Reviews of Palm Court Hotel, Qawra, Malta

this hotel is a sham. i was also...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

seperate

Submitted By:

Mr J T N Clark

Comments:

this hotel is a sham. i was also on this scuba trip and it was awful. the food was mank, the pool was a death trap full of ancient wee, and the rooms were terribly scruffy, ill equipped, and dirty. the only reason i enjoyed my stay here was because i had 10 mates to have fun with but if i went there for a simple holiday i would have come home early!!



seriously choose another hotel before you stay here.



x

I am 23 and me and my girlfriend...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr L Yates

Comments:

I am 23 and me and my girlfriend paid £379 per person for 2 weeks from the 17th July - 31st...



I dont really know why people slate hotel because all though its not brilliant, you get what you pay for..



I have been all inclusive 3 times and would come back again, because its cheap and in a very good location... Ok there is a bit of waiting time to get your drinks at night, but there is any where you go...



I would recommend Palm Court for a good relaxing destination.. Good for younger people especially who are out an about and on holiday for fun..

DO NOT STAY HERE!
I went...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2008

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Miss L Baker

Comments:

DO NOT STAY HERE!

I went as part of a scuba diving holiday and was part of a group of 30. The hotel did not like this as it meant there was extra work for them, when we arrived we waited 40 minutes in reception for our keys.



The hotel is not air conditioned, and out of the rooms we had (between 4 and 6 people per room) only 3 rooms were air conditioned.The hotel did not care about complaints and simply gave out a handful of keys and said "find a room you want"



We walked into our room and it wasnt clean, dirt on the floor. No fresh towels, and other peoples dirty ones on the bathroom floor!



The curtains were mouldy! The taps leaked, and the glass doors didnt shut so the first night we had to sleep with it open! (we then moved rooms)



In our party there were 2 trained lifeguards and no body used the pool as it was DISCUSTING! you can't see the bottom and it NEVER EVER got cleaned!



The food is awful, 12 people were sick or had diorreah in our group. Me included, i was sick from the scrambled eggs!



The entertainment consists of a CD! useless! .. .. As for the bar, you had to purchase drinks from reception and show reciepts to barstaff! Long queues meant you had to wait for about 15 minutes to get a recpiet.



THE ONLY POSITIVE was a bar just over the road called 'We5' excellent staff, very friendly and served free freshly cooked snacks such as biscuits, sausages etc. Delicious, and much needed after the hotels attempts at food.



In our group there was a chef, she noted the food was kept in cold and unheated basins for the entirity of our time in the resturant. Not being stirred once.



Overall, do not go to this hotel. Even if you cant afford anything else! If needs must, BUY A TENT AND SLEEP ON THE BEACH! it would be much better!!!!!!



STAY HERE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!

I have literally just come back...

Overall Rating:

7/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Miss A Sagajllo

Comments:

I have literally just come back from my holiday in Malta, and generally, it was the holiday my parents I needed. We had a room to sleep in and a pool to sunbathe by...

What I would say though, go to the hotel with an open mind and tell yourself "you get what you pay for"!



Our room, from what we gather was one of the best you could get, yes, the air conditioning leaked when we got there...hotel sorted it out by the time we got back from our first day sunbathing!! Yes my dad's bed was incredibly squeaky, and after a week of trying to sleep, the bed was changed when my dad battered his eyelids and being the person he is...

Other than that, we were satisfied with the room we had for the 2 weeks of our stay...

The only major issue we had was when we paid 7euro for the afternoon we left. Instead of checking out at 12 we paid extra, to have a bit sunbathing time and be able to have a shower. Not only did the hotel charge (fair enough), but we had to change rooms at noon, and move to another. Now, I have to say I have NEVER smelt damp like I had in this place, the air con wasn't working and it was horendous....we didn't even have a chance to dry off after our shower, cos it was so humid in there!!!



The food....

My dad calls it prison food (not that he knows what its like)....I went to Malta to discover a new country and foods....but no...I am not trying to be discriminating here in ANY way shape or form...but the food was british...!! Didn't appeal to me. We went half board and less than than half of the holiday I managed breakfast, dinner was also a struggle...sorry, but thats my opinion.



Now, male staff were fine...the female staff looked very bored and uninterested, not suprsing in this weather...

Doesn#t mean you have to present yourself in the ay that you feel. Having worked in a hotel myself, peak season, in the french alps in the winter...I KNOW what it feels like!!!!



At the end of the day, I give it a 7, because if you go with the frame of mind "you get what you pay for" (motto of the holiday), then it's fine. People lovely, staff you can put up with and I'll be very suprised if theres any medium dry rose's or white's in stock after we've been there!!

I got a tan and a much needed break....



P.S. It's a 3* cos they have air con......

Palm Court - known to the locals...

Overall Rating:

6/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs R Shaw

Comments:

Palm Court - known to the locals as "fawlty Towers" this seemed to be a local joke if you mention fawlty towers to the locals they all know where you are staying, we found this a bit of fun!!!



the transfer - this was interesting - eventually, we got in a white van all of us with 3 very SWEET men two of which sat on the floor hmm a very bumpy ride at god knows what speed - the driving and bus rides are another experience, they obviously don't have driving tests or traffic wardens or even speed limits, give way signs etc - We did hire a car for two days which was good fun but a little scary but a must for eveyone,



PLACES TO GO -beaches to see pretty bay is lovely, melliah bay, golden bay is little stoney and hurts your feet if you go bare foot. Valetta is a nice town but closes afternoons. The blue lagoon is must you can snorkell with huge fish the water is crystal clear and beautiful. The Meditereanean dolphin show and Swim park is fab, although swimming with dolphins IS NOT 15.50 EUROS AS ADVERTISED ALL OVER THE PLACE it is about £220 euros per person.



The Room - Very spacious, clean floors, bedding *WHITE* and changed regularly, towels WHITE too changed daily. We were lucky enough to have an air conditioned room which did work!!! Our parents air con didn't, they did have too large fans and could have asked to be moved but chose not to. Shower was clean, we used towels as bath mat, there was a shower mat which didn't look great but did the trick. My only gripe was the babies cot was leathal but we complained and after three different cots they gave us a good one. And acted striaght away! So I can't complain to much about this.



The reception - area was really nice, staff were quite freindly and the area was air conditioned which was nice when you come in as its very hot.



The Pool - Wasn't fab, needed updating re- painting etc, baby pool was ideal. We took our 4 children aged 10,8,4 & 18 months - they all used the pool every day and thoroughly enjoyed it nobody was ill or got any infections from it at all. I believe the hotel is closing nov for a re-fit. some loungers were broken but the pool area was always busy so it couldn't be that bad, each night as we sat drinking on the varanda you could see if being cleaned all rubbish being picked up etc, the loungers are a little rough as others have mentioned but we usually put a towel on it anyway - which you need as it is burning hot!!



The Food - plenty of selection - pizza, chips, wide range of salad, bread available everyday

we had unlimited soft drinks which ARE available to get from the restaurant bar at lunch and tea time, during the day the children & ourselves could have sandwiches, ice cream, crisps which I agree are lacking in flavour but FREE and drinks. If you are going out for the day you can order packed lunch the night before - which consists of ice cold orange drinks, frozen water crackers & cheese, sandwiches cheese or ham, all put in a cardboard box to collect at breakfast.

It is very hot in the restaurant but by tea time the air con did work at the middle two tables, we made sure we were first down there to bagsy those tables every day, by the end of the two weeks the meals were a little boring and I did dread going down as it was soo hot down there. All in all food was value for money & there is something for eveyone. High chairs - two had no straps one had straps and they were covered in film to keep clean until you use it. We did spot one cock roach at the pool end of the restaurant (it was dead though!) My advice is use the restaurant as soon as it opens and be careful that you avoid anything that could have been reheated from the night before (common sense)



ENTERTAINMENT - really cheesy, not a lot o do, but we went for walks sat on the pool balcony with drinks and made the best of the cheesy karaoke. We only had one night where one huge huge family got a bit drunk (from the uk) and made a lot noise and were bangning machines but I think you could get that anywhere - especially this country



The hotel is in a good location and the room did smell a bit gros but we laugh about the bad bits as we thoroughyl enjoyed our holiday, and would go back again. For the price we paid 1500 all inc for 2 adults 4 kids even if we didn't eat there but just had the drinks it was still value for money!! It costs nearly £900 for a caravan on a haven site thats without food and drinks in this country for one week!!!!



My husband did have a bad stomache on the way home but there is no proof that it was from the food or pool or just a bug that you could get in this country - he thinks it could have been cabbage as he ate lots of it in the restaurant - (stay away from the veg it looked a bit vile!!!) but there is no way of knowing!!



A lot of people return time & again to this resort without any major problems and if it was really as bad as others make out then this wouldn't be the case.



this is a 100% honest review and is meant to reassure anyone who is worried about going after booking it like we were. Expect it to be basic and to have to possibly complain a bit and you should be ok!

Were do I start, we arrived 1st...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr I Shaw

Comments:

Were do I start, we arrived 1st Of July 08 at 3.45am, after a long wait at the Airport for transport



We were given our rooms which I must say were clean and were cleaned every day, with clean bedding at least twice a week.



We paid £276 each for 14 nights all inclusive, which I feel was value for money, food was edible and we was given a choice for dinner and tea, however by the end of the 2 weeks, it was becoming bland.



The staff was polite however but we struggled to build a rapport with them at first, but by the end of the 2 weeks they stared to laugh and joke with us.



The Hotel is very basic, and is long overdue a refurbishment ,but if like us you just treated it as a base its not that bad.



The Maltese love the Brits, and are nice people, the night life is very quiet so no yobs drinking to the early hours. Malta is a beautiful place, and will be grate when they finish it!

I just wanted a week sun, sea...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

Room Only

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

Booked Independently

Submitted By:

Mr S Taylor

Comments:

I just wanted a week sun, sea and fun and chose The Bernard due to its fantastic location next to the beach and nightlife.



I had a wonderful week, the staff are all very friendly, rooms are clean and service is good, I got everything I asked for.



I did not eat in the restaurant as I booked on room only basis but it looked good and recently refurbished.



The pub of the Hotel has recently opened after refurbishment and is brand new and one of the very few places in area that actually plays decent music and not pumping music all night.



I must say it can be a bit noisy at night but I did not bother as I went out every night.



All in all great place to stay and good value for money!

yes giving it one out of ten I...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Kevin Raftery

Comments:

yes giving it one out of ten I was being generous. The absurd mitigation of 'well what do you expect in a three star' belies intelligent logic and plays right into the owners hands. We expect cleanliness and a basic standard for three star, I have been to many places and palm court defo takes the cake.



The sweat box known as the restaurant is a real treat. No air conditioning where your sweat simultaneulsy runs into your gravy. Yes, what can we expect for a three star. The plus is the guests at the hotel who grin and bear it with dignity. All credit to the kids who hardly made a whimper in the conditions.



What do we expect from a three star-nt Palm Court and Malta bargains. The place wants listing

although the food wasnt...

Overall Rating:

3/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs IDW2s I Dont Want To Say

Comments:

although the food wasnt fantastic, and the rooms were not perfectly spotless, you get what you pay for and we had fun anyway.

Good GOD.
This excuse for...

Overall Rating:

2/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Miss S Reynolds

Comments:

Good GOD.

This excuse for a hotel really lived up to its bad ratings, constantly. For the price I wasn't expecting royalty, but quite frankly a clean room would've been sufficient.

It's completely dated, they really do buy the cheapest furniture, food, facilities etc.

The reason I didn't give it a rating of 1, was because the staff were friendly and helpful, well eventually...

We walked into our room, there were at least 20 flies circling the room due to the fact that the door to the balcony was in fact broken. The air conditioning didn't work, and they eventually sent a maintenance man the next day, at SIX AM!

who is actually up at that hour?



The food was grim, to put it nicely. I wouldn't even give it to a dog. The cereal was absolutely rock hard, even after drenching it in milk. We ate out a lot of the time, due to the awful standard of food, it really was the cheapest of the cheap.



The pool area was moldy, pretty much every sun lounger was broken or in midst of collapsing and the pool was so dirty, you couldn't see the bottom of it.



All in all, it ruined my holiday. I was expecting basic, but not a hell hole, No wonder this hotel was on Holidays From Hell a few years ago, it deserves to be closed down.



Happy holidays folks.

The hotel was cheap and...

Overall Rating:

3/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs M Baldwin

Comments:

The hotel was cheap and cheerful. The decor was not great and the corridor to our room was damp and smelt damp! We were lucky enough to be on the ground floor with the pushchair. Food was edible but very limited choice. In the whole week the only fresh fruit we saw was water melon and that was only on 3 occasions - out of 21! Desserts were also poor - normally only ice-cream! Salad was only an option at evening meal. So much for the healthy options!!!



Pool was ok - kids enjoyed it although it was slightly deep for the 4 year old. Needs cleaning up around the edges.



Room was adequate but beds were uncomfortable. The room was 'cleaned' daily which was just having beds made and clean towels if needed.



The air con was good in room although it did leak water all down the wall and cause a puddle on the floor. This was mopped up with the aforementioned towel.



The all inclusive system was not the best. If you wanted drinks or ice creams from the bars you had to swipe the room card to obtain a receipt from reception and then queue at the bar and they would give you what you had requested. This was a pain especially for my 10 year old son as on previous holidays he has requested drinks/ice creams and got them. They made this confusing and in effect we did not eat or drink as much as we may have done otherwise.



We walked to Bugibba Square most nights and there were some great bars and restaurants here. There was also a small 'fayre' for the kids comprising of bumper cars, big wheel, trampolines and merry go round. We went here as we relaxed whilst the kids played.



I would definitley visit Malta again but certainly not this hotel.



It was a cheap short break - thank goodness!!!!!!!!!

Like a lot of people reading...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr D Boden

Comments:

Like a lot of people reading this site, on seeing some of the comments about the Palm Court we woundered if we had done the right thing..



The flight over was on Air Malta and simply brilliant - lovely food and the first time I have ever got a free extra leg room seat.



I am however writing this at Malta Airport on the way back, as Air Malta will be at least 2 1/2 hours late back to Manchester - which will cost us £80 extra in trains/taxis - so if you are coming never book cheap train tickets - Air Malta is not the most punctual.



As to the hotel - you get what you would expect for £250 all inclusive in July - a clean, comfortable, basic hotel with basic food.



The staff at the hotel are very friendly and Maria the rep willingly changed one of our tours over when we missed it.



Food was basic - if I eat another chip I'll turn into one !! But we did not get any belly aches.



Yes - the Palm Court is a bit old in places and corridors do smell of sweaty people in places - but our room (471) was clean, the air con worked and the tv also worked (although the only english language channel is Sky News)



This is a 2* hotel in the UK - dont expect 5* standards for 2* money !



Trips - be careful on the Captain Morgan cruises - they take 2 and 1/2 hours to get to Comino - the boats are full of rude Italian language kids puking everywhere and the toilets (imagine a hippo with diahorrea !!!) Comino also had no shade of any kind..



If you do want to do Colmino go from Cirrkewnza or Buggiba - quicker and cheaper !!!



July is also very hot in Malta - we never got below 34 - so make sure you have lots of sun cream.

This was my third time in Palm...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs K Griffen

Comments:

This was my third time in Palm Court, I knew it wasn't great. We went all inclusive as we had 4 kids with us. We were there last 2 years ago and the Hotel has went right down hill it is a total disgrace to Malta. If you read all the horror stories that people have left non of them are exaggerated its all true. The All Inclusive is not value for money, we paid £2,300 for 6 people All Inclusive for 2 weeks. Firstly the food was terrible it was the same thing day in and day out, lunch was last nights left overs heated up. The Resturant is like a Sauna you just eat and run there is no Air Conditioning in it, our kids were hungry all the time and we ended having to buy them snacks outside the hotel and the only snacks offered on All Inc. was hame or cheese sandwiches or local crisps that had no taste to them. The Hotel was full of teenagers on holiday 17/18 yrs olds all drunk, fighting and hotel doors getting kicked in. My son is only 14 and I sent him to the bar to see if they would serve him and they did. There was a rat at the pool and one behind the vending machine in the hotel corridor, but that does not suprise me as the carpets are filthy and smell really bad. This hotel needs pulled down, 2 of my kids picked up infections from the pool and I had to take them to the doctor. The pool is so filthy you cannot see the bottom. When the staff are taking the rubbish out they wheel huge trollies through the pool area where everyone is sunbathing, also on the subject of sun bathing the pool side loungers are for the skip most of them are broken and the ones that are not are sore to lie on as the material bit of lounger are so worn they are nearly touching the ground. I KNOW IT IS CHEAP, BUT DON'T DO IT!!!!!! We viewd the Park Lane Apartments and for a two bedroom apartment for 2 weeks would cost you £800 (end of June begining of July) all you need is flights and the apartments are top class. On a whole we spent £2,300 on holiday All Inc and we spent a futher £2000 keeping the kids away from pool, feeding AND DOCTORS BILLS. DON'T DO IT............. There are lots more I could say but read other reviews and everything is true.

This was my third time in Palm...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Jul 2008

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs K Griffen

Comments:

This was my third time in Palm Court, I knew it wasn't great. We went all inclusive as we had 4 kids with us. We were there last 2 years ago and the Hotel has went right down hill it is a total disgrace to Malta. If you read all the horror stories that people have left non of them are exaggerated its all true. The All Inclusive is not value for money, we paid £2,300 for 6 people All Inclusive for 2 weeks. Firstly the food was terrible it was the same thing day in and day out, lunch was last nights left overs heated up. The Resturant is like a Sauna you just eat and run there is no Air Conditioning in it, our kids were hungry all the time and we ended having to buy them snacks outside the hotel and the only snacks offered on All Inc. was hame or cheese sandwiches or local crisps that had no taste to them. The Hotel was full of teenagers on holiday 17/18 yrs olds all drunk, fighting and hotel doors getting kicked in. My son is only 14 and I sent him to the bar to see if they would serve him and they did. There was a rat at the pool and one behind the vending machine in the hotel corridor, but that does not suprise me as the carpets are filthy and smell really bad. This hotel needs pulled down, 2 of my kids picked up infections from the pool and I had to take them to the doctor. The pool is so filthy you cannot see the bottom. When the staff are taking the rubbish out they wheel huge trollies through the pool area where everyone is sunbathing, also on the subject of sun bathing the pool side loungers are for the skip most of them are broken and the ones that are not are sore to lie on as the material bit of lounger are so worn they are nearly touching the ground. I KNOW IT IS CHEAP, BUT DON'T DO IT!!!!!! We viewd the Park Lane Apartments and for a two bedroom apartment for 2 weeks would cost you £800 (end of June begining of July) all you need is flights and the apartments are top class. On a whole we spent £2,300 on holiday All Inc and we spent a futher £2000 keeping the kids away from pool, feeding AND DOCTORS BILLS. DON'T DO IT............. There are lots more I could say but read other reviews and everything is true.

Firstly, I would like to point...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Jun 2008

Tour Operator:

Hays Travel

Submitted By:

Miss P Davo

Comments:

Firstly, I would like to point out that I have a life, I do not spend it complaining, I do not go on holiday to sit in the hotel room and I am used to basic, but this hotel just takes the cake!!

The first thing that you notice when you arrive is the terrible smell, this seems to be coming from the manky carpets and the disgusting "restaurant". We had the misfortune to be half board and when you are approximately 50 metres away from the restaurant, the smell hits you like a freight train. I can still smell it now, it is enough to turn your stomach. We decided to give it a go anyway and I vomited all night. We ate out for the rest of the holiday.

In fact, we only returned to the hotel to get changed and sleep, which was still enough to depress you. There were things growing in the shower and the piece of cut off carpet they gave us as a bathroom mat had long curly black hairs attached to it which transferred to the floor and were still there 2 weeks later! And as for the "clean towels" they gave us daily, these had to be returned on a number of occasions as they were very grubby and soiled.

The pool area is absolutely filthy, totally unhygenic and downwright dangerous. We spent a grand total of 20 minutes down there, I dipped myself in the disgusting pool and then lay around the revolting surrounding area. You cannot see the bottom of the pool as the water is absolutely foul.

The staff are impolite and downright rude. I felt a bit sorry for them at first as it seems that every time you go to reception, someone is complaining about something, but once you stay in the hotel and overhear the remarks that they give back you soon become wise to their ways. They are just not interested in any complaints at all.

The phrase "you get what you pay for" has been used quite a few times on this site and I'm sorry but even if you paid me, I would not stay here again. The phrase "Hotel from Hell" is a more likely heading.

Do not go to this hotel, even as I did, with the intention of using it as a base and just somewhere to sleep. You cannot swim in the pool, you cannot have a nice shower, and you cannot even enter the hotel without feeling sick. If you have booked this already, you will probably go with the feeling "it CAN'T be that bad" but believe me, it IS. If you haven't booked already and are thinking of doing so, DON'T!! By all means go to Malta, but look for a decent hotel, they are not that much more expensive. This hotel will put you off Malta for life. I will NEVER go back.