Let me start by saying I'm pretty tolerant of imperfections. And I did not hate my stay at the flat, but it was hard to love it.
Overall:
Located about 2 blocks from St. Paul's Bay (although down 23+ stairs to get to it. Convenient to restaurants and food stores. A working-class neighborhood than a "holiday" neighborhood. That can be good or bad--depending on what you're looking for. I didn't find it to be bad. I found it kind of like a slice of life of an every day resident there.
The Good:
Wonderful air conditioning in the unit!!! Good internet. Really comfy beds, good selection of international TV channels, well-functioning washing machine, elevator (tiny, but effective), spacious. One patio on each end of flat. Good shower/toilet functioning. Checking in and out was easy with an initial lockbox and then key fobs.
Neighborhood felt safe, even after dark.
The Not-So-Good:
Inside Unit
Really only one place to sit in lounge--one small-ish Ikea-type sofa, plus the hard plastic dining table chairs from the kitchen. OK for 2 people, but might be a problem for more.
Plates and mugs were either not clean or stained, and shelves in kitchen cabinets were rusty. (Yes I washed the dishes before using--I don't expect perfection when you are depending on previous occupants to do some of the work, but coupled with other issues, it made me a little wary about cleanliness altogether).
Door frames were coming unglued and one large piece fell on my bed with a loud crash.
Walls were majorly scuffed--dark streaks.
Sofa was dirty, end table in living room was chipped and leg starting to come loose.
Noise Level:
Pretty quiet, except for the few times someone from an upper floor descended the stairwell just outside the unit. Even moderate voices were amplified and it was like they were in the flat with us. Again, given the constraints of building on Malta, some of these things are largely unavoidable, but just measure this against your expectations of a stay.
Possibly petty point: Walls also had really badly-patched holes in them from where things had previously hung and the cables running to the TV and internet were pretty non-cosmetically displayed.
Downstairs:
The outdoor entryway was really dirty.
We had to step around a large plastic bag of dirty laundry in the minuscule inner downstairs entryway for the first 2-3 days. Could hardly get the front door open wide enough to squeeze into the building. Entryway was so small there was no place to move it to, to get it out of the way.
Entryway lights outside were cracked and very dirty.
Immediate neighborhood--the owner of this unit can't control this, but it was still a detraction:
Beer cans and bottles, plus other debris, were littering the front of buildings next door and at the corner. Not the garbage in bags--this was just stuff people left there and it never got cleaned.