Have you heard of the aphorism, "All that glitters is not gold"? Well, that suitably describes this Air BnB listing. Situated in the quiet town of Mellieha, this 4th storey flat has breathtaking unobstructed views of the area. It is brand spanking new with very comfortable beds, a great kitchen and living area and some great little touches, like being able access your Netflix account through the TV.
Now for the not so glittery details. We were a little confused when transferring from our other Air BnB in St Julian's that the listing had one street name and then we were given instructions to another street address. We arrived in Mellieha to find that neither address was correct and the reason being that the road the flat is on is nothing more than a dirt track that even Google Maps doesn't currently recognise! It isn't very well lit at night and has many pot holes so wouldn't be the best location for those with elderly guests or young children.
On the first night we returned to the flat and felt a little chilly so put the heating on through the A/C system. Within 5 minutes, the system turned itself off. We referred back to the manual in the flat (which we later were informed was out of date) that said that the coin-operated system should have enough usage for our stay. When we questioned our host, we were greeted with a rather condescending reply that they were eco conscious and assumed we were leaving the system on for hours whilst we were out!
The gas (which also heated the water) is also on a special system that requires filling up and only really had enough for our 4 guests for one day, which meant that we had to resort to filling the bath with boiled water to have any warm water to shower with and we couldn't use the stove top to cook breakfast.
All in all, we feel that whilst the flat and views were lovely it simply wasn't worth the shortcomings and the presumptuous communciation of our host. If you are tempted by the looks of the flat, views and reasonable price please remember to bring coins for the A/C system and possibly some ear plugs for the early morning construction noise!