Birzebugga in Februrary: Alice is a welcoming, genuine, local who's on hand to help with all issues. She picked us up from the airport with her 3 year old boy and took us on a tour of the local area around the apartment - she both recommended, and warned us about, local businesses. During our visit most shops closed early on a Saturday and didn't open on a Sunday. Luckily there's a 'Convenience Shop' within 5 minutes walk (that's actually the name of the chain!) open until 9pm 7 days a week. The fridge had bread, butter, cheese, ham, milk, juice and water in it when we arrived so we wouldn't starve while the shops were closed - Alice even supplied snacks and a bottle of wine because it was my birthday that week! We were given two sets of keys, which is always helpful. The front door opens onto a kitchen/living area with a veritable cornucopia of kitchen utensils. There's high speed Internet and cable TV on a vintage CRT TV. We wound down at the end of the day on the sofa watching Netflix on a tablet and bluetooth speaker, so we didn't use the TV. Cooker is a gas hob/electric oven, there's a proper whistling kettle! There's a clean, full height, fridge/freezer. All kitchen sundries were supplied (including tea and coffee). The maid replenishes/cleans between visits - any omissions are quickly resolved. There are a couple of steps up to the hallway (bedroom, bathroom and roof/washing machine access are off of this). The bathroom is looking a little tired, but the shower water pressure is good, and the toilet flush is powerful. The electric hot water tank is on all the time, but it's small, so it'll only do 2 short showers in quick succession before you need to give it an hour to heat another tank full; we staggered our showers to compensate. Access to the roof terrace is via 2 tiers of steps that have the dimensions of a ladder - so don't get drunk on the roof! There's a gas BBQ (with operating instructions) and good sized table/seating area on the roof, and an unobstructed view over St George's bay. It gets nippy/windy on a February evening, and the cane covering isn't waterproof. There are another couple of steps up to the bedroom (be careful staggering to the bathroom in the night). The backdoor is off the bedroom - there's some traffic noise, but it's not too obtrusive. There are wooden internal shutters everywhere that do a fantastic job of keeping out the sunlight for a good lie in! There was a dehumidifier in the bedroom to counter the humid climate. Alice supplied a gas fire in the bedroom and living area, but we only needed the living area heated on the lowest setting, and didn't use the bedroom heater at all. There's air conditioning (obviously, we didn't attempt to use it). The bed is comfortable, there's plenty of bedding, and a large amount...