QAWRA Palace Resort & SPA — Hotel in Saint Paul's Bay

Nowhere near a 4* hotel I went to this hotel based on reviews and some good word at mouth, however, this hotel ruined my holiday. From start to finish it was just a disaster. Firstly, we arrive and were told to put our bags in a luggage room which had over 40+ suitcases and bags in, with hardly anywhere to leave anything. We then finally got our room at 3.30pm where we were given a room with “sea view”. The view of the sea was purely a reflection on the windows from the other hotel opposite. If you wanted a “side sea view” we had to bend over the balcony to view this which also had a huge building in the way. The balcony had two chairs and a small table stacked up, when putting the chairs and table out to sit on - there is no room for two of you to sit out there! The bathroom, had mould stains across the shower floor, with two showers (one above head) and one to the side, the above head shower did not work, so you had to hold the shower head to have a shower. The toilet did not flush properly and also had a rancid smell which lingered in the rooms. Towels and bed sheets were dirty. When housekeeping comes, they just remake your bed with the same sheets, and fold up the dirty towels like they are new. Upon complaining about our room, we were greeted with rude staff, who went in the back room and laughed about what we were complaining about. We then got greeted by the “supervisor” who was also stuck up and rude, and laughs as we had to re-explain all of our complaints again.

We were then given another room on the 8th floor, which reception told us to go and view the room, and let them know if we want to move. We called reception from the room (within 5 minutes) to say we will have the room (despite the rancid smell still lingering in all rooms!!). The receptionist said ok, move your things in there. By the time we got back to the reception to exchange key cards after moving our things, another set of girls were given the new room, and we had the embarrassment of going to remove our things from the room infront of the other girls. Wendy then moved into another room, which was better than the first, but again had mould stains, poorly cleaned room, and a broken phone and no tv working. At this point it is 7pm and we just wanted to start our holiday - so we grinned and beared it!

We were also told we would have a mini bar in the room, where we were then told you have to pay extra for beverages and the mini bar is the “refrigerator”.

“All inclusive” but lots of extra charges apply. You can eat in ONE restaurant (which, ok the food was not bad) and the others you have to book, and pay. Inside the restaurant all of the women are rude and look you up and down if you even query anything. The hotel is like a maze and you cannot find anything - the lifts do not go to every floor and you have to find which lift takes you where.

The entertainment is boring, and the drinks are completely watered down. If you want water for your room - you are given a “vase” which you have to go to a water fountain located on the ground floor.

The pool is extremely cold - there is cocktail nights located in restaurants in the hotel advertised with DJ’s but yet you also have to pay 9-10 euros per cocktail. The stay at this hotel was awful and I would really recommend against it. There are other hotels near which are visibly more appealing - just pay the extra it would be worth it! Qawra hotel, thanks to you, we will not be returning to Malta again. Please sort your customer service out. They also add to their replies “your situation was an exception as you can see from other reviews” maybe you should reflect on your own practice and your customer service - because in the last 3 months you have had some pretty bad reviews. edit* Lidia you have already “investigated” our concerns through our complaint on site and through our booking agent and basically told us you dealt with everything on site and we have lied about a few things which is a lie on your behalf. You have my email and contact number should you want to get...

We booked a week-long holiday here, and I can safely say there was much left to be desired about this location.

Upon arrival for check-in, we were told by a staff member that our room wasn’t ready yet, which wasn’t an issue since we arrived early. They suggested we grab lunch from the buffet downstairs and return afterward, which we did. However, when we returned, the receptionist handed us our room key without any explanation, just an envelope, and sent us off to the room. The receptionist seemed completely uninterested and was unfriendly, making the entire experience unwelcoming.

Upon arriving at the room (after figuring out where to go), we were greeted by a disgusting, overpowering smell of sewage. There were also hairs all over the bathroom and the bedding, and the room felt outdated, clearly in need of some care and attention. After a hassle to sort things out, we were moved to a new room. Thankfully, this one didn’t have the sewage smell, seemed to have been recently renovated, and was in much better condition.

Rooms: The rooms are basic. The first one was outdated, had a foul odor, and was clearly in need of some maintenance. The second room we were given was in better shape and more modern, equipped with a working safe and fridge. Overall, nothing too special—just standard rooms.

Nearby Activities: There’s an aquarium nearby that’s worth visiting, especially the behind-the-scenes tour. Though we didn’t visit the water park, we heard good things about it. There are also plenty of local shops and other water-related activities to enjoy.

Walkability: Though the area is hilly, it’s still easy to get around. Everything is close by, and the public transport, including buses and taxis, is very convenient.

Food and Drinks: As we stayed all-inclusive, we were expecting to make use of the buffet for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Unfortunately, the food options were disappointing. The selection was limited, the dishes were bland, and even though we tried different things each night, we found the overall quality lacking. While some staff members in the restaurant were pleasant, others didn’t seem interested in providing good service. On our first day, when we asked one staff member where everything was, the response wasn’t warm or welcoming. However, snack options like burgers, hotdogs, and Mexican food were decent if you skipped lunch. The on-site restaurants were a nice change and offered better food than the buffet.

Pools: There are three pools at the hotel: one on the ground floor, one on the rooftop, and one indoors. The ground-floor and indoor pools are for all ages, while the rooftop pool is adults-only. All three pools were well-maintained, and the rooftop and ground-floor pools have bars nearby. However, navigating to the indoor pool can be a bit tricky because not all lifts serve every floor. You might need to use two lifts to reach certain areas, which was frustrating.

One major issue was the rooftop bar closing earlier than advertised. In the leaflet we were given, it said the rooftop bar closed at 11 p.m., but during our stay, it shut down at 9 p.m. due to "winter opening hours." We raised this with our holiday reps, who mentioned several others had complained as well. We later learned it was due to a strange ticketing system they use to track drink usage, which wasn’t followed properly, resulting in the appearance that the bar wasn’t being used. This led them to close it early—a bizarre and pointless practice, in my opinion.

Noteworthy Details: Housekeeping at this hotel was excellent. The staff were very friendly, always said hello, and were eager to help with any issues. Unfortunately, the front desk staff weren’t as pleasant, and our check-out experience mirrored check-in: unfriendly, with just the bare minimum of service provided.

Overall Impressions: In summary, this hotel was a mixed bag. While the location is ideal, the service was poor, and the condition of the rooms could be much better. Due to these issues, I wouldn’t return here, nor would I recommend this...

It’s like a cattle market in the dining hall… and it is a proper dining hall… like you are back in school! It smells and it is overcrowded. The food is utter rubbish! The chef should be sacked. Repeated and lacklustre menu - we didn’t even bother with breakfast on the 4 out of 7 mornings we were there. We caught the bus, just outside the hotel (1 min walk) and went to St Julian’s for food and a decent coffee. (I recommend a place called ‘Lot61’ for the best coffee around - really good!) The drinks in the dining hall were all mixed with water - I reckon this is a cost cutting measure which was so annoying when you have paid good money for just some common decency! Every juice is watered down… and for fizzy it’s coke, Fanta or sprite or fizzy water… pathetic! The coffee, hot chocolate etc is all watered down massively…. Put it in a clear glass and you will see it’s just water with a speck of whatever the drink was meant to be… sickening! The bookable restaurants are a load of pointless fuss especially when you are told you can’t book to dine more than once on your stay… if they were good then you’d probably excuse that, but they are horrible! They all purport to be something they are not… South American restaurant was far from that… only South American bit in there was the fried burritos…. Those were ok. Everything else was everything you get in the main dining hall anyway! The south Asian restaurant was rubbish - can’t even say more than that. And the worst of all was the Caribbean restaurant, now, as someone who has actually been to the Caribbean and know lots of Caribbean people and know the cuisine very well… it was an absolutely dreadful dreadful representation of carribean food. Nothing at all resembled Caribbean. The strips of sautéed chicken they brought had pesto on it (Mediterranean)… no hint of jerk in there whatsoever! And who serves tortillas as a ‘carribean’ starter!?!? Shocking. We walked out - left the horrid stuff. Couldn’t finish it. It tasted horrible. I suggest they shut down this concept or hire a chef who knows what they are doing. This chef is incompetent and I’m not surprised because none of the staff here are receiving proper training! Well apart from the reception staff who are probably trained by other competent hotels and qawra management reap the benefit.

Staff generally are very poorly trained and generally unpleasant (apart from reception - see my comment above). There is no customer service. It’s like they are doing you a favour - a paying customer! I paid too much for this rubbish hotel.

The gym boys are so rude! Extremely rude! They should be sacked. They don’t want the job and look and act like they can’t be bothered with the job. They are inept.

Access to the sea is not clearly signposted. The sea itself is what’s going for this hotel - and every other hotel in Malta. It’s a beautiful place Malta, but just not this awful hotel.

No drinks in your room as is standard with most AIs. No lotion or handcream. Just shower gel - which I had to ask they refill twice. No bathrobes or slippers. And getting beach towels is a process!! You have to leave a 10euro deposit per person and it is returned in cash - not how you paid! Obviously they are trying cut the costs of card transaction… or whatever else they are trying to do… who knows, but you get cash back!

The corridors are a maze, finding a lift that goes where you want to go is not easy… but they have signage which does help…. Although it takes some getting used to the different lifts….

The chairs in the reception area are fake leather which sticks to your skin… horrible stuff. Obviously they skimped on that too.

I doubt the management and owners of this hotel care very much about these reviews… but hopefully travellers can be warned and be wise….

Suffice to say we won’t be returning to this hotel ever again! I will be advising anybody not to bother unless ofcourse you are looking for a 3 star experience on a 4 star badge. Horrible place. I...