Features

Malta - Go Green at Gozo's Kempinski

by Mike Levy

It is the travel writer’s lot (a happy one) to be invited to try out hotels that normally he or she either could not afford or know little about. Thus when the invitation came to sample the Kempinski San Lawrenz on the Mediterranean island of Gozo came up, I naturally grabbed the chance.

This five-star spa hotel sits in a somnolently small village (the eponymous San Lawrenz) in the west of this small Maltese island. What strikes you as odd at first, is that the hotel is not on the beach but some 3 km or so inland. That gives the place a rather special feeling of remoteness especially as the beaches nearby are totally unspoilt without a café or even a beach hut to be seen.

Two of Gozo’s most spectacular bits of coastal scenery are nearby (either by car or a 45 minute walk down a steepish road to the sea); the so-called ‘inland sea’ – a gorgeous horseshoe bay, a paradise for divers, and the poetically-named ‘Azure Window’ – a natural rock arch.

Gozo is a good place to hire a car: the local bus service is erratic and sparse though taxis are reasonable (around €12 to get you from Gozo’s only port to the hotel). Once in San Lawrenz the expectation is to stay at the resort.

The hotel is well equipped with tennis and squash courts, a gym, a warm indoor pool and a series of rather pretty unheated outdoor pools one of which is ‘for adults only’ as it is extremely deep. The hotel also offers some interesting and unusual spa facilities.

Of course there are the usual beauty and spa treatment rooms and the luxury in-house products but the hotel does offer something rather different: here I am going to quote from their literature - “Ayurveda - the ancient wisdom of India.

Embark on a sensual journey to Kerala, the birthplace of the age-old Science of Life. Bathe in flowers, feel the immensely soothing effects of Dhara. Or succumb to sheer bliss of a 4-hands Abhyangam full-body massage.” Yes, the San Lawrenz has its own Ayurveda healers (all the way from south India) and though I didn’t try it, it certainly appealed to this fan of complementary medicine.

If a sensual journey is not your thing, a culinary one might be. We tried the hotel’s nicely informal Trattoria where the food was genuinely Italian and the service (mostly German staff) red hot. We didn’t have the time to sample the other main restaurant, the L’Ortolan, but it looked suitably swish.

As you might expect from a hotel chain of this calibre, the service throughout is top quality – friendly but super efficient. The room we had was a junior suite, a large rectangular bedroom with a giant bed, sofa, Jacuzzi bath and balcony overlooking the swimming pools (and a tantalising glimpse of the Med). Another unusual feature of the Kempinski here is that it markets itself as a ‘green hotel’.

They certainly take this seriously: its power comes largely from solar panels and the hotel’s drinking water is filtered so you can take a glass from the taps and not rely on plastic bottles. Perhaps the most impressive feature (and one I have never personally seen before) is the vegetable garden. You can take a stroll through the hotel’s own verdant veg plot and inspect the lettuce or fresh herbs you are likely to be eating that night.Breakfast at the San Lawrenz was an absolute treat.

You take it (if you want) on the lovely garden terrace and there is a very wide choice of food in the buffet (even some Maltese specialities like cheese and pea pastries). The smiley egg chef will rustle up a perfect omelette and there are plenty of options for veggies. The hotel runs a twice-daily shuttle to the island’s cosy little capital, Victoria (called by the locals ‘Rabat’).

This service is a little sparse so you may need a car or rely on the new open-top tour bus service that passes near to the hotel. From this you can tour the whole island in a few hours. Another option is to laze in the pool, have a spa treatment, or read the excellent English-language newspaper, The Times of Malta (you can also order English newspapers each morning).

If you fancy a stroll, there’s a rather fine craft market just nearby and the little village of San Lawrenz feels like a half forgotten corner of a remote kingdom.I was very impressed by the Kempinski (and I am not saying that just because they offered us a free night).

The hotel has a very special almost intangible feeling of calm and the facilities are as good as you would want them to be without being super fussy or embarrassingly flunky. Gozo itself is a fascinating island (not least for its wonderful coastline and staggering ancient temples) and I can’t think of anywhere better to base yourself than the Kempinki San Lawrenz.