Among the oldest surviving maritime infrastructure in the central Mediterranean, the 16th-century galley repair yard on Senglea's waterfront spent centuries keeping the Knights of St John's fleet seaworthy before falling into long disuse. Cugo Gran Macina Grand Harbour, which opened in 2017, was carved from this Hospitaller stonework — the globigerina limestone walls, barrel vaults, and sweeping arched ceilings left entirely intact and made the governing logic of every interior decision. The lobby sits beneath a sequence of ribbed stone vaults that the conversion wisely refused to plaster over, their warm honey-coloured mass set against dark velvet sectional sofas, swivel egg chairs in taupe, and polished concrete floors — a composition that lets the masonry do its own arguing. The 14 rooms divide between those fitted inside the original vaulted chambers, where freestanding soaking tubs are positioned beneath arched apertures in bare stone walls, and newer upper-floor additions whose black-framed windows frame the Grand Harbour with a crispness the historic fabric never could. Rooftop timber decking surrounds a lap pool set directly against the medieval bastion of Fort St Michael — one of the more dramatically sited swimming pools anywhere in southern Europe. The palette throughout holds to grey linen headboards, geometric wool rugs, and brushed brass bedside lamps, keeping the contemporary elements quiet enough that the building's own six centuries of history remain the loudest thing in the room.

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