Canifor Hotel

We'd stayed here before, the year before, and my family wanted to return as they knew where it was and it's limitations. But, oh dear, the limitations had got worse. Firstly there's a building site at the back of the hotel which started at 8 in the morning and didn't finish utnil 5.30 -6.00 every day except Sunday. The food hadn't got any better or more plentiful. Most of the staff were still as friendly as always but they have a lot to make up for. One of our room's toilets didn't flush properly, and in the other one of the beds was more like a hammock. The showers were more like spits and the air conditioning hardly did anything if you wanted to be able to sleep as well.The whole place was tired, almost comatosed. The pools were small and therefore overcrowded and on one occasion we were hounded out of the pool by a member of staff so that it could be cleaned. (Which actually involved throwing a couple of scoopfuls of crystals into the pool). The hotel is suffering from lack of investment and commitment. The management seem to forget that the 'guests' are there on holiday rather than to be an inconvienence to them by being in their hotel.

Just got back from a week half board at the Canifor. We were apprehensive after reading these reviews but found the hotel to be comfortable, well situated, and staff all very friendly. We had breakfast every day which was always tasty and plentiful, buffet dinner gave you good choice of meat,fish & various vegitarian options too. We did eat out thou on several occasions for lunch & dinner at the nearby restaurants which didn't disappoint. If i have to have one small grip it would be that for a 4* they don't supply any toiletries except bars of soap, shower gel had to be requested. All in all thou had a lovely time there & would have no qualms about going back.

when we arrived they told us that it was not true that we booked,but we showed them the receipt and they believed us,how rude they are. Anyway the rude person was the receptionist which is a maid of the dorirose apartments,then they gave us a room then we told them that we had booked that our check out is going to be at 8p.m,for the second time this maid (receptionist)told us that it is not true,we showed her again our receipt and gave us another room,so we had to pack again and get a transfer.She have us a room that even animals don't stay there,sofa with holes and dirty.Too small etcccc......

We got the offer through teletext and read the reviews on this website. Giving that it was a couple of years ago, but even then the reviews were mixed. We decided to go for it as it seemed relatively good value for a 2 week break and Malta was a place I always fancied going to. Needless to say that you get what you pay for. The outdoor pool was a disaster - we didn't even get into it once, and we love a dip in the pool especially when the weather is hot! The way the outside area is positioned, mostly surrounded with the high walls from the hotel, the sun only caught it at certain times of the day. As others have said the indoor pool is painfully cold. We stayed half board, hence we thought it was good value at the time. 'Herding cattle' is a phrase that comes to mind in relation to meal times. Who on earth thought of putting the toasters in the far corner???? It is a relatively small dining room for the size of the hotel, and it is mostly self service. We really didn't think the food was up to much at all. In the end (I think after 3 nights) we just ate out for our meals which ended up costing us far more for our holiday. The hotel is in a pretty run down area, and we really didn't enjoy the resort that much. I definitely think there were much nicer hotels even within the resort. Not sure if we would ever go back to Malta as we did a lot of sightseeing in our 2 weeks which we really enjoyed as we hired a car, but if we did go back we would definitely stay in Sliema - it is a much nicer resort and the ice-cream there is some of the best that I have ever tasted!! My advice is to stay well away from the Hotel Canifor!

I stayed at the Canifor this month, and it was better than I expected from reading some of these reviews. We weren't allowed into the room until 2pm on the day of arrival, which I suppose is fair enough. The room was on the 1st floor, overlooking a courtyard with sunloungers and outdoor pool. Ceiling fan was welcome but not hugely effective. The air con unit was slightly more useful but noisy. So we just used the fan when sleeping, which worked out OK. The room was a reasonable size for two people, but the balcony was small - only suitable for hanging towels out really. The bathroom was nothing special, but at least everything worked OK. To use the TV you have to pay a 4 lira deposit, we did this after a few days. The room also had a safe and fridge, which were locked - presumably you need to pay a deposit for these too - didn't ask. In the basement were some pool tables, a bar, some computers with Internet access, and the breakfast canteen. Breakfast was OK (ie I've had worse) - I just had cereal and toast. All self-service apart from tea/coffee. They had two toasting machines rammed into a corner which was slightly inconvenient - the right hand one was producing nothing but blackened husks so I don't suggest using that. The juice was drinkable but slightly warm from being dispensed next to the toasting machines. THey had cooked breakfast as well but I didn't try that. According to my girlfriend the tea was excellent. The outdoor pool was quite nice I thought- not huge but certainly adequate for a little bit of swimming. Sun loungers/parasols were available and perfectly servicable. This outdoor area was closed for a private event for one evening, but that didn't bother us. There's an indoor pool as well on the floor below, but it was cruelly cold. Also there's a jacuzzi next to the indoor pool, but it didn't look appetising really. And a sauna, although you have to pay extra for that. On the 6th floor there's an sun terrace and another jacuzzi, and some interesting views - best to look at the sea and ignore the areas of wasteland/building site surrounding the hotel! The reception area is nice looking and spacious. Some of the receptionists were more helpful/friendly than others. Just off the recption area is a lounge/dining area - suitable at the time for watching bigscreen World Cup matches! There were people dancing in there one evening. On the whole we had a good time - the place isn't without it's shortcomings but we found it quiet, relaxing and adequate for the price. Also the location is excellent - plenty of restaurants just down the road, and the bus depot is very close, from where buses can easily be taken to Valletta, Golden Bay, Mellieha Bay etc. Bugibba/Qawra promenade is pleasant but with no sand, just rocky areas for sunbathing.

We have just returned from a weeks captivity in the Canifor Hotel. I wish I had read the reviews on here before I foolished pressed the fatal "book now" button. There is so much wrong with it I barely know where to start. I agree with all the criticisms I have read on here and it seems the standards are still slipping further. Firstly, I requested a very quiet room when I booked online, then I emailed the hotel direct to confirm our booking and again requested a very quiet room, as high up as possible. When we arrived I checked with receptionist that it was a quiet room and she said yes, very - so we find ourselves on the 2nd floor overlooking a noisy street on a bus route with a karayoke bar and an Irish pub opposite! We asked if we could change rooms, but were told they were "chokka" until at least 3 days time, which wasn't much use. The staff were helpful but not overly friendly. There are only 2 lifts to service over 300 guests. A lot the time one was out of use and it got stuck between floors several times we were there and elderly guests were trapped in temperatures of well over 40C and had to climb out between floors. The emergency phone was missing in one lift. We were so disappointed by the tiny pool and in indoor one was murky and cold. To make it even worse, closing at 6.30pm seemed totally unnecessary and a great nuisence. The jacuzzi on the roof was never used, we tried it once, it was freezing cold and very murky and neither of the two showers on the roof worked!! The "seaview" from the roof was of a building site and is attached to this review. The noise and dust from the building site next door were awful. The nightly entertainment simply didn't happen. There was no disco. One night an elderly couple say a few older songs by the pool. Another night the pool afea wa closed for a private party wso we couldn't even sit out there. Another night one man struggles bravely to keep a couple of punters in the lounge with him and that was it. I felt very sorry for kids staying at the hotel ans there was nothing at all much for them. The beakfast was quite the worst thing we have even witnessed in a so called 4 star hotel. There was no fresh fuit on offer at all, at any time we were there. There was no cold water at breakfast and it was fruit squash not pure juice, sickly sweet and warm. The portion sizes were minute. You had to beg Mr. Bumble who was dishing things out with the smallest adle I have ever seen. If you asked for more baked beans you got half a ladle and a scowel. The coffee - well it was so bad I wouldn't drink it at all, it was more like ground acorns. There was no hot water to make our own either. It was unbrearable hot in there in the mornings and the plastic table cloths were always sticky and were lucky if they got a quick wipe between punters. Yogurts were extra (surely not in a 4 star hotel?). It was bad enough having to pay £8 UK equivalent for the hire if a minicooler, which we couldn't have done without in the 40 degree plus heat, and a £4 deposit for the very small television remote control - what next? There was no air extraction from the bathroom/shower and the cleaning was of a very low standard. One day we only has 2 towels between us. The evening meals were even worse. Choices were few, nothing was fresh, the meat and fish dishes had been kept hot for hours and the stewed cabbage that went with it was ...I am lost for words. We were indeed marched to our allotted tables by a sergeant-major who took a dim view of requests to change to a larger table even when the place was practically empty at the end of th evening. Dinner finished at 9.00pm exactly - which is 8pm in UK time, so hearly late. If you arrived at 2 minutes past - rough! We met several other who felt that same way. Pleae think very carefully about going there, other hotels as mentioned, are much better.

This is definitely NOT a 4-star hotel. The Coastline and Qwara Palace are. We booked to go to the Qwara palace through Mercury Travel but 2 weeks after confirming the booking we were told this was fully booked and given alternatives. We chose the Carnifor as it was 4*. We should have consulted this website first!! FOOD was very poor. Breakfast was especially bad, no fruit, food kept hot for too long, toasters which didn't work and burnt everything. Positioning of toasters caused problems as they were in a corner and it was impossible to get out. Dining Room is too small and crowded, no room between tables, plastic table cover for breakfast. In one week there was not one piece of fruit ever on offer. ROOMS adequate at best. Some are too close to bars, which have live music until midnight.Bathroom was very basic, with some mould in corners of tiles. FACILITIES pool very small, surrounded by walls and buildings, closed early. Hot tub on roof top area always had cold water, no controls. Roof top area includes large tank with danger sign on, no effort to camouflage this area with shrubs, pots, fencing, etc. No other facilities on roof top except a few loungers, which were never clean. Although we were on half board we ate out most of the time, and spent evenings in the Coastline hotel - which is also 4* but a different world from the Carnifor .

Me and my husband stayed at the Canifor Hotel on an All Inclusive Basis. When we checked in at 4am Wednesday morning we were given our hotel room key. When we got to our room, it wasn't ready. We were moved to a room that needed all the furniture moving. Once in our original room we found that the toilet worked when it wanted to. We were having to eat out every evening because the food was awful. There was no entertainment and the indoor pool wasn't heated like it said in the brochure. We are going to Malta again next year but we will definitely not be stopping at the Canifor.

.Just come back from spending a week A.I. at the Canifor hotel in Malta. The cost for one week £320.00pp. I thought it was very reasonable for the time of year, cos the weather was lovely. In fact it was too hot. The air conditioning wasn't very good in our room, but in my son's room it worked well. The hotel and rooms were very clean. The food wasn't brill, could have done with more choice, but it was edible. I would say the hotel was more 3 star than 4 star. The pool ia very small, if you like swimming this hotel is not for you. There is a pool inside but thats small aswell. I would'nt say this hotel was suitable for children, as there isn't a lot to do. The hotel is close to shop's bar's and the bus terminal, making it easy to get around the Island. The staff were really pleasant especially Clifton in the bar. He seemed to be permanently working and nothing was too much trouble, always had a smile on his face. Cheap and cheerful !!!!

"We have a problem" was the greeting from the receptionist at the Canifor Hotel. It appeared that they had over booked, and there were no rooms available. However, we could stay in their adjacent apartment block, would we like to see it? We took one look at this apartment and decided that it was a health hazard, and anyway, we had booked a room in a 4star Hotel.. We returned to the reception, and stated that if we did not get the room we had booked we were wanted our money back, and we would find another Hotel!!. After much discusion we agreed to spend one night in the appartment, on the understanding that we would have a room next morning. Next morning we were waiting outside the Manager's office so that we could get into the new room the moment he arrived. After some delay we were offered a room on the 5th floor, smaller than we had anticipated, but at least it had a balcony, airconditioning and a reasonable bathroom. This begining set the "standard" for the rest of the hotel facilities. The dining room was too small for the number of diners. One was allocated a table by the head waiter, who was probably trained as a drill instructor, if you placed your knife and fork on a half empty plate the "clearers" would snatch it away from you, and as for the food......repetatively boring!!! The overall cleanliness also left much to be desired, in terms of dust, in the dining room, and scant sweeping in the bedroom, and bathroom. Overall, this hotel should never be graded 4star, nearer 2star would be more accurate. In spite of this we enjoyed our holiday in Malta, but may not return, and definitely not to the Canifor!