathtub or a shower, an extra bed possible. |
| Two Interconnecting Sea View Rooms | 28 m² each | 8 | Two double rooms with a connecting door and two bathrooms, sea view. The most versatile family option. |
| Junior Suite | 30 m² | 3 | Double plus a sofa bed, a large bathtub with overhead shower and a sea-view balcony. There are 16 of them. |
For a family, the two interconnecting sea-view rooms make the most sense: two doubles with a connecting door and two bathrooms, so you can put children to bed in one room and sit up in the other. A Standard Bay View room, which comes as a twin or a double, gives a bit of flexibility for older children and looks over the beach for the sunsets. The Junior Suite has a sofa bed and a large bathtub, handy for bathing a baby, and takes two adults and one small child. The Economy Sea View room is a different proposition: at 15 m² it's a double for couples only, and the hotel states plainly it isn't wheelchair accessible, so it's too small for a family with a child. Step-free rooms with a walk-in shower, a shower chair and support rails are available in the Standard Sea View and Bay View categories. Check-in and check-out times aren't published, so ask the hotel to confirm them, and cots, travel cots and highchairs aren't listed on the hotel's site either, so confirm those directly before you rely on them.
Pools and water features
The hotel lists four pool areas in all, indoor and outdoor, though it doesn't name or describe them individually. The outdoor pools are seawater, and the indoor pool complex has a sauna and a whirlpool alongside it. Several family-travel sources describe one of them as a children's or paddling pool, but the hotel itself doesn't confirm such a pool exists, so don't bank on a dedicated shallow pool for toddlers without checking first. The pools are open from 09:00 to 18:00, and the sunbeds and umbrellas around them are first come, first served rather than something you can reserve. If you're not staying but want a pool day, the hotel sells day passes, with children under two admitted free.
The beach
The private beach is the hotel's headline feature and the thing that sets it apart in Malta. It was the first private hotel beach on the island to hold a Blue Flag, and it's sand rather than the rock that makes up most of the Maltese coast. You reach it through an underpass beneath Marfa Road, so there's no crossing the road at surface level with children. From the pool area there's also a set of steps down to a jetty, for a quick sea dip without going through the underpass. Sunbeds are laid out on the sand, and towels are free with a small deposit. The views run across to Gozo and Comino, and the Blue Lagoon on Comino, the famous swimming spot, is about ten minutes away by boat from the beach.
The beach is sandy and sheltered, though the hotel doesn't describe how gently it shelves, so we can't promise a particular depth for toddlers. One thing worth untangling: there's a separate public beach also called Paradise Bay just over the hill on the way to the Ċirkewwa ferry, which is a different place from the hotel's own private beach directly opposite the building. The private beach is seasonal, open roughly May to October. Outside that window the hotel and pools stay open, but the beach is closed.
Babies and toddlers
What's confirmed for children, the dive school across the road and the rest of the things to do.
The confirmed children's facilities are a playground and a games room. The playground has padded safety flooring and sits just outside the games room, which is indoors. Beyond that, a fair amount that gets listed elsewhere isn't spelled out by the hotel itself, and with a baby or toddler it's worth knowing which is which. A structured kids' club appears on some booking sites, but the hotel itself describes only the playground and games room, not a club with set ages and hours, so don't count on one without checking directly. What is confirmed is that young children eat free at the set-price dining events and that under-twos get free pool-day admission.
Babysitting or in-room childcare isn't mentioned anywhere on the hotel's site, so ask if you need it. The same goes for cots, travel cots, highchairs and anything for bottle-warming, nappy-changing or baby food: none of it is listed, so confirm what you'll need before you travel rather than assuming it's there. The hotel does run children's birthday parties, with costumed characters, a bouncy castle and face painting, which at least confirms it has indoor and outdoor play space for children even if the day-to-day provision isn't described.
Across the roadScuba diving and watersports
Directly across the road is Paradise Diving School, a separate business but a real draw for a family where a parent dives. It's a PADI 5-Star centre that's been going for more than twenty years, recently upgraded, with nitrox and more than thirty-nine dive sites around Malta, Gozo and Comino, and it's open all year. The school also runs the seasonal watersports off the hotel's beach from May to October, including boat hire and daily boat trips over to Comino and the Blue Lagoon. If diving is the point of the trip, the school offers stay-and-dive packages, a five-night stay with four shore dives or a seven-night stay with ten.
On siteThings to do
On site there's a private tennis court and a multipurpose court marked for football, basketball and netball, with equipment for both to hire, and a newly refurbished gym with cardio machines and free weights. The indoor pool complex has a sauna and a whirlpool, which is as far as the wellness side goes, as there's no full spa. Indoors, the games room and the children's playground cover the younger ones, and there's a gift shop for the odds and ends you forget to pack. The hotel can arrange special-occasion extras on request, from room decoration to a cake or breakfast in bed, for a charge, and it keeps a live webcam on its website if you want to see the weather before you fly. What the hotel doesn't have is worth saying plainly, because it shapes the sort of holiday this is: no animation or entertainment team, no structured kids' club, no waterslides or aquapark, no full spa, no scheduled fitness classes, no bowling and no casino. This is a quiet beach hotel, not a resort built around a daily programme.
The area and days out
Gozo and Comino on the doorstep, the nearest beaches and the bigger days out.
The biggest thing on the doorstep is Gozo. The ferry terminal is right next to the hotel, and the crossing to Malta's quieter, greener sister island takes about twenty minutes. It's good for walking, beaches and a slower pace, an easy day out or two from the hotel. The fares are worth understanding, because they work back to front: you pay once, on the return leg from Gozo back to Malta, and that single fare covers the round trip. At the last check in July 2026 it was €4.65 for an adult, €1.15 for a child aged three to twelve and free for under-threes, or €15.70 for a car and driver.
Closer still, the Blue Lagoon on Comino is about ten minutes by boat from the beach, a bright turquoise swimming spot that gets very busy in peak summer. Mellieħa, the nearest town, is five to ten minutes' drive and sits on a hilltop, with shops, cafes, restaurants and a church, though its steep streets and steps aren't easy with a pram. Below it, Mellieħa Bay, also called Għadira Bay, is one of Malta's largest sandy beaches and shallow enough to suit toddlers, about ten minutes away. Golden Bay is another big sandy beach fifteen to twenty minutes on, and the smaller Armier beaches sit past Mellieħa.
For days out with young children, the Malta National Aquarium at Qawra and the Splash and Fun water park at Baħar iċ-Ċagħaq both suit them, and Popeye Village, a film set turned attraction, is near Mellieħa. Further afield, Valletta, the UNESCO-listed capital with its Grand Harbour and Barrakka Gardens, is a direct bus ride from Ċirkewwa on Route 41. Mdina, the walled hilltop known as the silent city, and the Three Cities across the harbour from Valletta make historic days out. For boat trips and diving beyond the hotel's own school, Malta Falcon operates from near Mellieħa.
Loves and gripes
What guests rate and what they flag, how it compares in Malta and the review picture.
What families love
- The private Blue Flag beach, rare on a rocky island, reached without crossing a road.
- The sea views from the rooms across to Gozo and Comino.
- The Gozo ferry next door, an easy island day out.
- The quiet, self-contained character, away from the busier resort strips.
- The diving and watersports, and easy boat trips to Comino and the Blue Lagoon.
- Good value for money, and the sunsets from the Cockerel Bar terrace.
Common gripes
- The remoteness: nothing within walking distance, so you need a car or a taxi for anything off site.
- No all-inclusive option, so dining costs add up if you eat in every night.
- No animation team or confirmed kids' club, unlike the bigger db resorts.
- A smaller hotel than those resorts, with less choice on site.
- The long, slow journey from the airport at the far south of the island.
How it compares
Against Malta's bigger family resorts, Paradise Bay trades scale and the all-inclusive extras for a better individual beach and a quieter pace. The db Seabank at Mellieħa Bay is much larger and fully all-inclusive, with an animation team and a bigger pool complex, so it's the choice if you want that busier, everything-laid-on model; Paradise Bay is smaller and calmer, with a stronger private beach and the Gozo ferry closer. The db San Antonio at St Paul's Bay is livelier still, with a pirate-ship pool and a full entertainment programme, where Paradise Bay is lower-key. AX Odycy at Qawra has an aquapark but no private beach, so the beach is Paradise Bay's advantage there. The Radisson Blu Golden Sands has Golden Bay on its doorstep, a kids' club and a more upmarket feel, but sits further from the northern tip and costs more. The closest match in character is Ramla Bay Resort, also quiet and also with a seasonal private beach; Paradise Bay's Blue Flag beach and the dive school edge it for some families, while Ramla is a little less remote.
What guests sayRatings and reviews
Across guest reviews and family-travel write-ups the picture that comes through most is a quiet, good-value beach hotel whose private Blue Flag beach and views to Gozo and Comino are the high points, with its remoteness the thing people either love for the peace or find limiting for the lack of anything to walk to. Families who want a contained beach week tend to rate it, while those expecting a busy all-inclusive with a full programme are the ones it suits least. The hotel's own recent recognition runs along the same lines, with a LUXlife award for the best seafront resort in Malta and a Forbes Travel Guide affiliate award.
Star scores shift as new stays land, so it's worth pulling up the current TripAdvisor and Booking.com listings yourself, searching for Paradise Bay Resort at Ċirkewwa or under Mellieħa, the nearest town, and reading a spread of recent reviews rather than a headline number. The remoteness is the line to read closest, since it's what divides opinion: the quiet that one family books it for is the same thing another finds limiting.
Getting there and when to go
The airport run, the weather month by month and the entry and health basics.
Malta has one airport, at Luqa in the south, and because the hotel is at the very northern tip it's the furthest resort on the island from it. Reckon on roughly an hour by taxi, and allow more in traffic; the hotel doesn't publish a transfer time and estimates vary, so it's an approximation rather than a fixed figure. There's no airport shuttle from the hotel, so a private transfer needs arranging in advance, either through the hotel or a Malta transfer company. Public buses are an option if you're not in a hurry: Ċirkewwa has its own terminal right by the hotel. Route X1 runs direct to the airport, TD1 also heads that way via Mellieħa, Buġibba and Rabat, routes 41 and 42 run to Valletta, and 221 goes to Buġibba, but the run down to the airport is long, reckon on 60 to 90 minutes with stops. Parking is free on site, and a hire car is the thing that makes this location work, both for the airport run and for reaching Mellieħa, the beaches and the island's sights. Booking direct with the hotel comes with a few perks, including discounted rates, priority on room requests and a bottle of water on arrival, though there's no shuttle or kids-go-free deal among them.
The hotel is open all year, while the private beach and outdoor watersports run roughly May to October. For a family with young children, May, June and September are the gentlest months, warm and dry with a swimmable sea, without the peak-summer heat and crowds.
Month by monthWeather
Malta has a classic Mediterranean climate, hot dry summers and mild, wetter winters, and Ċirkewwa at the northern tip is much the same as the rest of the island. The hotel stays open all year, so the table below covers the full twelve months, but the private beach and the swimming season run only roughly May to October. The best weeks for young children are May, June and September, when it's warm and largely dry and the sea is comfortable without the height-of-summer heat. July and August are reliably hot, around 32°C, and can climb higher when the Sirocco blows in, a hot dry wind off the Sahara that occasionally carries dust and matters most for very young children. October stays warm, with the sea still around 24°C, but the autumn rain starts to return, and November to April are cooler, wetter months when the hotel and its pools stay open but the beach is closed.
| 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. The hotel is open all year; the private beach runs roughly May to October.
Entry, health and practicalities
Malta is an EU member and part of the Schengen Area, so UK passport holders can visit without a visa for up to ninety days in any one-hundred-and-eighty-day period; your passport needs to be valid for at least three months after you leave and less than ten years old. A UK Global Health Insurance Card, the GHIC, covers necessary and emergency care at Malta's public hospitals, with travel insurance still worth having on top; the main hospital is Mater Dei at Msida, reachable from Ċirkewwa on the X299 bus. The tap water is treated by reverse osmosis and safe to drink, though some prefer bottled. The currency is the euro, Malta having joined the eurozone in 2008, and both Maltese and English are official languages, so English is spoken everywhere. Check the current FCDO travel advice for Malta before you go, as a matter of routine.
Questions
The things families ask most, the official pages worth a bookmark and when this guide was last updated.
Is Paradise Bay Resort all-inclusive?
No. The base rate is room-only, so you pay for meals separately, at the hotel or off site. The beer, wine and soft drinks poured at Il-Merill come with the price of lunch and dinner there rather than with your room, so don't read it as an all-inclusive. Budget for eating out too, since there's nothing within walking distance.
How long is the transfer from the airport?
Plan for roughly an hour by private taxi, and more if you land into busy traffic, since the hotel is at the opposite end of the island from the airport. There's no hotel shuttle, so book a transfer in advance or hire a car at the airport. A public bus is possible from the Ċirkewwa terminal by the hotel, but it's slow with luggage and children.
Is there a kids’ club?
The hotel describes a children's playground and a games room, but not a staffed club with set ages and hours, even though some booking sites list one. If a club matters to your week, email the hotel to confirm what actually runs before you book, or look at one of the bigger db resorts, which have full animation programmes.
Can I get a cot and a highchair?
The hotel doesn't list cots, travel cots or highchairs on its own site, so don't assume they're there. Email guest relations to confirm and reserve what you need before you travel, and take a travel cot if you can't get a firm yes.
What is the beach like?
It's sand rather than rock, which is unusual for Malta, and it holds a Blue Flag for cleanliness and safety. You reach it by an underpass rather than crossing the coast road, so it's manageable with children. The hotel doesn't say how gently it shelves, so if a very shallow entry matters, Mellieħa Bay a short drive away is a known shallow, toddler-friendly option.
Which room suits a family?
The two interconnecting sea-view rooms are the natural choice, with a connecting door and two bathrooms so children can sleep separately from you. A Junior Suite works for two adults and one small child and has a bathtub for bath times. Skip the Economy Sea View, which is a 15 m² double for couples only.
How does the Gozo ferry fare work?
There's nothing to pay when you board at Ċirkewwa; you're charged only on the way back, at the Gozo terminal, and that one payment covers both legs. Have change or a card ready for the return.
Is Porto Lounge at the hotel?
No, it's the hotel's sister restaurant down in Mellieħa town, about five to ten minutes' drive away on the waterfront, so you'll need to drive or taxi there and back. Book ahead, especially at weekends when it's busiest.
Paradise Bay Resort photos
Open the Paradise Bay Resort photo gallery →Useful links
- Paradise Bay Resort: the hotel's own site for rooms, dining, the pools and the private beach. The address is Marfa Road, Ċirkewwa MLH 9068, Malta.
- GOV.UK Malta travel advice: entry rules and safety updates before you travel.
- Malta with little ones: our guide to the island, its beaches and when to go.
Last updated 17 July 2026. Dining events, activity seasons and prices change, so check the current position before you book.
