Jo was a great host to us and his apartment is lovely. We had chatted a bit online so we were well prepared and he was waiting for us when we arrived with a warm smile.

We exchanged a couple of texts most days as he checked that we were ok and had everything we needed, from cab numbers to boat trip advice. We were very well looked after. The apartment is spacious and comfortable with good aircon for the warm nights, a good comfortable bed and great kitchen. We nodded to the neighbours as we went in and out and they all seemed friendly; the neighbourhood was very safe and quiet.

That said, we were only 5 minutes’ walk down the hill to lively St Julians seafront with its great restaurants, a huge swimming pool and plenty of stone platforms from which you can swim in the harbour. We got a cab one day to Gnejna beach on the other side of the island just because we fancied some sand and had a great day out. Another day we went into Valetta on the ferry (there are also plenty of local buses). Valletta is beautiful. Another day we went, on Jo’s advice, to Gozo (my first ever open top bus tour) and Comino, a small island with beautiful coves and sea. Go to Comino and walk away from the main drag…

The apartment is also only 15-20 minutes’ walk to Paceville – the real centre of high energy nightlife. It’s home to many clubs and bars including a fun and friendly gay bar called AXM which played fantastically cheesy dance music mixed with some really solid remixes. Bloody good fun.

We cooked and ate breakfast in the flat and dined out every night at many for the superb restaurants nearby. That was the great ‘Maltese surprise’ for us – just how many of the restaurants served high quality food, even the couple we tried that were obviously tourist haunts. We recommend The Villa and Barracuda (the really fancy ones), the Electro Lobster Project (seriously – very good) and finally Fresco and Peperoncino (the Italian at the bottom of the hill… you’ll know what I mean when you see it…).

All in all we had a great holiday. Malta is surprisingly lovely and Jo’s apartment was a great place from which to explore. A word of advice: take some really good shoes as there are a lot of hills on the island and you will want to walk all over them!