The house in Manikata is really lovely – bigger than it appears on the photos, and nice to have all of the living space on a separate floor to sleeping. The location is perfect if you want to be in a quieter area (away from the hectic bigger towns) and near the sandy beaches on the island. We didn’t use the pool much as we were at the beaches every day. It is a house not a home – the owners have never lived there so can’t give you any local tips. There is no encouragement to recycle although this is very easy – the rubbish and recycling are collected from outside the house on alternate days, you just need to use different bags. There is a small local shop in walking distance and also a local farmers’ cooperative just a very short drive on the road out towards Golden Bay, in one of the run-down barrack buildings – worth looking out for. On the walk to the local shop there is a cat ‘feeding station’ so do keep any unwanted tit-bits for them (there are plenty of them, as all over in Malta)! We took some food every evening and the local shop stocks cat food.

Downsides to the house were that the beds could do with new mattresses. Towels were changed half way through the week but during our little boy’s nap. It would have been just as easy to leave them somewhere for us to change ourselves. Bring ear plugs if you don’t want to be woken up by the cockerel next-door. And especially during the spring and autumn hunting season as the shooting (very close by) starts around 4.30am for a couple of hours.

Overall, house and location were perfect for where we wanted. We would definitely stay there again!