The UK newspaper, the Telegraph has published a series of the top 30 ‘grande dame’ hotels of all time across the world and the Phoenicia hotel in Malta was one of them.

If you’re wondering what ‘grande dame’ means the newspaper defined it as hotels “whose walls have stories to tell and secrets to keep”. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that the Phoenicia in Malta was included.

The Phoenicia was included alongside the likes of The Plaza in New York, The Savoy in London, Le Bristol in Paris, Hassler in Rome, Imperial Hotel in Tokyo and Copacabana Palace Hotel in Rio De Janeiro.

The Telegraph described the Maltese hotel as having “an attractively simple layout” with an “elegant Palm Court leading through the original glass doors to the Phoenix restaurant and its lovely, elevated terrace overlooking lush gardens”.

They then dove deep down into the hotel’s history, expressing how the hotel was built back in the 1930’s by Lord Strickland, Malta's fourth Prime Minister.

Phoenicia’s iconic cocktail bar also received a mention as its walls are decorated with the photos of many past notable guests including Noel Coward and Winston Churchill.

Their description about the hotel would not be complete without a mention of the “art deco ballroom” where Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip “used to enjoy dancing when they lived in Malta in the 1950s.”