PrestigeOnline.com, a luxury lifestyle and travel platform focusing on Asian readership, has named Malta’s prolific Xara Palace Relais & Châteaux, colloquially known as the Xara Palace Hotel, among the top eight royal palaces “turned into jaw-dropping hotels”.

The platform describes itself as the lifestyle media of choice for “the affluent and influential, as well as high-flying corporate leaders, the country’s most eminent personalities and Asia’s social elite”.

Present in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand and Indonesia, the platform highlights how the Xara Place was home to the noble family of Moscati Parisio and was built in the 17th century.

In 1999, it opened its doors to guests, and today boasts a Michelin starred restaurant, The de Mondion. It also operates a causal restaurant, Trattoria AD 1530 in the Piazza, in the front of the hotel, offering casual dining in a picturesque setting.

Meticulously and sensitively restored to reflect its former noble standing, the exclusive 5-Star boutique hotel boasts seventeen luxury rooms and suites enjoying stunning views, all individually and tastefully designed with antique furniture and paintings, luxurious Parisian fabrics and king size beds.

Other palaces turned into hotels mentioned include the Umaid Bhawan Palace in Jodhpur, India, the Four Seasons Hotel Lion Palace, in St Petersburg, Russia, the Aman at Summer Palace, Beijing, China and Villa d-Este in Lake Como, Italy.