Jerma Palace Hotel
| Jerma Palace Hotel | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Jerma Palace Hotel in 2005 | |
| Alternative names | Corinthia Jerma Palace Hotel |
| General information | |
| Status | Ruins |
| Type | Hotel |
| Location | Marsaskala, Malta |
| Coordinates | 35°51′40″N 14°34′25″E / 35.86111°N 14.57361°E |
| Opening | 1982 |
| Closed | March 2007 |
| Owner | Jeffrey and Peter Montebello |
| Technical details | |
| Material | Limestone |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 326[1] |
The Jerma Palace Hotel is a former four-star hotel in Marsaskala, Malta. It was opened in 1982, and was managed by Corinthia Hotels International. It was the largest hotel in southern Malta until it closed down in 2007. The building was subsequently abandoned, and it has since fallen into a state of disrepair.
History
The Jerma Palace Hotel was 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, who sold it to San Tumas Holdings. In 1976, San Tumas sold the plot to the Libyan Foreign Investment Company. The Jerma Palace Hotel was subsequently built, and it was opened in 1982. The hotel was managed by Corinthia Hotels International through a management agreement.[2] Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi had a presidential suite within the hotel.[3]
The Jerma Palace was the largest hotel in the south of Malta,[4] and its opening contributed to transforming Marsaskala from a traditional fishing village to a small resort.[5]
The hotel closed down in March 2007,[4] and it was then sold to the contractors Jeffrey and Peter Montebello. In 2009, the Tumas and Gasan groups sought to transform the hotel into a "Portomaso of the south" but nothing materialized. The Montebello brothers plan to transform the former hotel into apartments, a 5-star hotel and a yacht marina.[2]
The former hotel is now in a derelict state, with parts of it having collapsed and others being in danger of collapsing. Its interior has been stripped of everything of value, with carpets, marble floors, doors, tiles and even bricks being stolen. The walls are covered in graffiti.[4] The building is occupied by squatters, and it is popular with drug addicts.[6]
In December 2015, it was claimed that Libyan people smugglers were using the Jerma Palace Hotel as a drop off point for Syrian refugees to illegally enter Malta.[7]
References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jerma Palace Hotel. |
- ↑ Gordon, Claire, ed. (1999). World Hotel Directory 2000: An Essential Guide for Business Travellers. Pearson Education, Limited. p. 189. ISBN 9780273644798.
- 1 2 Dalli, Miriam (21 May 2015). "Residential units, hotel and yacht marina eyed at former Jerma site". Malta Today. Archived from the original on 26 May 2015.
- ↑ Zahra, Angelo (12 April 2007). "The Jerma Palace Hotel saga". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 8 November 2015.
- 1 2 3 Johnston, Waylon (19 April 2014). "Former top hotel is a dangerous wreck". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015.
- ↑ Richards, Brian (2008). Malta. New Holland Publishers. p. 73. ISBN 9781845378714.
- ↑ Xuereb, Matthew (15 April 2010). "Planning authority still awaiting brief for Jerma Palace Hotel site project". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015.
- ↑ "Website Corpi d'elite claims Syrians entering Malta from near abandoned Jerma Palace Hotel". The Malta Independent. 20 December 2015. Archived from the original on 20 December 2015.