When Lady Strickland envisioned building a luxury hotel on the island of Malta in 1935, no one foresaw the coming of WWII. Just when the Hotel Phoenicia was almost finished in 1939 it was taken over by the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force. Then in 1942 it was nearly destroyed by 100 Axis bombs. It took six years to fully restore the 7 ½ acre property. But her dreams were finally realized because today it is one of three five-star hotels in Valletta or this neighboring suburb of Floriana.
