Reviews of Palm Court Hotel, Qawra, Malta

We were a bit worried after...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs M Deakin

Comments:

We were a bit worried after reading your report on the Palm Court, but thought well we have paid for our holiday now we can always go to a different hotel. We have been to Malta before.



The transfer from the airport was on a modern coach, with no hassle what so ever. Check in was great very quick and easy. We went up to our room and opened the balcony door as it was so hot, but it wouldn’t shut again so we went back down to reception and they moved us straight away without any fuss. The room they gave us was a bit sad but very clean. Unfortunately there was a bar over the road open until very late and the noise from it kept me awake so next morning we went back to reception and explained no problem they moved us again, even though the bar had nothing to do with them.



The staff were very friendly indeed. The rooms were cleaned every day with clean towels left most days and the sheets changed twice a week. After the maids had been in the housekeeper would come and check the rooms were spotless. The food was good breakfast was cereal and a full English breakfast the only thing I didn’t like was the milk was not cold enough, lunch was o.k. But I usually just had soup and a roll, dinner was a carvery every evening although it did get a bit boring but there was always a choice.



The hotel could do with some money spent on it as it is a bit sad looking but it is clean and as I said you couldn’t fault the staff. The evening entertainment was good with something different every evening and the bar was surprisingly cheap with drinks although we were on all inclusive we saw how much they were charging other people, and lots of non residents drank there. The hotel was only a short walk to the bus terminus and bus fare is ridiculously cheap.



You can buy a day or a week ticket but its not really worth in unless you are going to go on lots of busses in one day. There is so much to see and do on such a small island. The boat trips to the Blue Lagoon are not to be missed and cheap. When we were there they were having a heat wave I think the coolest day was about 25 degrees, thank god for the air conditioning in every bedroom plus ceiling fans. I would not hesitate to go back to the Palm Court.



We were there 2 weeks and I could have easily stayed another 2 and not been bored. One thing we always take with us was our travel kettle although you can hire one from reception.

If you like cats you will love...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr T. Kempton

Comments:

If you like cats you will love this hotel as the lift and corridors smell of cat pee! We were allocated cell, sorry, room 366. The room smelt musty and one of the two ceiling fans was hanging off with exposed wires. The air conditioning unit worked but we didn’t use this cruddy looking ceiling mounted unit for fear of contracting Legionnaire’s Disease. One of the bed mattresses was worn out with springs poking through and one of the rather cheap wooden bed bases was broken and creaked loudly every time the occupant turned over. The lighting was very poor with some bulbs not working. The bathroom was dirty and disgusting. The bath clearly hadn’t been cleaned properly for ages and had ground-in dirt all over it. The showerhead was brown and cruddy and is a Legionnaire’s Disease outbreak waiting to happen. The dirty plastic shower curtain had metal eyelets, which were very rusty. The cheap plastic toilet seat kept falling off.



The room is at the front of the hotel and was very noisy in the early morning, every morning, with the eternal beer deliveries. Why don’t they deliver the beer in one go, once a week?



On the first day of our stay we returned to our room at 5pm to find that my wife had had her favourite short-sleeved top stolen from the wardrobe. The key had been at the reception all day and the cleaners were the only other people with keys, apparently. On complaining to the patronising young woman at the reception we were told that it was not possible for the cleaner to steal our clothes as all the cleaning staff were searched every time they left the building. We didn’t believe it then and don’t believe it now! We completed an 'Incident Report' and had an interview with the manager the next morning. He made all of the right noises but as you would expect that was the last that we heard about the theft. We also heard that a male guest had all his socks stolen! You are advised to lock valuables in the hotel safe. At this hotel this would seem to extend to your clothing too!



Towels were changed every day if you wanted them and the sheets seemed to be changed daily. The dining room is the size of a football pitch and you have to play 'hunt the unoccupied table' and reserve it by placing your key or small blue card thereon. You then join in the rugby scrum to get your food, which is generally edible but not very interesting. We found the meals to be very repetitive over the week.



The pool area is stuck between the rear of the hotel and the back of another building so loses the sun quite early in the day. I didn’t use the pool so can’t comment. Generally, the staff seemed friendly. The twice weekly bingo sessions are dire and expensive. The bingo caller is so slow (in between choking sessions) that the game has all the excitement of watching paint dry! Don’t expect to join in the twice weekly dance sessions unless you are already an expert.



The hotel is about five minutes walk to the bus station, which gives you ample opportunity to escape from this dump of a hotel. The basic bus fare is 18 cents (about 36p) to anywhere on the island, except express buses, which are 40 cents. (Ken Livingston please note!) One word of warning: check your change carefully before you sit down as the bus drivers are prone to fiddle you by giving you a handful of small coins to confuse you.



There is not a lot to do at this resort with the nearest beach about fifteen minutes walk away. Time share agents abound and are a nuisance, approaching you whenever you step outside the hotel.



Overall we enjoyed our holiday in Malta. We would go again but not to this resort and would NEVER return to the Palm Court Hotel.

We stayed a week in the Pam...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Not Specified

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr A Jay

Comments:

We stayed a week in the Pam Court Hotel Qawra on an all inclusive basis. All I will say is that the hotel is atrocious. The food was exactly the same each meal. The hotel is dirty, dingy and in need of total refurbishment. The bathroom was tiny and filthy. Although the holiday was cheap it certainly was not value for money. Please do not go to this horrible hotel.

You get what you pay for! That...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr C Simmonds

Comments:

You get what you pay for! That is what I was told by people who return to this outdated and overrated hotel! I did not pay for cockroaches, substandard accommodation and below standard food. The only people who deserve any praise are the cleaners and the maids. They have the thankless task of trying to keep a dilapidated poorly decorated building clean.



The bathrooms were disgusting, the bedroom we were first given stank to high heaven! We were allocated another room. That is where the next catalogue of problems began. The shower hose was 3 feet long the mounting for it was 4 feet higher. The toilet only flushed twice a day, the basin taps dripped constantly, the toilet woke you at 4 am when it eventually decided to fill the cistern.



The day I saw a cockroach on the ceiling 12 feet away from reception, I mentioned it to the receptionist. Who said she would get it sorted.



This hotel is the showpiece on the front of Malta Bargains 2005 brochure. The photograph must have been taken in 1990 when this hotel last won an award. Very dirty dinghy and very poorly decorated. The people who return to this poor excuse for a hotel must be brainwashed if they believe this is 3 Star accommodation, I would hate to see what Malta Bargains 1 Star looks like.



Finally people like myself and lots of others requested to be moved, only to be offered rooms at the RELAX INN another 3 Star hotel. This was comical because people coming through the door on a daily basis stating they had asked to be moved from the RELAX INN.



I do not wish to say any more other than AVOID THE PALM COURT like the PLAGUE

The Palm Court hotel was an...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs M Ditchburn

Comments:

The Palm Court hotel was an absolute disgrace it was filthy with cans and bottle floating in the pool. The bedding was dirty and the facilities were extremely poor and very smelly. The electrics were in a frightful state. In fact this hotel is a death trap it is a catastrophe waiting to happen. It a fire hazard and if it goes up there will be fatalities. The food is appalling and the staff are very rude especially the reps. It needs closing down immediately. Please Please do yourself a favour and give this resort and Malta Bargains a wide birth unless you want loads of hassle from a company that misrepresents its resorts and then refuses to give any form of refund. Wild horses would not drag me back to this resort

We managed to have a good time...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs EJ Whitcroft

Comments:

We managed to have a good time once we accepted this funny hotel. Very lively. Children running everywhere. A warren of corridors, shabby rooms but cleanish, beds ok, bathroom very well used, sit on the loo sideways as washbasin in the way. Old fitments, certainly not 4*.Very noisy, it’s situated on a very busy main road junction, and the coaches arrive approx.3-4am.Air con. Very noisy, we moved rooms as ours was broken, staff very helpful. Meals were good if not repetitive. Launderette is one very dirty washing machine and one dryer. Very cheap holiday. We got what we paid for. Would go again but upgrade the room.

Upon arriving at this hotel I...

Overall Rating:

2/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Miss D Henry

Comments:

Upon arriving at this hotel I immediately wished I had taken notice of the reviews that I read (after booking my holiday) and taken action to cancel this holiday. Palm Court Hotel is the worst hotel I have even been to! I cannot believe they have the audacity to class themselves as a 3* hotel more like a 1*! As soon as you walk in the décor is grim, the corridors are dark and dinghy. The rooms itself were not too bad as they were cleaned everyday but on many occasions we had a trickle of water.



When you read the write up of the hotel they boasts that they have three pools; outside pool, roof-top pool and indoor pool. The roof-top pool is just a paddling pool that someone would have in their back garden, the indoor pool is the most nastiest pool you would ever see and as for the main pool not once did I see anyone clean that pool throughout the 7days while I was there.



We were a family of six with three little ones, there was absolutely no entertainment for the children, just bingo and Karaoke so we were very bored every evening, even the excursions that they held only two out of the eight or so were suitable for children. The actual resort Qarwa didn’t really have much for little children neither.



We were half-board and the food on offer was absolutely disgusting. Many a time I had to ask for things to be re-done for e.g. a uncooked burger and was always greeted with annoyance from the staff which I found totally rude as they should display customer service skills. The staff on whole was most definitely not customer friendly.



This holiday just felt like a holiday from hell, which I would never like to experience again.



My advice to anyone even thinking of booking this place is to think again yes you can get very good prices but believe it is not worth it!

Med very mixed reviews but our...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2004

Tour Operator:

Jetline Travel

Submitted By:

Miss E Lord

Comments:

Med very mixed reviews but our experience was awful.



Hotel full to capacity. Smelly, dirty, dingy. Food was edible if you could face the ordeal of getting a table and surly service.



This hotel may be just about bearable out of season, you might get a sunbed then.



Basically we felt a waste of our money - would not call it a holiday.

Heard all about the Palm Court 2...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr A Woof

Comments:

Heard all about the Palm Court 2 days AFTER we booked. It was a late deal, which seemed too good to miss.



We expected the worst and took our Imodium with us!! However, the flights through Malta Bargains via Astreus Airline were excellent, on time with nice in flight meal. Transfer went smooth and quickly.



When we got to hotel it did look really old and was a bit chaotic as people were checking out also. Our rooms were basic but tidy. Our air conditioning worked but was not brilliant, whereas our friend’s room’s air conditioning didn’t work and although they asked everyday for it to be fixed it never was!



The corridors were grim and the lifts tiny as we had heard but maids came in everyday to do our sheets and we also had fresh towels daily. Because the hotel was old it did look dirty but we had no nasty smells from the bathroom.



The food was fine, quite a good menu, all tasted lovely and no dodgy tummies experienced by anyone of our party of 6.



The pool was very murky, think it was just sun lotion but obviously meant it was not cleaned properly. Our kids swam in it 6hrs day everyday for 7 days and never suffered any ill effects. One gripe though was the pool was not supervised and a lot of parents did not supervise their own children so there was a lot of bad behaviour with children pushing others in and running around the pool which was extremely dangerous and caused annoyance to others.



Qawra does not have a lot to offer but there are some friendly English bars close by on the way to Buggiba. The hotel was only a 10min walk from Bugibba cutting through on the tourist street, which was fine for the kids. Not a huge amount for children to do in the resort but some rides, trampolines and stalls.



There is a lot to do on Malta as an island but the temperature was so hot, it was not practicable with young children.



Overall it was a budget hotel for a budget price, what can you expect at peak season! Staff were excellent, service ok, probably wouldn’t go back as Malta was not for us, neither is all inclusive, but we had a nice restful cheap last minute break and everyone was very friendly.

This hotel is classed as a 3...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs J Lyon

Comments:

This hotel is classed as a 3 star with 4 star facilities, all I can say is that they have a warped sense of humour to put anything more than 1 star on this.



After arriving at 3am I was shown to my single room that quite honestly I wouldn’t let my cat sleep in.



The air conditioning had a huge rust hole in it where the acid or whatever had leaked through. When I complained I was told I would be able to change rooms that morning. I was shown another room which had a huge patch of mould on the wall where the air conditioning unit was, I turned this down, I was then given a double room which I was told that the air conditioning did work - well it made a lot of noise any way.



I managed to sleep one night in that room but there was an overpowering smell of foist inside the room and wardrobe when I opened my patio doors (my view was a wall above the pool toilets) there was a smell then of fuel and toilets. So I changed yet again, this time the room was ok and the air conditioning almost worked properly but the fan above the bed worked wonderfully.



I went into the bathroom and found that there was no water coming from the hot taps! The cleanliness was not brilliant either I don’t think that the bath had been cleaned for 20 years!! Once I got the water sorted I stayed in that room for the rest of the holiday.



The food is samey and I felt sorry for the people on All Inclusive. The pool was cloudy to say the least and I didn’t see it being cleaned once.



Basically if you have paid very little then you got what you paid for if you paid a lot....... If you go stay away from rooms 446, 154, 118, 165 there are many more as everyone seemed to change room at some point or other.

After a two-hour delay at...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr L Davey

Comments:

After a two-hour delay at Gatwick with Astraeus Airline we arrived at 3 am hot and weary, we queued at reception for 10 minutes to attain our room keys and be given directions to our rooms (there was ourselves and our friends another couple). We set off down the dingy warren of corridors and eventually found our rooms. On entering the first thing that hit you was a strong musty smell, which quite frankly put us off straight away, but better or should I say worse was to come.



The ceiling fan was almost hanging off, directly over the bed with wires showing. The general decoration and state of the furniture was extremely poor, we flushed the toilet and brown and I do mean brown water filled the pan, and the tap water was also discoloured. At this point we went back to reception and asked if another room available, as the first one was not suitable.



Two more rooms and then another were looked at, but all were as depressing as the first, with balcony doors not locking, fans hanging off, entry doors that had no proper internal locking. Our friends actually came in with the door handle in their hands, which had come off. All smelt musty or worse. I would honestly say that if it were a prison in our country, there would be a furore and probably a riot.



By this time it was around 3.45am so we went to reception to ask for a transfer to another hotel, this could not be done until the morning. So we had to stay for several hours with suitcases locked, as we did not want any cockroaches in them, Yes cockroaches, I dispatched two in quick succession. Then we tried to get a few hours sleep on the lumpy mattress. At around 8am we went to look and moved to the Qwara Palace Hotel. At Palm Court Hotel we were supposed to be all inclusive, but because we had gone and found our own hotel we had to go to half board and pay a premium of £27 each, which we did readily just to get somewhere decent.



What a difference clean bright and welcoming atmosphere, just what you need on holiday!! We spent the rest of the week enjoying ourselves.



I think that no one should be allowed to or have to put up with the type of conditions at Palm Court Hotel no matter how affordable it seems, as it is a false economy. The staff at Palm Court had in my eyes resigned themselves to the hotels failures and seemed indifferent to the complaints or punch drunk to them. On speaking to the Qwara Palace management they said they call it Faulty Towers, others said it was supposed to have been shut down years ago. Probably the best idea yet.



We had phoned our Travel Agents after seeing the Palm Court Hotel on Holidays from Hell and was told that it had been refurbished and was under new management, we were still concerned and requested that we could transfer to another hotel if we were not satisfied with the accommodation, this was agreed.



Do yourself a favour pay a little bit extra and upgrade, unless you like staying in squalor.

My friends and I have just...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

vic50

Comments:

My friends and I have just returned from Qawra. We had seen the reports and had contacted Malta bargains to voice our concerns. We were told the hotel had been refurbished but if we weren’t happy after seeing our rooms we could transfer to another 3* hotel free of charge but would have to pay extra to upgrade to a 4* hotel.


We arrived at the hotel at 0300 hrs the hotel lobby looked clean and we had the keys to our room in under 5 minutes we were quite impressed until we started to walk through the maze of corridors to find our rooms they were dark dingy and smelt. We finally found our rooms after carrying our cases up the stairs because the lift was only big enough for 2 people and their suitcases and we would have had to wait all night.


Our room had a new a/c unit but no controls only on or off the ceiling fan was very noisy when I tried it. the furnishings were very basic but looked new apart from the double bed.


the bathroom was so small that to get out of it you had to step into the shower to be able to open the door and there was a musty smell coming from the bathroom, which seeped into the bedroom. As we went to look at our friend’s room the door handle came of in my wives hand. Their room had no new a/c unit and the ceiling fan looked like someone had been hanging from it, the room also smelt musty and toilet was full of dark brown water we flushed it several times but it still came out brown.


We went done to the lobby to complain and they gave us the keys to two other rooms to look at the first one was bigger and slightly better than the first two so our friends took this one, the second one the toilet was running continuously and the smell of bleach was over powering.


As it was now nearly 0400 hrs we decided to take the first room and try to get some sleep I undressed and laid on the bed and sunk so far into the mattress I thought someone would have to pull me out in the morning.


At 0745 the next morning got up walked round to the Qawra Palace hotel (4*) to check out their rooms .After confirming with our friends we saw the Malta bargains reps and changed hotels .Paying £27 pp to change from all inclusive at the Palm Court to half board at the Qawra Palace.(£118 to remain all inclusive).


I have no complains against the Malta bargain reps they were friendly and did their best but Palm Court is not a 3* hotel a 1* at most I’ve stayed in better back packing hostels. If you have already booked I would seriously consider upgrading to the Qawra Palace although I would not consider it a 4*the place is clean comfortable and the food excellent

I have just returned from a...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs T Wightman

Comments:

I have just returned from a week’s holiday at the Palm Court Hotel Malta. Having seen reports about this hotel before I left I have to admit that I went reluctantly. We arrived at 3am and were greeted by an efficient receptionist who was very organised and we were in our room within 5 minutes. The room was more spacious than I imagined it would be and had brand new air-conditioning plus fan. There was a TV in our room and the furniture modern. The bathroom was basic but was clean. Our room overlooked the pool. The pool area was enclosed but plenty of sun beds. The pool looked clean, but I have to admit that I only noticed staff cleaning the pool once while I was there. The food was of a good standard, catering for the British customers. English breakfast every morning, buffet selection at lunch and usually a carvery each evening. If you wished you could even have an inspection of the kitchen. Being all-inclusive the extras were very limited, and the local spirits lacked the strength of normal brands!! There was no entertainment during the day, but there was entertainment in the evenings aimed at the adults. They have obviously been spending money on the hotel recently to improve facilities and work was still in progress while we were there. on One day when we were there, several inspectors arrived and were going around the hotel, doing inspections. The hotel is making improvements, and while I was there people were discussing obviously the reports we had seen and I never heard one person complaining about the hotel they were all positive comments. The only improvements I would like to see at the hotel is brighter decor in the corridors to the rooms, it is the first impression you get of the hotel when you arrive. and feel it is unnecessary for all-inclusive customers to wear red bracelets when they have an adequate system of taking your photograph and giving you a plastic card to use when purchasing drinks and food etc. As far as I am concerned we got good value for money holiday, my daughter and her family are still there and return letter this week and are very happy with the facilities.

This May my family and myself...

Overall Rating:

10/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

May 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Miss L Knight

Comments:

This May my family and myself went to the Palm Court Hotel in Malta. We had been there once last September, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I really don’t know why people complain about this hotel, it is spotlessly clean and superb value for money. Our rooms were cleaned on a daily basis and we had 3 sheet changes in a week. Obviously the hotel is basic, but what do you expect for the money! Some people expect 5 star luxuries when you are only paying for three.



The hotel is situated in an excellent position as it is near to the bus station, sea, rocks, shops and bars and restaurants. The hotel pool was immaculately clean and the staff are all very friendly and helpful. The food there was quite repetitive but fine to eat, as you can find something that you would like. On both occasions we have had a brilliant holiday and would definitely go back again. If you like a cheap and cheerful holiday that is excellent value for money then the Palm Court is definitely the place for you!!!

I read all the reviews on this...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Apr 2004

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs J Littleboy

Comments:

I read all the reviews on this hotel and I found it to be a very friendly hotel. The food was good the room had plenty of space. I went with a family of 9 (1 child & 1 baby), 7 adults. The hotel has just been redecorated and they are in the process of fitting air con in every room. All rooms had a television. All rooms had a telephone that is free to use. The swimming pools are all good. I will stay at this hotel again. It was the best holiday I have had. Malta is a brilliant place to visit