Qawra Palace Hotel

2 readers found this review helpful

Like most people before, we had read reviews with a certain amount of trepidation. However, the positive thing in this was the lowering of any unrealistic expectations of the 4 star Qawra palace. It has been said before that a 4 star in Malta is equivalent to an average 3 star in the UK and you do need to bear this in mind.
We were booked on a half -board basis - a first for us at any hotel and so some of the frustrations of this are as much around the feeling of being in a canteen and not enjoying the whole meal exeperience rather than being disappointed with the Qawra palace. The food was fine and lots of variety.
Good points are; rooms around the courtyard although not picturesque are more than adequate. We had 2 adults and a teenager and the bathroom shower and bath was perfectly acceptable. Good air conditioning which also blocks out any noise. Was offered a sea view room as an upgrade at substantial extra cost however, as these rooms all face the road and the front of hotel, I imagine they would have been much noisier. Cleaning service every day was quick and efficient.
Pool area is fine. Opens at 8.30 am where queues form up the stairs from 8 am onwards and then everyone rushes in like a harrods sale! The beds facing out to sea where relatively easy to secure providing you are queuing by 8.15! You pay one euro each if you want matresses. The surrounding sea views are lovely and you can swim in the sea just underneat pool area. Pedalos/ banana/speed boats also available.
Food wise you can swap evening meal for lunch if you are staying around the pool and prefer to eat somewhere different in the evening. The Boat house was we found the best location. Duos restaurant was also very good.
You can also swap evening meal voucher for Qawra palaces pizzeria across the road but need to do this in advance and they do 2 early sittings.
Breakfasts have a fair amount of choice although as a vegetarian, I did get fairly fed up of eggs and cheese (however this was pretty much the case around the island)
I do think they offer vegetarian choices at dinner however, you may have to order in advance as I often couldn't actually see it in the servery. Staff are not very effective mainly down to a complete lack of organisation both in the dining hall and reception however, they were overall helpful and certainly not rude.
Beware of buses although Arriva have arrived on Malta - chaos rules!. Had to wait 40 mins at bus station to board for Valetta. You need to get on at the bus station as they often dont stop along the route as they are already full up when they set off! Everybody crowds to get on buses waited for 4 buses at Sliema to get back (each one full) could not see us making it back and ended up paying taxi 25 euros back to hotel. To counter balance this our trip to Valetta was beautiful and Medina is another place well worth visiting.
Overall, Malta we enjoyed and would go back. If you want sun, sea and a good break Qawra palace caters for the masses. If However, you are looking for something a bit more refined, both Qawra and Qawra palace are not for you

1 reader found this review helpful

the hotel was clean, cleaned and sheets changed every day they have a well organised event plan for every day including kid's activities music at night until conciderable time.
the only down side is the receptionist might be over worked thus not helpful but considering the amount of people i give them credit. management needs to rotate the receptionist more frequently.

5 readers found this review helpful

Having returned from Malta on 26/07/2011, I felt I had to put my opinion down having read all the derisory comments re: Qawra Palace. From start to finish the holiday was fantastic, we was booked in for All Inclusive and can I first of all state that both the choice and the quality of food was more than acceptable and was sometimes, top quality. the service from the waiting staff and the bar staff was always friendly. the accomodation was more than adequate, (how big do people want bathrooms to be?}
The only down side, it rained for three hours on Monday!!!!
In conclusion, Great accomodation, friendly staff , Great location, Great Holiday!!!!
Some people need to get a reality check and evaluate exactly what they want from an All Inclusive holiday or maybe stop watching Benidorm!!!!

1 reader found this review helpful

never been to malta before,took my wife away for seven nights for her 60th birthday.The rooms are in serious need of refurbishment,very basic for a four star,but clean.Dont take your cat there,because there is no room in the bathroom to swing it,on the small side.had a sea view,very nice,but the noise from the road in front of the hotel was at times to much,and why do some people have a compulsion to slam the doors to their rooms when returning late at night.they should post some signs around all the floors to remind guests,that there are other people staying there.The arrangements for breakfast was a farce,each room was allocated a section in the restaurant,and you had to be taken to a table by a member of staff,woe betide if you sat somewhere else,we where told off twice.Never again.

7 readers found this review helpful

After reading all the horror stories from other visitors to the Qawra Palace, I must admit we were scared! But was pleasantly surprised when we got there. Nice food, lovely location, and friendly staff.We also read about the problems with the Italian students, but they appear to have fairly strict supervisors noew that don't appear to take to much in the way of cr*p from them.
The only minor downsides were:
Our room wasn't quite ready when we arrived(No worries went and had a drink and something to eat. We were called 30 mins within room ready by reception to say it was ready)
The Evening poolside entertainment wasn't that great.
All I can honestly say is try it for yourselves.

3 readers found this review helpful

This hotel is lovely. Yes we have stayed in nicer hotels but for the money it was just great!

1 reader found this review helpful

Our first hour at the hotel was the most unwelcoming hour I have ever spent in another country. Our first thoughts were 'what have we done!'.
When we walked into our room it was filthy. There were two made up beds and one thrown against the patio doors with a cover thrown over it. My girlfriend wen down to ask if it was the correct room, the reply from the very unhelpful staff was 14 Euro extra per night for sea view!! This was not what we were asking for, all we wanted was a room for three. In the end we had to ask the maid ourselves to sort the room out for us so it was suitable for our stay. The front of house staff are very rude and at one point even lost our key!
The hotel is in a prime location but is very dated and is in a poor state of repair. notable items are: The lamp that fell off the side of the pool which left a length of core cable trailing out onto the pool side, Damp under the air con and ceiling, buttons broken off the front of the tv (think this was done on purpose as you could 'hire' a remote from reception at a cost of course), blocked toilets, the list really could go on.
All inclusive people expect to be treated as a second rate citizen. No pints allowed! Only half pints. Also the spirits are watered down considerably.
One excellent things about the hotel is the food. Breakfast and Dinner are great and the puddings are fantastic!! Not sure about lunch though, did seem that they were recycling the dinner from the previous night and either baking it or reheating it differently.
Do not let the review of this hotel put you off visiting Malta. It is a great place with superb people. Just look for a different hotel until this place is renovated.

1 reader found this review helpful

this hotel was the worst hotel i have ever stayed in. when we first arrived we were told we would have to wait an hour until our room was ready, i decided to go to the toilet but then i noticed both toilets were full to the brim with poo. eventually my husband and i were located in a separate room to my two children (aged 14 and 10) when we were promised inter connecting rooms. we got our new room and the shower leaked, the air con made weird noise, television had two channels, the fan sounded like it was unscrewing itself, the mattress was broken and very uncomfortable for my daughter, bugs fell out of the shower curtain everyday and the general interior of the room was revolting. the food was repulsive so then ate out every night, the hotel itself smelt terrible and the floors are not a pretty sight. the staff have a very lazy laidback approach to any situation, we witnessed many complaints, although funny at times, very disturbing, for example:
- one woman described her floor (floor 3) smelling of "cat ****" which was very true.
- one man in the canteen said the glasses were filthy, a member of staff casually replied "aren't they all"
- another woman with her boyfriend was crying because it was that terrible.
and the list continues...
overall, if my family hadn't been out all the time, and spent more time in the hotel, we would of without a doubt moved somewhere else, lucky for us we had plenty of things planned and only had to spend the morning and night in the hotel.
please pay that extra money, and do not come here.

returned 27th july 2010 with 2 poorly chilren,we booked for 2 weeks ended up a nightmare .we all had this sickness bug later found out around 25 other people had suffered same fate.if you are going for half term with kids change it will spoil your summer otherwise ,hotel dirty,food dire,had cockroaches in room 1 night wrapped them in a towel took down to reception they just were not interested..im not a moaner but this is really a dirty hotel you will regret it if you do not change your accomadation.turkey curry on menu 1 night ate out all the time,so did half the hotel ,full of italian stucents.

Stayed here for one week in June 2010.
Location is not bad. It looks OK but the rooms are very dated. having stayed at other Hotels in Malta the food was very poor. Chucked on a plate by staff.
Maltese people need to wake up. We are the lifeline of Malta. Some are really rude.
The system for getting drinks on AI is very wierd.
Would not go again. Entertaiment is rubbish. Dont take kids. Nothing for them to do.