This was a last minute job so we didn't have time to check up on the reports previously published here, but unlike most reviews here, I found this hotel to be lucky to get three stars (as your discription gives it.) But to have booked on the basis of four stars, and to be placed in a room on the top floor overlooking a waste area with a twin bed, one with a spring sticking out of it was unaceptable.

Good enough on speaking to "joseph" the holiday rep another room was found even though we wre told none would be available till monday (arrived sat)so on inspecting this room we still only had 3 small draws and one wardrobe for our gear and no kettle,it must be a british thing but even b+b in this country gets a kettle.
Had to pay to get a remote control so we could work the tv.

The food was bland and the entertainment was not for us we went out every night and just used the hotel to sleep in.

The staff were faultless, it's just that it's a tired hotel that needs a face lift and shouldn't be sold as a four star.

The staff were excellent. The hotel fine with a good location.

The food was basic and repetitive.

Will visit again.

The hotel was very nice but basic. The rooms cleaned and towels changed everyday, sheets changed every 3 days.

The food was good and quite varied (different carvery 3 times a week and menu rotated every 2 weeks. Only 3 complaints , the chefs serve the main hot meal and are sometimes rather mean with the portions, you can asked for more, but you feel like Oliver Twist, and the chefs look at you as if you are greedy.

Bacon is only served twice a week at breakfast Tuesdays & Fridays and worst of all they have waiters serve the tea and coffee at breakfast and you can wait as long as 20 mins before they come to you.

The bright spot in the dining room is Oliver, he is always happy, pleasant and had a smile on his face a real pleasure to see first thing in the morning or in the evening.

The hotel is situated about 400 yards from the bus terminal and main shopping area, plenty of bars aroundespecially Simon's bar (he is a great Elvis fan) entertainment every night which are really good especially The Followers and cheap prices.

The staff were all very pleasant byt a special word about BIG CHRIS and night reception, he is a joy, always there to help, nothing is to much troublefor him and all done with a great big smile on his face, he gave up smoking when we were there I hope he is still off them, if you decide to go please tell him Derek & Eileen say hello.

We were there for 7 weeks and were really well looked after and would recommend the hotel but not if you have children, nothing for them to do here.

Entertainment was good but better at Simon's and the beer is twice the price in the hotel. One last warning if you do not have children do not go to Popeye Villge it is a waste of money.

Hi All,

Just returned from a week at the Canifor Hotel in Qawra. The Hotel was clean and staff were friendly and helpful. The Receptionists put themselves out to help us as did the restaurant staff and the maids.

Our room was on the fourth floor overlooking St Paul's island and St Pauls Bay. The maids visited everyday and at a time when we were out of the room. On the day of our departure the maid asked us what time we were leaving, we said 11:00, she didn't come back until then.

The food was okay, breakfast can be a bit of a scrum, but this is an observation. A pleasant selection is available from cooked platter, usually sausages or bacon, tomatoes with fried or poached eggs. A cold platter is also provided as are toast, cereals and tea and coffee. A small variety of cakes are also made available (the chocolate is very nice). It appears there are no restrictions to how much one can consume :o)

The evening meals were okay too, like the breakfast it is laid out as a part self service buffet. The quality was good and you could ask for more if you wanted it. To compliment the starters and main dishes, a cold platter is also provided. We only ate for four nights in the restaurant as I know some superb restaurants in the Qawra, Bugibba area. Again, like breakfast, there didn't appear to be any restriction on the amount you could consume.

Drink prices aren't to bad as hotels go, though they don't tend to stock local Maltese Beer only Red Lion, which I found quite palatable. Tea and Coffee at the bar was 40c and half of beer was 60c.

The biggest problem, I would say affecting most guests are the lifts, which are prone to 'sticking'. Some people we met got stuck one morning and were out within 20 minutes, considering an engineer had to travel into Qawra, this wasn't too bad. We kept fit and used the stairs, many guests did this too.

All of the fire escapes are clearly marked with new glow in the dark signs and the fire extinguishers I looked at had been serviced. Automatic fire doors are on all corridors too.

The evening entertainment was mixed, depending upon who was on. There are three resident groups, who seem play the Qawra hotel circuit, ranging from a guy singing plus Karaoke, to a couple; a woman on the keyboard and a bloke singing who were good. Other nights the bar staff played a selection of music, mainly 70's and 80's and romantic songs. There are plenty of places to go out at night, or just stroll along the prom.

Building works are in close proximity to the Hotel and our room overlooked part of the site. Noise wasn't a problem as they are in the early stages of building an appartment block and two tower cranes are laying foundations. This didn't distract us. I've had experiences of demoltion works in past holidays, so you have nothing to worry here at the moment.

The Hotel is located a couple of minutes walk from the Qawra / Bugibba bus station. Here you can catch buses to practically anywhere on the island, in the Winter though you would have to go via Valletta. Also nearby the hotel are plenty of good bars and restaurants and the sea front is only a few minutes walk.

The Hotel seems to have a resident dog and there are four cats which sit outside the front of the hotel, from the neighbouring bar, but these are harmless enough as all they do is sleep.

This was our first visit to Malta and we were very satisfied with our choice of hotel although we were glad we didn't book all inclusive as there didn't seem to be much in the way of snacks throughout the day.

The food for half board was very good and we had no complaints and the dining room in general was very well run. The staff were very friendly and helpful.

The location was also very good as it was close to the bus station where you could get a bus anywhere on the island for very little money. We were going to hire a car but decided against it because of the convenience of the buses.

We can't comment on the entertainment as we didn't stay in the hotel in the evenings.

If we go to Malta again we would stay here again.

14 day holiday. Room was cleaned every day, fresh towels daily and clean sheets every three days. Both a ceiling fan and air conditioning in room that worked well.
The dinner menu had a good variety to suit all tastes although the veg offered was overcooked. We have been on H/B holidays before and ate out every night but we had the majority of our meals in the hotel. Breakfast could have been more varied but was fine.
The staff were helpful and friendly.
We did not stay in for the provided entertainment.
We have been to Malta on a number of occasions so know it well. If you are brave enough to go up against the local drivers you should hire a car to get about and see the sights.
We would stay at the Canifor again.

REMEMBER.YOUR HOLIDAY IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT.
I have just returned after 2 weeks at the Canifor with my family and have very few complaints.
The food was perfectly acceptable and the sweets especially were fantastic. Our only gripe is that breakfast was poor and should have offered more variety.(I will contact the hotel direct regarding this with a few suggestions). If you booked All Inclusive and stayed in the hotel you have no cause for complaint. Walk,catch a bus or hire a car and see the island.It's breathtaking.
The staff were very friendly from bottom to top,especially Big Chris at reception who was extremely helpful(except for his dubious mode of transport).We will certaionly book this hotel again.

The Canifor Hotel is by no means a four star hotel as advertised. We stayed on an all inclusive basis. Upon arrival to the hotel we found the room was very dissapointing. The room was shabby and the net curtains certainly had not had a wash in years! Mold was along the hems of the curtains, we think it was mold!!
The bathroom smelt like a public toilet and the view from the balcony was overlooking building works over the road.

The sound of concrete being smashed and drilled is not what you wish to hear whilst on holiday. The maid visited the room every day to clean it, with what we are still uncertain.

We had to report cockroaches in the room, and the room was 'sprayed'!!! Items belonging to ourselves were taken from our room and upon reporting this on the second day to reception, nothing was ever done about it and no apology given.

The hotel food was bland and tasteless and the selection was very poor. Although on an all inclusive we ate ONCE in the hotel and decided that in order not to be even more dissapointed than we already were we would eat out. The lifts in the hotel appear unsafe and proceeded to 'jerk' at every floor! We took the stairs!

The hotel entertainment was 'naff' and repetative. The all inclusive drinks were local brands only which was not a problem but as regards taste then needless to say we drank in another better quality hotel.

The reception staff were unhelpful and appeared annoyed at requests. If you are not up and out of your room early then the maid lets herself in! We had to politely ask her to leave as we were by no means ready to leave our room!!!!!

We also returned from a 2 week stay Aug 02.

The hotel is very basic but clean. The food is very limited and after 2 weeks we were very fed up I would not suggest an ai here as guests were moaning.

Our bed covers were dirty and smelly and it took me days to get the maid to take them away let alone let me have new ones.

The staff were friendly and the positioning is not too bad, the pool area was grim and we would not have sat out.

We thought the value for money was not bad, apart from the bed covers been soiled (sheets were fine!) we had no complaints. I was taken ill in the night and the hotel staff called for a doctor and were very helpful. Every evening a free movie is shown at 9pm which was great for my husband as I was ill and our little boy of 4 yrs went to bed.

We stayed at the Canifor for 1 week in September 2002. When we arrived we found that there had been admin mistake. We had booked an all inclusive holiday but they had our party down as half board. This was actually a blessing in disguise as the food was awful. We ate a lot bread to fill up.

The hotel was clean and the hotel staff were friendly. The entertainment, well there is not much to say as it was almost non-existant and what there was, was terrible.

We definitely will not visit this hotel again.