Hotel Ta' Ċenċ & Spa

A low, sprawling hotel above the cliffs

Ta' Ċenċ is the five-star hotel on the Sannat plateau, on Gozo's south coast, above the cliffs facing Malta and Comino. All its 74 rooms are on one floor, spread among gardens, with porches and pergolas; some are trullo suites, detached little houses with the conical stone roof that has given the hotel its image. All around are about 400 acres of open countryside, with archaeological remains, to walk in. There is no noise: it is what you come looking for.

Pools, spa and its own cove

It has two outdoor swimming pools: a family one, with a paddling area for children, and a quieter one for adults only. In the spa, under the same trullo roof, there is a heated pool that passes from inside to outside, and treatments.

About 2 km from the building is Il-Kantra, a rocky cove in a narrow inlet of the sea, like a small fjord, with very clear water for swimming from the platforms. There, in season, the Kantra restaurant opens, à la carte, beside the water.

Eating at the hotel

Three restaurants: Il Carrubo, for dinner under a carob tree about 400 years old; Il Terrazzo, for lunch looking at the landscape, and the aforementioned Kantra, seasonal. Breakfast is a buffet, with a menu as well, from 7:00 to 10:30; if you leave on an early flight, they prepare a packed breakfast at no charge, with notice the day before. They cater for special diets with notice.

How to get there and what to do nearby

You arrive by car: from the Mġarr ferry you go via Xewkija to Sannat. The hotel has ample free parking, and its sister company, Gozo Garage, hires cars and organises transfers from Malta airport. In the village, about 2 km away, there is a supermarket, bank and pharmacy; the nearest polyclinic is in Victoria.

From here, by car, you have the Victoria Cittadella nearby and, on the other side of the island, the Ġgantija temples.