Reviews of Palm Court Hotel, Qawra

I have stayed at the Palm Court before but it has to be said that the standard IS going down.



The flight is basic so take a drink on with you as the prices in flight are a bit high. The food is airline food so not great but fills a gap.



Rooms:

The rooms are ok if you think of them as somewhere just to crash out. The bathrooms are VERY basic and not of a high standard at all. The walls are also quite thin and due to many people drinking their moneys worth on all inclusive you can expect some noise and things like TV's on quite loud. Beds are ok ish but I would check quite well before sleeping in one.



Pool; not great but ok for sun bathing.



Food: I found something to eat each meal but this isn’t a hotel for the food critic. Or come to that anyone who likes good food, that said you will not go hungry.



Staff: Some good some indifferent as in any hotel or service provider.



Bar: Same system of ordering drinks at other Malta Bargain hotels to avoid staff skimming. Yon pay at one till and hand the receipt to the bar staff for the drinks. Slow system but you get used to it.



General facilities: The hotel used to be several separate properties now knocked about and knocked together.



Costs: I recently paid £260 for two night bed and breakfast in a 4* hotel. I paid £72 for a weeks half board, flights, transfers, taxes etc in Malta. Some may argue that the cost at any low prices isn’t worth it but if you want a week in Malta's sun you simply won’t beat the prices.



If you book expect a basic service along the lines and standards of a British basic seaside hotel which has seen better days. If you are going to spend 24 hours a day in the hotel perhaps not a good choice but if it’s somewhere to crash out in and as a base to get out and about it’s worth a week. You may find longer not acceptable though.



Best Advice is to ignore the star rating and book with a basic B&B in mind. Go expecting a basic service and you won’t be disappointed. Go expecting a 3* hotel and you will be.

I went with my parents and sisters to palm court hotel half board and we only paid £150 each so I have to be honest it was a great deal! Wasn't expecting anything fabulous as the price we paid was next to nothing.



The hotel has some very bizarre features about it that only a dirt cheap hotel could - tiny narrow hallways that made it a bit like a labyrinth, a dodgy lift and the ceiling fans in the rooms look like they were hacked out of a shipwreck! Spent the first few hours on arrival just laughing at the place.



I could not imagine this hotel being very bearable in the extreme heat (we went about April so it wasn't too hot then, just pleasantly hot) as it seems much too claustrophobic in the hotel, like they've tried to shove as many rooms on the plot of land as possible. It needs some good ventilation and bleach to get rid of the smells.



Another reason why it wouldn't be any good in the summer are the roaches! I'm surprised no one has really mentioned this as we had loads.



My sister woke on the second night to turn the light on in the bathroom and the first arrivals were spotted, two skinny adolescent roaches and one big fat adult one. From there onwards it was a case of spot the roach (and then swat it).



I must admit that it was the roaches that freaked us out. We found out that they were coming through the walls so on the third night I stuffed every hole in the wall with tissue to stop them coming through and put plugs in the plug holes. I called it 'makeshift plastering'.



It worked for our room but my parents were in the adjoining room and they had their little roach infestation too. My dad had an empty beer can next to his bed and in the morning he shook and it made a noise which he thought was a widget. He then tipped it upside down and a huge fat roach fell and ran out!



The food was fine, we didn't have any stomach upsets. And the bingo was hilarious too. The hotel made us laugh a lot.



If you paid the same as we did, had the same experience and didn't like it, go and cough up for the Ritz you fussy wotsit.



If you only want to pay £150 though, stop moaning and just take some extra tissue with you next time to stuff in the holes to keep the roaches out!

We had read the reports before leaving and nearly cancelled, however thought what the heck, it’s a base.



The Hotel was indeed grim, that said, our room was clean and quite nicely furnished, however the bathroom was small and dated and the shower drainage poor so that tray filled up and overflowed by the time the three of us had showered. When my husband attempted to improve drainage with the aid of a wire coat hanger, we had a visitor up the plug hole.



It has all been said before about the meals, we usually found something edible, pasta and chips most nights. Only tried lunch once, pizza type thing and again chips, all that looked edible. Sometimes the smell in the restaurant turned my stomach. AI bar choice adequate.

We did not stay by the pool, my 14 yr old daughter took one look and wrinkled her nose, I have to say though others were using it.



We met some nice people, and many come back to the Palm Court because it is cheap.

We hired a jeep and escaped every day, we love Malta and hope to return, the weather for October hot and sunny.



Return to Palm Court, I don’t think so, in summer I should imagine that it is a health hazard with the heat in the dungeon restaurant and dingy corridors.

By a rating of 1, I mean -10 it is hard to describe with words how awful the palm court hotel was. If you are planning on going to Malta, don’t pay the cheap price, once you try the food, you will probably spend more money than you paid for the hotel on eating out! Anyone to give this hotel 10/10 must be crazy!



I know dirty places, I have seen how clean is your house! The palm court has horrible rooms, disgusting pool (I had a bad throat for at least 3 weeks after I went in the pool), I recommend bringing along a bulldozer and a construction team. Tear it down! Re-build it! Replace the staff with nice people!



I was asleep for about 6 hours a night, when I stayed in bed until 10am. I couldn’t get to sleep on those sheets without a frying pan (knocking myself out...he he)



My family all agreed that we would rather eat the cockroaches living in the hotel than stay there again, but that would leave no dinner for the rats, because they turned away the food!



Spend a few more quid on a nice hotel, or fear the wrath of the palm court!



Also, what’s with the all inclusive system, line up at the front desk, give them your card, to get a receipt, to take to the bar to get a drink? Just take your card to the bar, and get a drink. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work that out...

Let me start by saying that me and my partner only booked our holiday on the Saturday about 4pm and flew Sunday at 2pm from Leeds Bradford airport and we got our 14 nights half board holiday at a very reasonable rate! Regardless if we had traveled free I would be compelled to post this as a matter of grave concern.



The Palm Court cannot be called a Hotel. I cannot find the words to express the 14 nights of Hell we have just endured. The whole experience has brought a new meaning to the expression 'you get what you pay for' if anybody out there is lucky enough to read this before booking then you owe it to yourself to stay home and be relieved!



The type of people staying there was just as shocking as the property when will the British Government realise that you cannot give just anybody a passport to travel abroad

basic manners, the ability to eat at a table using knife and forks etc, etc



Many clients were all inclusive and could be heard bragging about how many pints of john smith smooth they had consumed before joining in the worst late night singing ever heard by anybody we spoke to. Why does the Palm Court not take out the table and chairs and install several troughs which would be more fitting!

I was a bit concerned about coming to this hotel for my hen week following the reviews about it. The smell that people describe is no where near as bad as they make out - it just smells of bleach a tiny bit.



The whole hotel needs to have money spent on it, the floors in the hallways are carpeted but it looks like it has been there since the 60's! The decoration of the hotel is very dated and the general upkeep of the hotel could have been better. (Tiles broken, bad grouting in bathrooms, bath mats tatty) The rooms themselves were clean and tidy, we received clean towels when needed and the rooms were cleaned every day.



The location is excellent, 50 steps and you are on the seafront. The entertainment leaves a lot to be desired, if you don't enjoy bingo or ballroom dancing you will be stuck for 3 of the nights. The bar by the pool veranda closes if there is something on upstairs which is a pain and the other bar on the ground floor you have to wait an age before being served.



The food is repetitive but we always found something we could eat. They do not offer a lot of fruit and veg though so if you don't like chips or rice you might struggle.



The staff really let the place down, they are not friendly at all - which surprised me as the Maltese are the friendliest people in the world! They all seem to rather be somewhere else, didn't smile, talk to you or make you feel welcome.



The pool area is no where near as bad as some people have made out, it is not great but is still nice.



The only other complaint I have is that some people there seem to only want to complain and moan. One chap I kept overhearing paid £218 for one week all inclusive and he was moaning about everything. The milk was horrible, the cereal wasn't English, (why go abroad if you only want English food) every time I was in the reception area he seemed to be there complaining to the staff about something!



We paid £253 all inclusive and I feel I got my money's worth. As I said the rooms etc were clean, there was always something to eat and drink, the location was excellent, there were always plenty of sunbeds and the other people on holiday were very nice.



This is the second time I have visited Malta, the first time I stayed in the Topaz hotel in Bugibba. I will be going back and I will probably stay in Palm Court again as it offers such good value for money.

We booked this "holiday" on the internet and would not do this again with this company.



The flight out with British Jet was uneventful with a choice of meal being offered as we did not like chicken curry. We were offered a meal of sausage, mashed potato and vegetables (carrots I think) accompanied by a bread roll and a dry bun with very strong coffee. Ok, passable.



We arrived at the Palm Court Hotel at about 1 am to be told that we were in the same room as our friends who we had booked with. After telling the reception staff that we were allocated 2 units we were put into room 510 whilst our friends were in 3 something - the opposite end of the hotel from us and a trek at the best of times, let alone at 1.am.



The following morning we asked to have our rooms changed, we, because we were so far away from our friends and they because the air conditioning wasn't working. Some other friends had also travelled with us and their room had a leaking toilet. We spent the whole of the Saturday morning trying to find new rooms. One of the rooms we were offered was our friend's room with the leaking toilet which hadn't been attended to or cleaned! We were eventually given an acceptable room and the holiday started.



After we had booked this holiday we read on another feedback site how awful this hotel was but it was too late. But we thought, it can't be as bad as that. How wrong can you be!!! The food offered was not exciting but palatable, the choice was not fantastic but it was okay. The business about ordering drinks at the reception and then taking your chitty to the bar to get your drinks was a pain to say the least, we even had to have our swipe card swiped to get a drink of water!!! We were allowed one drink per person per room and could not at any time get more than that. However, we coped with that and tried to enjoy our holiday which we did, despite the hotel.



The description of the hotel was that it had a rooftop pool - this must have been stolen before we got there because we saw no sign of this. The air conditioning in the lobby had to be turned off a couple of times because we had some thunderstorms and the roof leaked! The snack bar which was there was not available to all inclusive customers, if you wanted a snack you had to buy it. The pictures on the web site must have been posted when the hotel first opened in 1990 because the lobby area looked completely different when we were there.



The pool was dirty, the sunbeds were dirty and there were cigarette ends and dirty ash trays everywhere round the pool. The surface that you walk on around the pool was never cleaned, the indoor pool was tiny and the changing rooms were an absolute disgrace with privacy curtains in the changing rooms hanging off the rails and it looked as if it hadn't had a clean all season.



The staff in the hotel could not be faulted, they were all doing at least 3 jobs in there and tried their best to sort everybody out. They worked their socks off and were always pleasant and obliging.



At the end of the week we were not sorry to leave the hotel but had enjoyed the holiday despite everything. We have visited Malta twice before and will definitely go back but not to Qawra or the Palm Court Hotel. Qawra is a dirty place and looks very neglected, the hotel is tired, outdated and needs a complete overhaul, but how they can ever do this I don't know, as it is open all year round.



The flight home was another story. When the cabin staff served the meal it was again chicken curry. One of our friends said that he didn't like curry and his meal tray was then taken away from him, leaving him with nothing at all but a sneer from the male cabin attendant. When we asked what the option was for the meal we were told that there was none. We said we had one on the way out and were told we had not! There is never a choice offered on this flight. We said once again that we had been given a choice and once again were told that we had not. The staff all but called us liars. Honestly, if you were to lie about receiving a meal it would not be a meal of sausage and vegetables would it?



Eventually the chief steward came to see what the fuss was at the back of the plane and we explained what had happened and he said that the meal was complimentary and they didn't have to offer us a meal. We explained that one of us was a diabetic and needed some food. He had packed his insulin in his case before we left, thinking (foolishly) that we would have a meal on the plane going home, as on the journey out. The chief steward told him that he could offer him a sandwich of cheese or ham and would that suffice. It was the chief steward's personal meal but he would offer it to our friend (guilt trip or what). We asked the chief steward to have words with the cabin staff as they had been rude and called us liars and he asked who it was. We told him it was the male attendant and he then took them all to one side and spoke to them.



After that they all mysteriously had lost their name badges and we could not identify them. Sorry for going on for so long but I wanted to let everyone know not to book with Malta Bargains because from what we heard the Venus hotel round the corner which is a sister hotel, was no better. Whatever you do, give Malta Bargains a very, very wide berth. They may offer cheap holidays but you get what you pay for so pay a bit more next time and you should have a more enjoyable holiday.

THIS HOTEL IS AWFUL. PLEASE DONT BE FOOLED BY THE PRICE AND THINK YOU ARE GETTING A GOOD DEAL FOR MONEY, WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT.



This is the worst hotel in the world, to everyone who is saying that this hotel is good they have to be joking. I have never met so many rude people (staff) in all of my life. The all inclusive was such a waste of money, the food was terrible, the pool was dirty, and the rooms......... my word.... we had to change 5 times before we got the room we had been promised. The 4 room previous to this were nothing short of disgusting.



HOW IS THIS A 3 STAR HOTEL IT IS AWFUL, PLEASE DONT BE FOOLED BY THESE REPORTS YOU ARE READING ABOUT HOW GOOD IT IS, I HONESTLY BELIEVE THAT I WAS TO CON' OUT OF MY MONEY, THE PICTURES ON THE NET WERE TAKEN WHEN THE HOTEL LOOKED NICE, NOW IT IS VERY DIRTY AND NEEDS TO BE REFURBISHED.



You have to queue at reception to get a drink from the bar... I could not understand this. There were 2 people on reception and say if another coach load of holiday makers who had thought they got value for money turned up, you would have to wait behind them to get two drinks. Why you were not allowed to be served an alcoholic drink at THE BAR is beyond me.



Please. Please do not waste your money here pay that tiny bit extra to stay in a nicer hotel. There must have been about 10 complaints on the morning I complained. We had to wait a week to be moved to another hotel, this was after I offered to pay to get the hell out of there.



Malta is a beautiful place, its name is spoiled by places like the Palm Court.

Booked this holiday one week before we went on the 20th August and was absolutely dreading going after reading the comments, even went back to travel agents next day to try to change I thought there is no way we can take our children there, had no choice but to go with an open mind.



I must admit, don’t take notice of what other people think. We paid £300.00 each all inclusive for four of us. A week in the sun all i wanted was clean beds and a pool for the kids we got that yes the hotel needs a good lick of paint and tidying up a bit more but the food was fine.



Entertainment was rubbish had to go out every night because kids were bored but that was ok as Malta is a lovely place sun beds are very uncomfortable round the pool and sometimes it is a bit smelly but the sun makes up for everything else.



We thought it was daft as well the way you had to go to reception to order your drinks and having to have bands as well as a card. We took our bands off after a few days.

Been back 2 weeks now and had a great time. So relaxing sitting around all day, in lovely hot sunshine. Drink and eat as much as you want.



Clean bedroom and shower. Friendly chatty helpful staff. This is my 4th time at this hotel. Do you think I would go back if I believed what some of these morons are moaning about. So cheap, it's unreal and they moan at paint coming of the walls and a stain on a carpet is that what you go on holiday for to look at the decorations.



Get out a visit some of the sites, cheap bus fares etc. I have been round the world and back twice inc Australia and I can't fault Malta for hospitality. Give it to me any day, better then Spain, France, Wales, Greece Turkey etc.

Ok. I have literally just come home from my holiday and I have been dying to reply to this review 'moaning' page.



This is how my story adventure goes. There were 8 of us going away most of us are teachers so were looking forward to a great rest. 3 of our friends had been before and they were a little anxious about taking us with them as they felt we would be disgusted by the hotel. Now before going I did look the hotel up and did find this page which did horrify me I must admit before I went away. However off you go as you do!



~ We left the day before all that terrible trouble with cancelled flights etc so all was fine it was a lovely morning and boarded the aircraft - British Jet, Which was fine - its a plane and i have been on smaller flying toilet rolls so lots of leg room and meals were good just a shame there was no TV but hey... our flight was lovely as were the cabin crew - very helpful.



On arrival to Malta which was my first time I was surprised at how beautiful and clean the area was. I am a smoker and as I had a 3 hour flight did need a cigarette. This was my horror of my holiday. 'They' have banned smoking in Malta and no one had let me know. Hooray I hear some of you cry and I must admit although at first annoyed I thought hold on maybe on this holiday I will give up. So stepping out of the airport we were met by your coach which was clean and our rep who was quick and off we went. By which time our friends are terrified at what we are going to see... Well we pulled up to the Palm court hotel and it was fine yeah it needs a paint on the outside but so does most of many Mediterranean countries.



We grabbed our keys and went up and well for the money the room was fantastic air con, sat TV lovely huge room spotless - huge bathroom balcony was lovely over looking main street which was fine for me as I was only going to be looking at the clouds any way so I thought am I a snob that our friends are that worried - by all accounts last time they had come which was march of this year it was worse and so had done rooms up - well it was fine! Honestly if you want 5 star - The four seasons or the Savoy then hay pay the money!



The food



This was interesting - I didn’t mind it but I do prefer Michelin stars, it gets you by although its so cheap to eat out that’s what we did and the food is lovely there is a beautiful restaurant near the sea front - Beautiful the name escapes me now but it links to a 5 star hotel!



The drinks



A very backwards system order at reception then queue up again at the bar hey sod that just drink out too!



The pool



This is my only concern it is freezing which is fine but very deep and there is no life guards and yes it tells you on the walls in bug letters no children in pool unless accompanied by an adult - Guess what, they’re not - I do enjoy hearing kids having fun but what some were getting up to was not safe and no one cares.



As everyone is English you can not talk about anyone as they all hear you but generally people are friendly!



Overall the holiday was great St. Julian’s bay is lovely a club called Plush is lush lol and so is Havana but Bugibba is also great for a late drink only 5 minutes walk away overall a great time - and if you were still wondering about the smoking issue - no I still came home a smoker!



Have a great holiday all and by the way they are not doing it up as we found out from the manager they plan to knock it down in three years to build a new one so for the moaners out there hold tight you might get a 5 star hotel 2 weeks for 20 pounds please! - For everyone else happy holidays campers! P.S There were no creepy crawlies either - just watch the salad for maggots lol!

I have just returned from a fantastic holiday in Malta with my boyfriend.



We paid £250 each, which included our flights, transfers and our room and breakfast and dinners for a week.



We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and met some amazing people in Malta.



We disagree completely with the other people on this site who have slated the Palm Court hotel. If they wanted 5* they should have dug into the tight pockets and paid a hell of a lot more!!



Malta was fantastic and we are already booking to go again at Christmas.



To all young adults who wish to have a pleasant and relaxing holiday in the sun, then The Palm Court is a cheap way of doing this.



XX

Me and my partner stayed in this hotel and it want as bad as some people make out. Yes it was basic but what do you expect for the money you pay for this three star all inclusive holiday.



The food was lovely plenty of choice. The rooms. Pool and hotel were in need of decoration but it wouldn’t take much to sort that out.



The only thing I think was rather silly was although you had a card that was swiped whenever you wanted a drink you still had to have a tag on your wrist and you had to go to reception each time to order a drink rather than ordering directly from the bar.

I thought it was amazing. I don’t know what your all moaning about.



My room was beautifully clean, bathroom clean beds comfortable and clean, room was cleaned regularly at least 1 everyday sometimes more, I had a fan and air con in my room both worked well, balcony which looked out over the pool. Was lush.



The food was nice there was always a good selection of foods for breakfast and dinner, and vegetarian options food was always hot and tasted nice. Entertainment was good. Staff were lovely I made friends with many members of staff and they would do what they could to help.



I don’t understand what all your big problems are. It was a nice basic hotel. If you go on holiday wanting to enjoy it you will, if you wanted 5* luxury then pay for it, stop being cheap and being stuck up.



Your moaning problems ruined other people’s holidays too. I would recommend this holiday to many people, you’ll make lots of friends. Oh and they also emptied the pool and cleaned it 2 while I was there and I went for a week. I loved it and would go back. Xx

I have recently come back from the palm court hotel or otherwise know as Faulty Towers! Firstly the food is brill and very tasty. The bedrooms are in a decent state although upon arrival I had 13 lizards and 1 cockroach in my bedroom. The entertainment was very boring!



The island is very run down and there is not much for children to do.



Would go again but not for two weeks!