Jerma Palace Hotel, Marsaskala, Malta, December 2016

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HughieD

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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:

31683728602_66accd7de0_z.jpgJerma1 by HughieDW, on Flickr

31830771975_b3f2647cf8.jpgjerma2 by HughieDW, on Flickr

31830772155_f0414815fa.jpgjerma3 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:

31456866760_ab3b96db28_b.jpgimg9567 by HughieDW, on Flickr

31713299431_00fedc29de_b.jpgimg9279 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The first of many pieces of graff:

31019761293_e92a8dc137_b.jpgimg9282 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And some more:

31019721323_3e0acf029f_b.jpgimg9284 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Lots of broken marble:

30988799874_e5fb409b17_b.jpgimg9285 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And even more graff:

31682177152_4b904b682a_b.jpgimg9287 by HughieDW, on Flickr

30988722154_4d5f64729c_b.jpgimg9288 by HughieDW, on Flickr

31019462603_41c7daffc4_b.jpgimg9290 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Inside its slim pickings:

31791630776_a7d9cd9dde_b.jpgimg9297 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And the outside is pretty bleak too:

31456461140_563d1822ac_b.jpgimg9300 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The outdoor pool has seen better days:

31792594136_f44147a1ff_b.jpgimg9301 by HughieDW, on Flickr

31829645385_6af2e52dfe_b.jpgimg9355 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The indoor pool hasn’t fared much better:

31457177070_a77747d74c_b.jpgimg9351 by HughieDW, on Flickr

31792213726_6ac82c4715_b.jpgimg9352 by HughieDW, on Flickr

A trashed marble chess board:

31792291496_3e38d8e96b_b.jpgimg9347 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The place has suffered from a number of fires:

31682942642_917d96d18a_b.jpgimg9315 by HughieDW, on Flickr

31713856041_6a377477e9_b.jpgimg9317 by HughieDW, on Flickr

The former reception/entrance:

31713831141_d44881fab5_b.jpgimg9319 by HughieDW, on Flickr

30989552914_5099e709bb_b.jpgimg9322 by HughieDW, on Flickr

31792375056_7af12ec157_b.jpgimg9332 by HughieDW, on Flickr

31792350196_7a5e562456_b.jpgimg9343 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Now the only residences are these cats:

31713766071_3f49e6f01b_b.jpgimg9330 by HughieDW, on Flickr

30989484034_8d5031380d_b.jpgimg9331 by HughieDW, on Flickr

And yet more pieces of graff:

31713785191_aa2ec0591b_b.jpgimg9324 by HughieDW, on Flickr

31792114576_54767cc1b7_b.jpgimg9357 by HughieDW, on Flickr

31019876613_56b44fcfe2_b.jpgimg9363 by HughieDW, on Flickr

A slight hint at its former glory:

31457004900_65a1f55847_b.jpgimg9360 by HughieDW, on Flickr

But only very slight:

30989141874_7e0a9d422f_b.jpgimg9361 by HughieDW, on Flickr

Other than that, the place is a wreck:

31792184876_cb3a1e003a_b.jpgimg9353 by HughieDW, on Flickr

30989244354_d9e2e7ca7a_b.jpgimg9354 by HughieDW, on Flickr

30989105034_e34a52f333_b.jpgimg9362 by HughieDW, on Flickr

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