# Jerma Palace Hotel, Marsaskala, Malta, December 2016



## HughieD (Dec 23, 2016)

*The History:*
The Jerma Palace Hotel is a former four-star hotel in Marsaskala, Malta. It opened in 1982, it was managed by Corinthia Hotels International and was the largest hotel in southern Malta until it closed down in 2007. It was then abandoned and fell into a state of disrepair. Built on a headland called il-Hamriga, close to the 17th-century Saint Thomas Tower, the land originally belonged to Franciscan Conventuals and Ivan Burridge. They sold it to San Tumas Holdings and in turn they sold it in 1976 to the Libyan Foreign Investment Company. They subsequently built the Jerma Palace Hotel which opened in 1982. Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi had a presidential suite in the hotel. The opening of the hotel played a significant part in transforming Marsaskala from a traditional fishing village to a small resort.

The hotel closed down in March 2007 and in July 2008 it was sold to the contractors Jeffrey and Peter Montebello for €18.6 million. The Montebello brothers planned to transform the former hotel into apartments, a 5-star hotel and a yacht marina but none of this transpired. Instead it was effectively abandoned and its interior stripped of everything of value including carpets, marble floors, doors and tiles. Now in a derelict state, parts of it having collapsed, the walls are covered in graffiti and the building has been occupied by squatters and drug addicts. A number of fires have also broken out in the former hotel.

In August 2016 the Planning Authority ordered the hotel's owners to demolish the building. Ironically on that same day the building caught fire. In October 2016 Porto Notos Ltd (acting on behalf of the owners) submitted plans for two residential towers, one of 44 and another of 32 storeys, together with a 22 storey hotel.

Here’s what it used to look like in its heyday:


Jerma1 by HughieDW, on Flickr


jerma2 by HughieDW, on Flickr


jerma3 by HughieDW, on Flickr

*The Visit:*
Had heard about this place prior to my brief pre-Xmas break to Malta. To my surprise and excitement we ended up staying just up the road from the hotel. Hence on the first morning there I was up early and walked over to the former hotel. Impossible to miss, it was an easy access place. Three things strike you about this place: (1) its location (2) its sheer size and (3) the relatively short period this place has declined from being a plush hotel to a complete wreck. It may now be a wreck and stripped of anything and everything of value, but it now does have some very, very fine graff.

*The Pictures:*

Now that is a location:


img9567 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9279 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The first of many pieces of graff:


img9282 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And some more:


img9284 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Lots of broken marble:


img9285 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And even more graff:


img9287 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9288 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9290 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Inside its slim pickings:


img9297 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And the outside is pretty bleak too:


img9300 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The outdoor pool has seen better days:


img9301 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9355 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The indoor pool hasn’t fared much better:


img9351 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9352 by HughieDW, on Flickr

A trashed marble chess board:


img9347 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The place has suffered from a number of fires:


img9315 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9317 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The former reception/entrance:


img9319 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9322 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9332 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9343 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Now the only residences are these cats:


img9330 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9331 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And yet more pieces of graff:


img9324 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9357 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9363 by HughieDW, on Flickr

A slight hint at its former glory:


img9360 by HughieDW, on Flickr

But only very slight:


img9361 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Other than that, the place is a wreck:


img9353 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9354 by HughieDW, on Flickr


img9362 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Thanks for looking!


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## Gromr (Dec 23, 2016)

Those cats are adorable! Nice report, impressive history too! Looks well stripped out.


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## smiler (Dec 24, 2016)

Lovely report and pics, some good urban art plus cats, I enjoyed it, Thanks


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## flyboys90 (Dec 24, 2016)

Your right the graffiti is very good.Thanks for sharing.


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## HughieD (Dec 24, 2016)

smiler said:


> Lovely report and pics, some good urban art plus cats, I enjoyed it, Thanks



Cheers mate. Dereliction, graff and cats. You just can't go wrong.


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## Sam Haltin (Dec 26, 2016)

A nice report. A shame that its gone this way, it looks like a plush hotel at one time but looking at it now. The only nice things about this hotel are the resident cats and the graffiti.


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## J_a_t_33 (Dec 28, 2016)

Nice pics man, well captured. Interesting story. 
Some awesome artwork too!


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## B7TMW (Dec 28, 2016)

One of the best reports I've seen in a long time. Amazing that it's like that after such a small amount of time.


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## HughieD (Dec 28, 2016)

B7TMW said:


> One of the best reports I've seen in a long time. Amazing that it's like that after such a small amount of time.



Cheers man...and ain't it just. Those former publicity pics really bring it home.


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