OK For those of you that are worrying after reading some of the negative comments on this site about the Palm Court Hotel, don't panic. I have just stayed there for a week and can confirm that it is perfectly acceptable as a budget hotel.

Firstly, the descriptions given by Chris & Zena Butler, terri Mercer and "frog" a few months ago are entirely accurate.
The hotel was clean, the rooms were comfortable (if a little basic) and there was plenty of choice of food (you could have a 5 course evening meal if you wanted!). However, you need to bear in mind that it was built to Maltese standards of 30 years ago, not those of Western Europe, and unfortunately their standards of workmanship were not quite as high as ours (just take a walk round the rest of Malta!).

However, this hotel will certainly not suit everyone. It is a very large hotel and the majority of the clientel are elderly (most of whom appeared enjoying their stay) or people who I suspect would not have been able to afford a foreign holdiday had it not been for Malta Bargains! It also needs a good repaint and I would certainly not recommend it for those who want to spend the entire holiday in a hotel - it would be too depressing. The restaurant is more akin to a large factory canteen and I would imagine that when the hotel is full, it might be difficult to find a seat at busy times.

My advice would be that if you are hoping to find a quality hotel at a discount, this is not the hotel for you. However, if you are looking for a good value base for touring Malta and are not requiring luxury accomodation, then the Palm Court should be acceptable. As previous reports have suggested, it is a good example of the phrase "you get what you pay for".

This hotel is the worst we have ever been to. We have travelled all over the world and slept in youth hostels etc but this is the pits.

Please do not book a holiday at Palm Court- you will regret it later.

The rooms were filthy, hotel very shabby and staff very rude. We had to upgrade as it was so disgusting and had to pay for upgrading to another hotel but was not refunded by Malta Bargains, even after telephone calls to the manager and writing about how awful it was. The staff are not interested at all.

Please save your money and go somewhere decent.

We saw the advert "MALTA

Excellent value. The food was good, and being buffet service I could eat the foods I preferred and lots of them.

It's 5 mins from the bus station.

The staff were pleasant and friendly. Including the chefs who I got to know well!!

Entertainment - I didn't go to any, so I can't comment.

It's clean, and the towels and bedding are clean. Rooms are fine, I use it as a base as I go to Malta to dive.

Pleasantly surprised on arrival - opened the hotel door to find a clean and pleasant bedroom with ensuite shower room. The shower had a new curtain and bath mat it was spotless. The towels were changed every day and the rooms were tidied, also had the linen changed even though only staying for a week.

The corridors were a bit dark and dismal but painting was being done during the day to help this and the corridors were hoovered every day.

The food was really good it catered for every taste with a choice of 5 different menus on an evening as well as a vegetarian.

The location could not have been better turn the corner and we were at the sea front. The bus terminus was 5 minutes walk and from here we could reach every part of the island.

The entertainment did not really bother us as we went out every night to the many local bars in the area each of which offered different venues from country and western, Irish music, comedians and discos to say the least.

The staff were courteous.

Absolutely awful, do not book this hotel, wires hanging from the walls, beds were hard and damp, rooms smelly and musty.

We arrived at 4am and were leaving by 12, apparently the Palm court featured on ITV's Holidays from Hell and you'd think they would have got their act together? Well no they haven

If you read the rest of the reports on this hotel "cheap" is a word you will see time and again. Our holiday was inexpensive so we weren't expecting the Ritz and weren't too surprised when cheap is what we got.

The first room we were given smelled badly of cigarettes (as did the bed sheets and towels) and the door wouldn't close, so there was no security for anything that was left in the room. We complained (what everyone does, I was told by one woman who goes back every year!) and were moved the following morning to a room with no bad smell, clean sheets and a lockable door.

Whatever you think of the Palm Court Hotel, love it or loathe it, you have to admit there are no frills here. It's a bit like staying in a youth hostel except that instead of being surrounded by hundreds of teenagers there are hundreds of senior citizens.

The beds in both the rooms we tried were uncomfortable, the room decor was institutional and probably dates back to 1979, the towels were so thin, frayed and grey it's amazing they still carry on using them but the shower was hot, we did have a TV and were one of the 10% of guests whose TV did actually work!

The staff, I have to say, were fine but as you approached the reception desk, you could see their faces stiffen as they tried to decide whether you were going to complain or merely ask for the key to your room. I think the staff have learned to grow a thick skin and I wouldn't have had their job for all the nougat in Malta!

We were on a half board basis and the food, although uninspiring, was plentiful. If you like meat, potatoes, cabbage followed by ice cream each evening and bacon, eggs and toast each morning you'll be fine. The bread was lovely but avoid the cornflakes...I think they are actually cardboard chips in disguise. The dining room, however, was the worst part of the meal package. The lighting is a horrible fluorescent yellow which makes everything look grim, the room is always crowded and you have to hunt for a table and hope at breakfast that you'll get one that does have a jug of milk on it. If you like a relaxing dining experience, this isn't for you. Think works canteen at lunchtime with only fifteen minutes till clocking on time and you'll get the idea. The whole environment takes the edge off your appetite and when, on our second morning, I was stuck in a queue with two pensioners practically in a punch up over a piece of toast, I decided that we would forget all about our paid-for half board package and eat elsewhere!

There really isn't anywhere you'd want to relax in either, as the lounge area beside the reception is, again, horribly lit and there's an all-pervading smell of cheap washing powder which you get every time someone opens the front door.

We found a lovely hotel nearby, The Mercure, which had a good cafe and a relaxing lounge area and we spent all our leisure time there!

I would never stay at this hotel again and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you are young, not looking for a restful holiday, don't much care what you eat, what you sleep on and don't have enough money for anything better.

If you're 18 it's probably a step up from a youth hostel, if you're considerably older than 18 it's a bit like doing time and you're counting the days till you can go home and have a proper cup of tea in peace.

Qwara isn't up to much either. If you really want to go to Malta (and I would go back to the island again) stay in Sliema or anywhere along St Julians so that you can get into Valetta, which is beautiful and have a bit of St Julian's nightlife on your doorstep. Qwara was lots of bingo halls, Born Again revivalist meetings, female impersonator shows and timeshare sharks on every corner.

If anyone asks you to check out the facilities in their hotel and you are so fed up with the Palm Court Hotel (or Palm Court Khazie as we affectionately renamed it) that you consider going along, don't! As soon as you are in there they'll be asking you to sign on the dotted line, committing yourself to two weeks in Qwara for the rest of your natural life!

The one thing I will say about the Palm Court Hotel is that we found it so awful and so impossible to relax in that we took off every day and escaped by bus so saw much more of the island than we would have if we'd been staying somewhere better. We even made it as far as a day trip to Sicily! Every cloud eh?

Me and my partner have been visiting malta for the past 4 years, and each year we have stayed in the palm court hotel.

The palm court isnt a 5star luxuary hotel but its good enough! Its very cheap and you get what you pay for.

The food and clenliness arnt wonderful but there satasfactory.

But.... the location and staff make up for this.

It is excellent value for money!!!! I would advise anyone to go there. Ignore negative reviews

We enjoyed our holiday at the Palm Court.

The room was cleaned every day. We got clean towels every day. The food was good. The staff work hard to cover the short falls. Jayne enjoyed the karioke. I enjoyed the drinks.

This was our fourth holiday this year not bad value for money.

Absolutely Disgusting! Please do not listen to the reports on this site that are positive for this hotel - you mustn't stay at Palm Court! My mum & I have just returned from what was supposed to be a weeks break - we returned after 2 days (paying