The little town of Maltahöhe on the edge of the Schwarzrand plateau was founded in 1899 by Henning von Burgsdorf, who in those days was governor of  the Gibeon district in southern German South West Africa. Named after his wife Malta the settlement was mainly established as a trade outpost for farmers operating in the area and as a small garrison for the Schutztruppe. In 1904 Malta-höhe boasted five houses and in 1907 the company G. Hesselmann of Gibe-on erected the first building of the Maltahöhe Hotel on 1000 square meters. Maltahöhe Hotel was established in 1907, which makes it the oldest country hotel in Namibia still in operation. Most of the busi-ness is still being conducted in the original buildings.
In 1911 Hesselmann retired and the hotel was run in his name by Her-mann Henning, who purchased ano-ther 800 square meters to erect a residence for himself and which today is still occupied by the current ow-ners. 1913 another 800 square meters were added.
After the German surrender in 1915 the hotel saw 3 owners until 1932, one of them Carl Otto Westphal who went insolvent during the great depression.
The widow Hesselmann installed Hermann Rübenstrunk on the 16th of January 1932 as manager. Rüben-strunk obtained ownership in 1936 and stayed in Maltahöhe until 1956 when Alex Sentefol and his wife Else took over the hotel. 1971 the hotel was first graded and got one star. In those days bed and breakfast cost the weary traveller R 3.00, lunch set you back 60 cents and dinner could be ordered from 70 cents per meal.
 After the death of her husband in the early seventies, Else Sentefol sold the Hotel to family Werthmann in 1975. They ran it for two and a half years and after that for a short while the establishment was in the hands of family Boshoff. Under the auspices of Hanjörg von Fischer until 1984, the Hotel was bought by Ingo Walter in 1982 and from October 1984 onwards Manfred and Gerda Schrei-ner were at the helm of the operation. This couple who established an international reputation for good service had to resign due to health reasons.
In July 2004 Arno Rahn and his sister Heike took over the esta-blishment. In June 2005 Arno and his partner Gert Heussen bought the hotel from Ingo Walter and invested into the renovation and expansion of the premises and its surroundings. Today it offers 24 en suite double rooms, three family rooms with shared bathrooms, a backpackers dormitory for 18 persons and a cosy bar where were many a good party has been celebrated. Tasty food is served throughout the day (breakfast, lunch, coffee and cake and dinner inclusive). The hotel also provides internet facilities, a curio shop, a beer garden and an outside relaxation area around the swimming pool. Located about 300 kilometres to the south of Windhoek, makes it the ideal stop over en route to Sossusvley, Lüderitzbucht, the Diamond Fields or the mighty Fish River Canyon. The hotel offers day excursions with picnic lunch to Sesriem Canyon, Sossusvley, Duwisib castle, the old police station and hotel at Kub on the banks of the Fish River, or to one of the many game farms sur-rounding the village.
In 2007 the hotel will commemorate its 100th anniversary and a lot of festivities are planned, starting with a New Years’ Eve Party on 31 December 2006. Subsequent events will be announced in the media and on the website of the Maltahöhe Hotel.

The beautiful hotel after 100 years