Well, i'm not sure where to start. From the beginning of our booking enquiry for Grand Harbour Vista apartment Eric was very helpful in answering all our questions in relation to our stay, as we were staying over Christmas and New Year break and had never been to Malta before we made several inquiries. Eric was fabulous - he was very patient with us and also prompt in dealing with all our questions and provided some excellent recommendations.
Ahead of our stay I asked about booking a transfer and Eric kindly arranged for a taxi booking and we were met at the airport by e-cabs. All went very smoothly and very reasonable price too. We were provided with very clear instructions for check in and where the taxi drop off spot was and were met as promised by lovely co-host Frances. Please be aware that you cannot drive up to the front door at this venue and you will at some point need to get you baggage up or down stairs! We are fit and able and it did not concern us.
We arrived in the early evening and it was getting dark but the apartment had a real WOW factor when we entered. Frances showed us around and explained how everything worked. Frances also helped us to download some local taxi apps to our phones and having used them occasionally during our stay I can fully recommend them.
The accommodation was spotless and fresh, all the appliances are superb and i'm actually going to buy the same dishwasher as it is the quietest thing ever! Everything really is top notch and I defy anyone to be disappointed. The kitchen is superbly equipped (probably the best i've experienced on airbnb) and we ate in some evenings and it was a pleasure. We were staying at a time of year when it was slightly chilly in the evenings and early morning and the aircon/heating all worked very well and we were never cold. Both bedrooms were very roomy and the bathrooms were great too.
To add to this in the morning when we awoke - the view was incredible and literally took our breath away - the photos of the apartment and the views from the terrace really do not do it justice. The view across the grand harbour towards Valletta and Birgu is simply stunning. We loved the Senglea location, for us it was perfect and we used the ferry across to Valletta most days. We explored a lot of the island by bus and on occasion used e-cabs bookings via their app. We never tired of the view for the 2 weeks we were there!
We found Senglea and Birgu to have enough restaurants and bars for us in the evenings. Personally for a special occasion I recommend Hametts Macina. If you are cooking and want to buy fish then try Le Poission (he also does takeaway cooked fish to order) and good fish restaurant try Enchante. For a good local wine bar try Burmula Wine Bar & Bistro - all are in easy walking distance. But the options are endless really....We enjoyed all of the restaurants we ate in. We made a couple of bookings but it was low season and we really didn't need to book anywhere - but would recommend booking of you want to eat somewhere specifically.
I have stayed in many AirBNB for both work and pleasure and have rented a few via AirBNB 'plus' but hand on heart I have to say this is the best apartment I have stayed in for view, location, space and style. If you do stay here be sure to use the blue folder which has a wealth of information in it including recommendations for restaurants locally and in Valletta, Rabat, and Marsaxlokk and other neighbouring villages as well as useful information about all the local sites to see.
Many thanks Eric, Michael & Frances. This was our first venture to Malta and you made it very special for us, we will return!
With kindest regards Sharon & Eric.