The ghost of a woman who haunts a hotel in Valletta says she resents the fact it is now labelled as ’boutique’.
Anna Calleja has haunted the site of the Casa San Giovanni hotel on Old Bakery Street, which used to be a brothel, since she was brutally murdered there in 1814, aged 29.
The site had been derelict for several decades before it was refurbished and opened to guests once again last year.
On its website, Casa San Giovanni boutique is described as “urban living redefined – combining luxury, technology and style to cater to the smart, independent traveller.”
“For over two centuries I put my thrice-stabbed heart and restless soul into making sure this place retained its dark sense of foreboding that ensured anyone who dared to enter was instantly overwhelmed by dread,” Calleja said.
“Then last year I had to stand by helplessly as these ghastly people came in and dusted, plastered, painted and polished until I could hardly recognise the gloomy, musty, mouldy place I’ve called home for so long.
“Then as if to add insult to fatal 200-year-old injury they labelled the place with a cutesy French word. Boutique, urgh, it makes me want to puke my guts out, if I still had any.”
Calleja said she has found it very difficult to haunt effectively since the refurbishment.
“Throwing objects around and wailing used to be a surefire way to get people to run away in terror. Now these rich tourist assholes see it as quaint and charming.
“And no sooner do I finish standing over a bed oozing blood all over the place than a Filipino cleaner comes in and replaces all the sheets. It’s disgusting. Fucking gentrification.”
