Dolmen Hotel Malta is set to be turned into DoubleTree by Hilton in March 2024, the St Paul’s Bay hotel announced on Wednesday.

Dolmen Hotel, owned by family-owned Tumas Group, is a four-star hotel situated along Qawra coast in St Paul’s Bay, and features 488 rooms and suites. Back in 2017, the hotel underwent significant renovation after an €18 million investment, with changes taking place to half of its rooms, its entrance, and also its conference halls, among other features.

The hotel’s management announced that it will be closed from Thursday (today) up until the end of March 2024, as the property undergoes a “brief period of refurbishment”.

“During this time, we will be working diligently to bring you a refreshed and rejuvenated space that exceeds your expectations,” management added.

Dolmen Hotel's entrance prior to the rebrand to DoubleTree by Hilton / Dolmen Hotel

It also stated that the hotel’s team will be “pouring their hearts into this project” in order to ensure that customers’ future visits are “even more memorable”.

DoubleTree by Hilton is an American hotel chain managed by Hilton Worldwide. Since the first DoubleTree hotel was opened in Arizona, US in 1969, the brand has grown rapidly, with it now having more than 580 hotels and resorts across the world. The brand is widely known for its chocolate chip cookies, which were originally made for VIPs in the 1980s, but are now given to its guests across many of its hotels.

DoubleTree differs from the family of Hilton brands in that it is made up of 3.5-star full-service hotels, while Hilton Hotels and Resorts are comprised of four-star and five-star hotels.

The news of the change to DoubleTree was met by mixed reactions on social media, with many stating that this represents the “end of an era”, and that Dolmen Hotel was their “favourite hotel for many years”. Others are still uncertain about the move, hoping that the established brand will continue to keep up with the same standards that the previous hotel had.