Demolition of a site neighbouring the hotel began three weeks after the anticipated opening and works – including construction – would continue for some nine or ten months. The owner of the site next door continued to apply for extensions throughout the touristic season, during which construction is supposed to be paused, according to the law.

The law states that come 15th June, construction works should be put on hold in touristic areas. However, developers have the option to apply for an extension which gives them permission to keep building. The site near JL Hotel was allowed to continue construction until 12th July.

The demolition and construction raged on at the expense of Micallef’s business and negative reviews quickly began pouring. People intending to enjoy an island holiday were instead being woken up by the grating noise of diggers at 6am. With that came a flurry of cancellations and the provision of compensation to unhappy customers.

In those nine months, Micallef had to give €90,000 to customers to “save the brand’s image”.

Once the construction finally concluded, the roadworks began which closed in the entranced to JL Hotel.

More bookings were lost and more negative reviews written – the roadworks lasted four months.

Come summer 2025, Micallef was gearing for a better summer, hoping that he’d be able to breathe a little and recover some of the money lost in the previous months.

But then, Tania Flats collapsed.

The G Hotel by JL – Around €100,000 lost

“I’ll never forget the day they told us to evacuate, it was Friday the 13th of June,” Micallef recounted.

Micallef wasn’t on site when the building collapsed but quickly went when he found out the almost tragic news. What was once a sea view from his hotel rooms suddenly became a scene of rubble and destruction and this would threaten the vitality of his business already buckling under the weight of repeated external setbacks.

Officials told him he’d be evacuated for a month so he closed his bookings on all the relevant websites. However, two and a half weeks later they gave him the go-ahead to reopen.

With no bookings lined up and an unfavourable algorithm due to being marked as closed, Micallef had to slash the room rates by some 50% in what should be the most lucrative months of the year.

There were plenty of other costs too. When the sudden call to evacuate happened – which only gave the hotel three hours and 15 minutes to clear out – people left their key cards in the power slots and food was left outside. This meant that the electricity and food costs kept piling in the two and a half weeks of closure.

“We weren’t even allowed to check all the rooms before we had to evacuate,” one worker of the hotel told Lovin Malta.

Add to that €1,500 to get rid of the dust, architect fees, monthly rent, cancellations and the cost of the rate differences when relocating guests – G Hotel lost something between €80,000 and €100,000.

“In all these months, we’ve lost twice the amount that we would have earned in revenue. We’d probably have to work two years to regain everything,” Micallef said.

How can Malta help?

In response to this mess, Micallef turned to local authorities and the government to see how he could be helped.

According to the business owner, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) assured that every penny would be compensated, however, he didn’t get that in writing and every attempt to has been ignored, he said.

So, he turned to high-level politicians, reaching out to a minister whom he did not want to name. The Minister responded saying it wouldn’t be fair to give Micallef tax payers’ money since they are not at fault for the collapse.

While Micallef understood his point, he argued that the compensation should be provided until the court decides who is at fault for the collapse. Then, instead of that money going to Micallef in however many years until a decision is found, it will go to the government as repayment for what it provided to JL Hotels.

“Like this, the government would have saved a local business.”

JL Hotels isn’t the only business that’s been hit hard. The collapse of Tania Flats disrupted far more than just a skyline – it threw dozens of livelihoods into limbo. From hotel staff and neighbouring businesses to families relying on seasonal income, the ripple effect is still being felt. And as uncertainty lingers, many are still waiting for answers, support and a way forward.