Reviews of Palm Court Hotel, Qawra, Malta

Anyone who decides to go to this...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2007

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Miss T Ahad

Comments:

Anyone who decides to go to this hotel is crazy. It is the absolute pits, I wouldn’t even let my dog stay here - let alone how people bring their kids there. This is not even a 0 star, this place should be condemned. I only gave this a 1, as this is lowest rating I could give, should be -20.



We arrived at 2am Saturday 29th September into a dingy reception area and were given our key to our room. We went up in the lifts to the 4th floor, when the lift doors opened the stench of the corridors was overwhelming. I am not sure if it was a smell of damp or urine, probably both.



When we got to our room, the place was disgusting, and to use the word basic is not in the vocabulary for this place. The floors were slippery, the shower curtain was held up with a thin piece of string and the whole place stunk. We got moved to the hotel behind (Venus) as I refused to stay in such a depressing room. The room in the Venus (501) was a tad better but only because the décor was slightly brighter, the room still smelt of damp and there was proof on the walls, the bed linen had not been changed as there was mascara all over my bed pillow and the bath towels were just as bad.



We decided we did not want to stay in either hotel so we was walking around till 4am that morning trying to find a more suitable hotel, obviously this is not an ideal start to the holiday. We had to eventually give up as nothing seemed to be available so we reluctantly went back to sleep in our rooms, which to haste I slept on my beach towel all night as the bed linen was so dirty.



We complained to the Rep’s and also the people who worked at British Jet (offices next door to the hotel) and was confronted with very rude staff and they basically did not care and even admitted themselves they would not stay at the hotel. We asked to see the Hotel Manager Victor Spiter, and were told he would not see us in person and we could only write a letter of complaint if we were not happy. Later that day we were told that the hotel was robbed 3 times in one week and once by knife point. The staff failed to inform us of this and their reply to us when we questioned them about it was, “what concern of it was ours as we were not there when it happened, why should we care”. When we returned to our room, we came face to face with some of the biggest cockroaches, which we all over our suitcases, we also witnessed these in the dinning area. That was the last straw for us. We checked out and had to pay an extra £150 to move to another hotel, which we did off our own backs and not through the rep’s as they seemed to want cash in had for a transfer.



To be honest I would not return to Malta after this experience and the Bugibba area was very dirty and full of tacky restaurants and bars. Their standard of food on a whole was horrible and there was only one nice restaurant in the whole area, Mona Lisa’s, which had the brilliant food and wine but was very pricey. There are also a lot of English people who live in Malta trying to con venerable elderly English folk into buying timeshares or other holidays. Don’t fall for it.



Please, I would not recommend anyone to go away with Malta Bargains, they are a complete rip off and I was disgusted I gave these people my hard earned cash. No matter how little people pay to stay in their hotel or use their airline it is not worth it. The staff do not care for the safety or health of holiday makers and how anyone returns to stay here is truly beyond my belief.

I've just got back from the...

Overall Rating:

6/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2007

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs D.M. Martland

Comments:

I've just got back from the infamous Palm Court in Malta and was very apprehensive as I didn't look at the reviews until it was booked.



I was expecting a rough Fawlty Towers. What a pleasant surprise I had!



Yes it could do with a face-lift and wash and brush-up, but, although basic, I would go again.



Maids [our good fairies] spruced our room up every day and provided us with clean sheets and towels 4 times during our weeks stay. The room was clean and nothing was ever touched of our belongings.



The restaurant although in the basement and a little stuffy [although there was a part near an open window] was well organised and had a great variety of foods at both breakfast and dinner.



Our one query was dealt with quickly and efficiently [the maids had accidentally swept up my sisters nightdress with the laundry.] It was returned the following day, washed and ironed!



I feel the staff have a job to contend with - mainly some of the clientele from the UK who have bad manners and very bad habits, with kids who were probably there in term-time because they'd been expelled from school!



There were reports while we were there that there were passports and cash going missing from the rooms. There were safes available and we carried all our valuables around with us! Perhaps we were lucky.



I was surprised that the hotel put on such superb entertainment every evening and even more surprised that our room had free and good working air-con. [We had to pay for this in Cyprus!]



All in all I would recommend this cheapy to anyone who wants a good basic and value for money break.

Palm Court Hotel, Qawra,...

Overall Rating:

2/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2007

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr D. Stone

Comments:

Palm Court Hotel, Qawra, Malta…Make a note of the name, commit it to memory and don't, whatever you do, forget it!



Hotel in need of total refurbishment. Rooms below basic, (nice fittings though, except the actual beds themselves), air-con unit just about sufficient, room ceiling fan wobbled uncontrollably and had metal blades to boot, (decided not to use it as we may have needed our legs to run from the cockroaches and ants). En-suite toilet had tape wrapped around the waste pipe, chipped tiles in the shower and no ventilation. Sink taps spouts rotated when the taps were turned on or off.



The restaurant is disgusting. As other reports have said, it's in the basement, it's hot and sweaty and the food is enough to turn your own liver up at the corners. We decided to suffer breakfast each day, but that was it. Well, you can’t go wrong with toast can you, especially when you cook it yourself. Both food and cutlery seem to run out quite often, so do yourself another favour, take your own mugs or cups, (saves queuing when they run out).



Security at this hotel is useless. My wife and I were there 27/09/07 to 04/10/07. We were told that 50% of the staff had walked out at the end of the week over pay issues, and there had been 7 subsequent room break-ins. This also included the emptying of the room safes. No damage caused, keys were used… draw your own conclusions, but 1+1 usually makes 2. All valuables were taken including passports. With this in mind, we decided to carry all our valuables around with us all the time.



Malta Bargains rep. was about as useful as an ashtray on a motorcycle. The rep is not a rep. she is just an excursion sales women, (and not very good at that because of the over priced trips). When I spoke to her about the break-ins, and suggested she should have perhaps warned her guests, that she is responsible for, about them, she replied "Don’t tell me how to do my job!"; I had only made a suggestion.



Watch out for the "no, this is not a time share offer" reps outside the hotel. They take you in to look around the hotel next door (4 stars). It's paradise. It takes at least 2 hours to show and talk to you about it. Then the bombshell. It is a holiday club and costs £2350.00. You must sign up there and then.



It seems that we were quite lucky, after reading through some of the other reviews. We only paid £159 each for this experience. NEVER AGAIN.



On the upside, don't cast Malta itself aside. It’s a lovely island and we will go back, self catering apartments are very cheap if you go at the right time of year.



On our last day, we found out that the hotels owner has not bothered to renew his license, so what will happen to the Palm Court Hotel?



By the way, it was very nice to receive our holiday conformation upon return from our holiday. It would have been better before hand; at least we would have turned up at Gatwick knowing that the holiday actually existed!

This is the fifth time we have...

Overall Rating:

6/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2007

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr A Lees

Comments:

This is the fifth time we have stayed in this hotel, it suits our needs quite well, but we are a group of lads having a week away. But I would not take my family there.



The rooms are basic but clean, serviced daily but they can smell a little musty, as does the hotel in general. The stairs are a bit of killer if you are not too fit and the 2 lifts are very small.



The dining arrangements leave a bit to be desired and have gone downhill this year. It can only be described as dire. When on holiday you expect a little treat, but there is not any here. It’s like school dinners gone badly. You can live on it, but we got well fed up and the staff are over worked trying to keep tables clear. They can be a bit rude; a la carte this is not. We took some cereals of our own for breakfast to break the monotony.



We go out all day and just want a place to clean up and have a sleep which it is ok for.

The transfers from the hotel have not been so good in the past years. On one occasion the baggage handler was seen to be throwing the cases into the truck, as they go separately to the coach. When we reached the hotel he disappeared and I unloaded most of the cases.



We now hire a car from Freeways car rentals just opposite from the hotel and they leave it at the airport, likewise when we leave they are very good.



Eating out we found an excellent restaurant called La Stalla. The set menu costs 4.30 Lm, which is just over £7.00. Be warned, if you have the Spag Bol or Lasagne for starter you won’t want anything else! Well not a main course! La Stalla is a short walk towards Buggiba from Palm Court Or Fawlty Towers, as it’s Known locally.



There is great pub called the Queens Head at the top of the road in the same street that the palm court is in. Turn left as you leave the hotel and it is the last pub on the left. The beer is cheap; they keep bringing out hot snacks and seem quite offended when you decline them. The general service is very good.



On the whole you certainly get what you pay for! Don't expect the Ritz, but the people of Malta make up for it. The Maltese love the Brits! It’s a shame a lot of them let the down the rest of us down, as the Palm Court can attract some of life’s less fortunate in manners and consideration for others. I am being polite here, I am no snob, but it can be an eye opener at times.



If You want a cheap break, go for it! We paid £190 all in, not much more than a flight.

In a word? Rubbish. The first...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2007

Tour Operator:

British-Jet

Submitted By:

Mr A Luttman

Comments:

In a word? Rubbish. The first thing you will notice is how unhelpful the staff are.

'All inclusive' means absolutely nothing - the 'food' as they call it is the same undercooked / burned pig swill each day (runny eggs and bacon fat are my personal fave) and the only alcohol based drink you are allowed is a local lager, 1565.



In order to obtain your plastic pint of beer you must go to reception with a swipe card each time and ask for one, then give the receipt to a member of bar staff who will grudgingly oblige you - if they happen to be there. You'll also need a red wrist band for some completely unknown reason.



Our balcony has a wonderful view of an orange wall 12 feet away. There are no tea making facilities in the room. The bathroom is grubby. The TV is out of tune and has something wrong with the speaker. This is room 218 - but the other guests assure us their rooms aren't much better.



This morning I had to walk through a flooded carpet to reach reception, 6 hours later it's still wet.



There are no pay phones either, and the hotel is conveniently located at the other side of the island to all the beaches. There's no night life here either.



The hotel looks like it was last decorated in the early 1970s - paint peels off the walls and is covered up with grime. There are no maps of the hotel to help you find your room and the elevators only hold 4 people at a time.



To be blunt, this is the worst hotel I have ever been to. I completely recommend going elsewhere and I intend on advising everyone I can of this.

Well with this hotel I was...

Overall Rating:

2/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Oct 2005

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr D Limone

Comments:

Well with this hotel I was expecting something really nice, as I heard good things about the hotel. But on arrival, 1st impressions of the hotel were bad; the hotel just looked so bland and boring.



Did not make a good impression at all... And throughout our one week stay, still the hotel got no better... It seemed that all the hotel staff seemed busy to help us with any problems we had, the rooms did not get changed enough, as we would like, lack of sleep through the night due to the noise from outside.



This hotel was almost unbearable to stay in. Only thing I am thankful for is glad we did not stay for the 2 weeks we hoped for, cos I could not last 2 weeks in this place I don’t think.



Also the food had no wide selection, same/similar things day in, day out. Which just got boring, and we ate put after first few days.



So I say... Only stay here if you do not plan to spend much time in the hotel itself!

Hotel very unhygienic, carpets...

Overall Rating:

2/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2007

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr S Abolins

Comments:

Hotel very unhygienic, carpets in corridors smelt, floors in rooms not washed, very bad ant infestations. Staff very abrupt and unhelpful - probably fed up with guests complaining.



No organisation of staff from management, if there were any management because none were seen.



A hotel like this puts you off Malta completely. It should be knocked down and rebuilt as it now needs too much money spending on it to bring it up to spec.



Would not recommend this hotel to anyone at all.

We stayed for 1 week half board...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2007

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr K Rodgers

Comments:

We stayed for 1 week half board basis at the palm court and it is the worst hotel we have ever stayed in.



We are frequent visitors to Malta and feel that anyone staying there for their first visit to the Maltese islands would stay away for good.



The hotel smells very bad, the food is terrible, staff don’t care about complaints, hotel warns of theft but very limited safety deposit boxes so had to carry all money and tickets round all week.



TV did not work in room nothing done about it, complained about no towels during holiday and was told there was none so had to use our beach towel to get washed with.



We stayed in room 203 and were situated at the side of the hotel across from crazy daisy bar next to Venus apartments and could not sleep all week as it did not close until 4 am .



There are far superior places to stay for the same kind of budget, so don’t think cheep and cheerful. Our advice is to stay away!!

Hotel Palm Court has all the...

Overall Rating:

5/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2007

Tour Operator:

British Jet

Submitted By:

Mr S Williams

Comments:

Hotel Palm Court has all the charm and ambience of a dilapidated council tower block, the lower floors smelt of damp constantly. There was a fire alarm one morning and there was NO STAFF present, the whole situation was chaos and if there had been a real fire I dread to think what would happen.



The food was simply awful, however the staff were very prompt at clearing away and resetting tables.



On the upside the room was clean and the maids very efficient and as we only used the place as a base camp to explore the island from it served its purpose well.



On the whole the staff were very pleasant and reasonably helpful; however a message left for us from a tour company did go astray. And the system of ordering drinks from reception leads to annoying queues when all you want is your room key. Obviously the bar staff aren't trusted with the responsibility.



But as the half board package was cheaper than flights only through any other airline I consider it a bargain and well worth going to as long as your expectations aren't too high as clearly many other guests were.



You have to remember that you get what you pay for and this was cheap!

This hotel was an absolute Joke!...

Overall Rating:

2/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2007

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs C Light

Comments:

This hotel was an absolute Joke! It had the nickname Faulty Towers by guests and by the locals. The rooms were basic and were kept clean but the food was absolutely disgusting.



I have never been abroad and been presented with such slop. We went as a party of 7, we had 2 young children with us aged 2 and 5 who didn’t eat any of the food because most of the time we didn’t know what it was, and was all stuck together, the restaurant was in the basement which had a wicked smell to it which turned your stomach before you even got to see the food.



There were cockroaches running about as you ate, it was horrible. We went all inclusive but ended up eating out all the time and buying our own breakfast to take down with us to the so called restaurant.



I know it was properly a bargain holiday for all inclusive and I suppose you get what you pay for but at the end of the day we are human beings and shouldn’t be expected to put up with eating such rubbish. The reception staff were rude and ignorant and didn’t even look at you when dealing with you.



The only pleasant thing about the place was the cleaning staff who were lovely and brought our 2 children presents, which I was grateful for, considering all the other down falls so I thank them.



Malta is a beautiful place and the locals are lovely but please do not ruin it by going to the palm court, I am definitely making sure my mother in law who booked the holiday does her homework before booking another holiday.hehe

With this hotel you get what you...

Overall Rating:

3/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2007

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs T Mawby

Comments:

With this hotel you get what you pay for. It's very basic & badly in need of refurbishment.



The dining room it very dated and very hot (they don’t' like to you open the fire exit door to let in fresh air), food is basic.



We visited this hotel last year and because of the price we paid were willing to accept it faults, but we won't be going back again, this is due to the rudeness of the staff they now have.

(They don't smile, don't say please, or thank you.)



The corridors of the hotel smell this is due to them being carpeted and not very clean. There is always a strong smell of jeyes fluid.



Watch out for the time share reps, they seem to target this hotel!!



Malta is great!

Avoid at all costs. Dirty hotel,...

Overall Rating:

1/10

Board Basis:

All Inclusive

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2007

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mr A Johnson

Comments:

Avoid at all costs. Dirty hotel, poor quality food - so bad we had to eat out all the time. Key safe - told no keys available, TV remote control - told none available. Staff not helpful.



Badly stained mattresses, saggy sunbeds and sheets with holes in. Yes, it’s got the lot! All inclusive is a joke… surely it is all exclusive. Role model for the British system of queuing.



Malta on the other hand lovely country, lovely people.



Wish it was possible to give the Palm Court a zero rating.

We have been coming to Malta for...

Overall Rating:

8/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Dec 2006

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs L Fisher

Comments:

We have been coming to Malta for the past 19years we love the Island also the Maltese people, the food is very English also the Maltese people speak very good English.



The Maltese people have a lot of time for the British, they are very pleasant people.



On coming to Malta twice a year, we have stayed at The Palm Court Hotel, also at The Venus. We have never had much reason for complaints; you get what you pay for in this life.



The Hotel has a maid service every day, you get clean towels, bedding etc. You don’t have to eat in every day or night if you don’t like the food they serve; there are plenty of places nearby, and reasonably priced.



What you pay for at this Hotel includes your flights, also your taxi to and from the airport. What more do you want for under 200 pounds per person.



No complaints only praise. Long rein The Palm Court and The Venus Hotel.

I travelled to the Palm Court...

Overall Rating:

2/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Sep 2007

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Mrs T Wright

Comments:

I travelled to the Palm Court Hotel with my parents aged 71 and 68, just for a weeks break, we arrived to find we were given a large family room which was great.



The room was clean if not basic but for what we paid we couldn’t complain. The "Restaurant" was more like a canteen and after the biggest cockroach ran across a

Table, so we never ate there again.



The pool area was dirty and smelt of wee, that didn’t stop some people from lying round it all day. There was various entertainment which wasn’t too bad, but this hotel needs some serious TLC because the location is good but as for being 3 star more like 1.



Please don’t go to this hotel thinking it cant be as bad as it seems because it is, but if you just want it as a base to explore Malta then we found it ok to rest your head, as our room was cleaned everyday and we got clean towels when we wanted them.



I also advise you to use the safes in the rooms as the hotel does not have any security although I will say we didn’t see any problems. They do say you get what you pay for so be prepared.

Just came from Palm Court it...

Overall Rating:

6/10

Board Basis:

Half Board

Date of Holiday:

Aug 2007

Tour Operator:

Malta Bargains

Submitted By:

Miss Liz Lynch

Comments:

Just came from Palm Court it truly isn’t as bad as I thought it would be, room was cleaned daily and towels changed. Food was ok, but the heat in there was just to much and as it was so cheap it didn’t hurt to eat out most of the time. Malta is wonderful and I will go back and stay at Palm Court again, it's the only way I can afford to take my son aboard. So managers of the hotel please sort out the a/c in dining hall and have more vegetables on offer.