Palm Court Hotel, Qawra > Reviews (5)

Maltaoverview.
Malta is a very beautiful island which is steeped in history, and boasts fascinating places of interest. The coastline is mainly rocky apart from a couple of sandy beaches in the north of the island. The island is only 17 miles long so it is possible to explore all corners. The people of Malta are extreamly friendly, and love children. English and Maltese is spoken across the island which makes communication easy. Lovely warm climate most of the year.
We have visted Malta many times and have found that the maltese live a very sedate lifestyle, and that standards generally around the island don't match british standards, generally if your staying at a 3 star hotel expect it to be more like a 2 star.

The Location.
The Palm Court hotel is in the resort of Qawra on the mediteranian island of Malta. The hotel is just a few minutes walk from the sea front and a variety of bars, restuarants and shops along the Qawra sea front. A couple of minutes in the other direction is the resort of bugibba' sea front with many more shops bars, restaurants and the bus station, from where a fantastic bus service runs to the whole of the island.
The hotel its self is situated down a quiet back street.

Our stay at the hotel.
We booked this cheap holiday through maltabargains.com we booked at the 3 star Palm court hotel for a week all inclusive in April 2005. We paid a wonderful price of less than £300 each.
Once the plane had landed in Malta we were directed to some air conditioned coaches, at that point it became clear that the whole plane was going to the same hotel. The transfere to the hotel was fine and luckily our coach was the first to arrive. During the transfere we had made our plan that I would jump off and check in whilst my husband, mum and kids gathered the luggage. This was ideal as we beat the que to check in. We had 2 rooms on the ground floor with balconies and ensuite shower rooms. They were both very spacious, clean, tidy and functionable. The air conditioning in our rooms didn't work but it wasn't necessary the week we went.
The maid came in daily and thoroughly cleaned our rooms leaving clean towels. The rest of the hotel appeared very clean too. We used the outdoor pool just once, but with no problems it was clean and more spacious than many pools. There was also an indoor pool and a roof top pool which we didn't use due to being out and about everyday.
The food was fine, maybe very basic but we all found something that we liked everyday. Breakfast was a cooked breakfast, but not quite to english standards, the bacon is very fatty and salty, which we've found to be the case all over Malta, not just at this hotel, there was sausage, and fried, poached and scrambled eggs. bread and toast was on offer, as was some cardboard like cereals.(again typical maltese).
We didn't eat many lunches due to being out and about but the evening meals were great for choice, there were 5 different choices including a fish dish and a carvery of 2 meats. The food wasn't exotic or anything special, just basic edible dishes.

The reasaurant staff seemed quite miserable, but did work hard and long hours keeping everything nice and clean. The staff elsewhere in the hotel were friendly and helpful. We didn't use the evening entertainment. The bar area was quite small and cramped but the beer was good.

Overall opinion.
The facilities and the food at this hotel are basic, but then so is the price. Previously we have been to more expensive/higher ranked hotels on malta and recieved the same standards. The fact is that Malta is quite a basic place, and to be honest its like going back 40 years, this is just something you have to accept and probably the reason why we keep going back, to escape the rush, hussle and bustle of everyday life.
This hotel is in a good location for exploring malta, if you like to get out and about and make the most of your holiday. If you like to stay in the hotel sat around the pool for the duration of your holiday then I don't think this is the hotel for you.
I would recommend this hotel to anyone holidaying on a budget, bearing in mind the price of the holiday.