Grand Mercure Selmun Palace Hotel

This hotel looks nice in the pictures but I can promise you it is definately not a palace nor anywhere near a 4 star property. We stayed in august - sept for a week and couldnt wait to leave. The hotel did not cater at all for young children despite boasting a childrens menu, playground and pool. On arrival, the reception gave us a room in the back of nowhere when we had booked a seaview room. On requesting what we had booked we were told to make do because it didnt matter what view we had with children! When we eventually got a room after abuse from the reception staff, the then refused to move our 2 requested cots so my children had to sleep in our beds, one is 2 and the other is 5 months so not really the safest option, we never saw the cots again the whole week despite requesting them on a daily basis. The pool itself is really dirty, how anyone can call it nice is beyond me, each pool had a tide mark of filth around it, (Photo to follow), the childrens pool was up to my sons neck that was the two year old not the baby so no good for us and the childrens playground was knackered and had broken glass on it all week even though we reported it on a number of occasions. the grounds are run down and the pool loungers are rusty. The bar staff and restaurant staff were generally ok, some obviously didnt like the idea of children being in the hotel. The entertainment was awful considering it was a 20 walk to the nearest bus stop, the activities didnt exist that were advertised and the pool tables were out of order, as was the lift so they only had 1 working which would not fit our 2 small pushchairs inside. rooms are standard and not kept very clean. to sum it up, just dont even bother, we didnt mind the cats it was the flies that were the pain at dinner. this should only be classed as a 2 star hotel, its rubbish!

We have just returned from a 2 week break at the Selmun Palace. The hotel is very isolated, 25 minute walk to the nearest shops and local bus stops, however the hotel does provide a courtesary bus to the lacal village and the beach. All meals were served buffet style and not very much choice ,alot of meals repeated. There is a problem with cats.When we were there we counted 14 cats on the 1 evening.The guests of the hotel encourage them by feeding them however the hotel does not stop the cats from eating from the used plates etc.If you eat inside you are surrounded by flies. The rooms very bland,however good air counditioning room cleaned by 12 noon everyday.Fantastic power shower. Waiting staff very helpful, reception staff very aloof and not particulary helpful. Pool area nice, but the cats from the evening used to drink from the pool,so I never went into it. Selmun Castle lovely you are able to take a tour round on Mondays.You can also have one of your evening meals in the castle at an extra charge. Selmun Castle guest rooms nice and spacious but the decor does not suit the castle. A suggestion for CAR HIRE which is reccomened, Drifter are in the hotel lobby and will charge you about 47.00 lira for 2 days which is ok, however we found a company for 30.00 for 2 days all inclusive and with air con fantastic The company is called sunhire and is based in St Pauls Bay. All in all The hotel is not 4 star 3 at best. There are negative areas to all hotels, however the hotel does have a severe problem with the cats and also it is very isolated. The hotel is just a basic hotel, no frills ,no extras and no personal service.This is ideal if you are on a budget. We will not be revisiting

My wife and I stayed here after travelling with First Choice on an " accommodation on arrival " late booking which was very cheap. Firstly the bad bits- There were cats everywhere outside which was very annoying if you wanted to eat outside. It was very hot and there were a lot of flies. The hotel is a bit isolated which did not bother us but if you wanted to " go out on the town " you would need to get very expensive taxis so if you are that type of person then another hotel in St Julians would be better. The rooms were comfortable with air conditioning, the breakfasts were fine but the same each morning and the evening meals were good and different on each night of our week stay. The staff were very pleasant and accommodating. There is a nice pool, gym, bar, tennis courts, play area, etc. There is a free courtesy bus to and from mellieha at set times where we caught the local and frequent buses to wherever we wanted to go in Malta, a great trip well worth the LM0.50 if you like rollercoasters. The hotel is certainly not 4 star, more of a 3 ish. We enjoyed our stay here but if we had paid what some other guests had then I think we may have expected more. We went on many enjoyable excursions arranged through the travel company especially the sunset cruise but if you intend going your own way then maybe another hotel nearer to the action may be better. All that said we really did enjoy our holiday and the hotel.

After searching through Malta's many hotels we chose the Maritim as it was central and looked lovely - so the hoilday was not off to a good start when we arrived and were told Expedia had over-booked our rooms and we were re-located... ok we thought we'd stay calm and headed to the new hotel. The Selmun looks great but unfortunately it is 40mins walk from anything and quite steep walk! - and i mean anything shop / restaurant / bar etc... of course some people would love this - the hotel is popular with OAP's and walkers, however being 23 not quite my cup of tea! All the hotel staff except the reception staff were lovely and so friendly as is true of all the maltese people we spoke to - however Expedia had not forwarded any of our details to the hotel so the reception staff were so rude in resolving the problem and the problem went on throughout our stay - each day getting abuse of a different set of reception staff! We were threatened to pay again or be thrown out - just what you need on holiday! (needless to say I am currently battling with Expedia customer care!) The rooms were really nice and bathrooms clean and fresh, but the food was not up to much-best to venture out to Melleiha but if your staying at this hotel it is a bit of a venture and will cost you around £6 in a taxi for 5min ride.

The term "Palace ", the four stars rating along with a beautiful ancient castle guarding the hotel's entrance may legitimately lead you to expect a certain dosis of luxury and elegance. Don't. Rooms are tasteless and ordinary. Bathrooms outdated. Cleaning ladies yell from one end of the corridor to the other. Doors are slammed. Empty bottles of alcohol stood outside rooms for hours (despair?). Pool towels were so old and worned out I would not even use them to wash my car. Restaurant had nothing but a cantine ambiance to offer. How charming it is to pump your watery coffee out of a thermos every morning. The terrace was equipped with plastic chairs and tables. Beverages were served in Styrofoam cups around the pool. In summary this is an establishment that severely fails to provide any sort of standing or class. Be also aware of the fact that most of its hosts are groups (tourists and companies seminars) which generates a lot of coming and going. Only mildly positive comment I may have concerns the pool which was clean and filled with lightly salted water. Nice swimming experience as it spares you from the usual strong chlore inhalation. But this positive note is by far incapable of outweighing the rest. My friendly advice: don't go there.

Our expectations were quite high as a colleague of a similar age to us(mid 50's)had stayed twice at this hotel and had enjoyed it very much. It fulfilled all that had been promised with large comfortable rooms and newly refurbished bathrooms. The location was excellent with lovely views from the balcony and also away from the road traffic that seems inevitable in Malta's small and densely populated island. The view of the floodlit Chateau in the evening was particularly pleasant. A hire car is advised as there is a good distance to most other areas eg shops, beach etc. I believe that there is a hotel transit though to the beach in high season. The hotel was hardly occupied and it was difficult to know whether anyone else was actually staying there other than us apart from seeing a few at breakfast. We stayed on B&B basis,the breakfast was buffet style and the choice was good and the waiting staff were very friendly and helpful. My only criticism would be that a better variety of fresh fruit or fresh fruit salad would have been nice for breakfast. We made use of the 2 tennis courts every day and the small indoor pool (to work off the breakfast)as there was never anyone else there. One problem was that the sauna and whirlpool didn't seem to work. Overall though a very pleasant hotel and I would recommend it certainly to anyone who wants a peaceful relaxing holiday in the sun.

We stayed in a Junior Suite (!) in November 2005. While the site is very good, perfect sea view and very calm outside the agglomeration, The hotel itself is far from 4 stars in any country. Not able to get you a TV picture and poorly furnished. The worse however was the food. Buffet all the time and a selection of unappetizing looking dishes, tasteless as well. The cheapest paper napkins I have ever seen. Would not recommend it.

This is definitely no four star-hotel. It is run-down and could do with quite an amount of sprucing up. Staff are very friendly but not properly trained. Food is excellent. Cleanliness leaves a lot to be desired on some points.

Because I am a receptionist in a hotel in Belgium of the same chain (accor), I had the oppurtunity to stay in this hotel for a very interesting price. On my request and for a small extra, the reception in the selmun palace let me and my friend stay in the old part of the hotel, the castle, which is really incredible. On top of a hill, overviewing a big part of the island, we really felt like kings, all the rooms in this castle are little suits, with a seperate bedroom. For breakfast ze had to go to the new part of the hotel though, maybe this is not the case in summertime, we were there in march this year. Th e new wing of the hotel is nice, but here and there a little bit neglected. Not so very clean, but the staff is very friendly. The inside swimming-pool and sauna and jacuzzi were in a lousy state, but the outside swimming-pool was great. This hotel is real recommender, but if you decide to stay here, you should ask for a castle-suite, it will cost you a little extra, but is makes your holiday very special and romantic. kind regards rob jurriens

This hotel should not be put in a four-star category. Although the staff are very friendly and helpful, during our stay the hot water was turned off for most of the day, there was sound but no picture on the TV in our room, the sauna heated up to about 40 degrees if you were lucky and was so antiquated that it represents a real hazard, the indoor swimming pool looked so murky I didn't dare venture in, the heating didn't work (we were there in January), no butter was ever provided at meals, only an inedible sort of margarine, there was hardly any local produce available and the waiters were often enough not trained sufficiently - ours frequently had problems just opening a bottle of wine. The rooms were made up regularly, however, and our room was always clean. The staff are doing a good job but there is no excuse for such very bad management. Certainly a hotel I'd never want to visit again.