Martina’s Maltese Birthday Weekend

EVENTS | HAPPENINGS | WORLD OF CABANA

After much anticipation, Casa Bonavita in Malta has officially opened its doors to the world with Cabana founder Martina Mondadori choosing the new opening for her Birthday Weekend. Sophie Goodwin joins the celebrations, both a birthday and a housewarming.

BY SOPHIE GOODWIN | HAPPENINGS | 15 MAY 2026

A marching band greets guests during Martina's birthday celebrations in Malta. 

If you've never been to Malta, you have a compelling new reason to visit. Casa Bonavita, the country's newest boutique hotel, is officially open, welcoming Cabana founder Martina Mondadori and 30 close friends for a supremely stylish Maltese celebration.

The beautiful property in Attard, one of Malta’s quiet inland Three Villages, is owned by Christopher and Suzanne Sharp, founders of The Rug Company who have steered Casa Bonavita’s five-year restoration. The couple welcomed guests personally at the hotel's inaugural event – an exuberant housewarming and birthday party rolled into one.

Michael Smith delivers an impromptu speech for birthday girl Martina Mondadori.

Suzanne, who is Maltese, has known the 18th-century manor for the past 15 years. The interiors have the soul of a house that has been truly lived in: Sicilian marble, Murano glass chandeliers, bespoke de Gournay wallpaper depicting 17th-century Valletta in the bar, ceramics from nearby Villa Bologna. No two rooms are the same. The Folly — an oval-shaped suite set apart in its own private garden with date palms, bougainvillea, and a swimming pool — is unlike anything else on the island. Christopher and Suzanne’s antique dealer son, Jamie, sourced much of the hotel’s furniture over the years. 

Guests arrived throughout Friday, including many of Cabana's favorite creatives: interior designers Michael Smith, Remy Renzullo and Leonora Hamill, textile designer Nathalie Farman-Farma, novelists Lea Carpenter and Marine Elliot Ackerman, photographers Guido Taroni and Miguel Flores-Vianna, and artist Clementina Montezemolo. 

They were joined by esteemed names from the worlds of art, culture and travel, including former American ambassador to Spain, James Costos, Sisley owner Christine d’Ornano, Maya Martinos, Hamilton South, Karen and Ferdinand Groos, Mariela Livanos, Scilla Ruffo di Calabria, Davide Traxler, Fabrizia Caracciolo, Carlo Clavarino and Julia Perowne. The Sharp family, including children Jack, Sophie and Jamie, were also present, adding to the weekend’s familial warmth.

Aperitivo began in the courtyard at 6pm before a traditional brass band burst through the garden and marched guests through the elegantly-attired rooms, marking the beginning of a long weekend with much to celebrate. Friday's dinner, in the stunningly frescoed conservatory dining room, consisted of Mediterranean dishes prepared by River Café protégée Dex Oseman followed by a birthday cake, which arrived to considerable ceremony. Of course, there was music and dancing afterwards, with DJ Scilla Ruffo.

Saturday was wisely left to the guests’ own whims. Some took to the pool and spa, while those with more cultural ambitions found their way to the atmospheric stone streets of Mdina and Valletta’s antique gold shops. At 5pm, art historian Tom Richards gathered the group for a private talk on Caravaggio’s The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist. The monumental 1608 canvas still hangs in the Oratory of St John’s Co-Cathedral in Valletta and is widely considered the artist’s masterpiece; the only work he ever signed, his name traced in the blood spilling from the Baptist’s throat. Richards unpicked the drama of Caravaggio’s time on the island (the murder charge in Rome, the flight to Malta, the painting offered in lieu of the Knight's membership fee, the subsequent imprisonment and escape) with the kind of authority that makes a well-known story feel novel.

Saturday's dinner was held at Villa Bologna Restaurant, hosted by owners Rowley and Sophie Edwards. Long tables were set beneath orange and lemon groves in the gardens of the 18th-century estate, built in 1745 as a dowry for a Count’s daughter. Seasonal Italian dishes arrived with local wine, while the conversation ran late into the night.

Sunday brought a farewell brunch, reluctant departures, and the particular melancholy of leaving a house that had, in the space of 48 hours, made itself feel like home.

For those wishing to experience Casa Bonavita, bookings and further details can be found at casabonavita.com.