Reviews by my husband…
Good points:
The positioning of the penthouse in relation to things in Valletta is very good as it is near upper Baracka Gardens and a host of bars and restaurants. Additionally it is relatively close to the quayside restaurants as well.
David, Joseph's brother, was excellent and helped with the suitcases (it is up 6 flights of stairs and over 72 steps with no lift). We knew this when we booked it but my wife had since had a knee operation which has debilitated her. I have also developed a shoulder issue so the help was vital and done with a smile. David also picked us up from the airport as well.
Joseph also kindly arranged for David to bring up a lot of water (Still and sparkling) which lasted for the duration of the holiday. They wouldn't accept any money either. Thanks for everything David.
The view from the balcony is stunning and as we remember with the 3 cities in full view; A sight to behold.
The air-con in the 2 bedrooms is very good. Whilst some would expect this, we have had previous issues in both old and new accommodation before, so it is always the first thing we check. The lounge air-con is not as good, though adequate. The room is so big it struggles to get very cool.
Downside:
Unfortunately there are a lot of issues.
* The road outside seems to be much dirtier than we stayed some years ago and doesn't get much in the way of a clean. Bottles and bags and debris left everywhere.
* The cleanliness issue theme is continued once in the building. The communal area was very unpleasant with the ground floor being dirty with plaster falling off the wall, an old bed mattress dumped, as well as a stand-up piano as well. The place is dingy and, whilst I understand there may not be anyone totally responsible for this, it is not a nice welcome, particularly for the amount we paid.
* The 1st floor apartment is derelict by the looks of if, and the door was open for us to see the filth inside. This may well also account for the filth on the windows and ledges as you go up the stairs. Additionally, the stair bannister fitted to the wall up the 1st flight of stairs comes away from the wall. The centre bannister wobbles erratically as well and, whilst maybe safe, doesn't look or feel it.
* Once in to the apartment (and we were allowed in early, which was very helpful), we were immediately disappointed. The cleaner was still there, understandably, but we waited in the main bedroom and could clearly smell cigarette smoke from the previous occupants. Whilst this is not Joseph's fault, there didn't seem to be any attempt to air the room or use air-freshener. We almost immediately checked out because of it!
* We also didn't have any walk-around of the property as to what things were and how to operate any of the facilities. We were kindly told that we didn't have to worry about use of the electricity, though we had to message David for us to get notification of this as the previous information had said we needed to check the meter, though there wasn't one we could see.
* We checked around once the cleaner had left and it was clear that there are ledges and areas of the penthouse that have not been cleaned properly. This was not just from the previous occupants but it seems from a very long time prior and we have pictures to back all this up. Around the kitchen and the floor under the main dining table were particularly bad. There was also a dirty bath mat which reeked that we had to air on the terrace outside. Drawers and cupboards were not cleaned either.
* Generally many of the pictures on the website do not reflect the standard of the property now and we think they were taken some time ago. In fact, decor and furniture are somewhat different so it seems there has not been any update for some time. Again, we have photos.
The bedroom has a cot in it, which looks unpleasant and unlike the website photos, and we only had 1 thin bedding sheet as well on each bed. Paintwork needs updating to make the 2 bedrooms feel less dark and claustrophobic.
* The shower is quite small and has a shower curtain, which the pictures on site do not represent. It makes it quite clingy.
* The refrigerator has shelves missing from the inside door which meant that the space inside was limited, even more so when we discovered one of the shelves was broken as well and unusable - my wife has to use nail glue to try mend it! Also, if you put anything at the back of the fridge it freezes the food. We had to throw away some products where this happened.
* The freezer, whilst welcome, looked ugly as if taken from a different apartment and from an integral kitchen as it was battered - again, not shown on the photos.
* The buttons on the dining chairs that held the leather seat and back coverings to the metal were all broken and rusting. Not very pretty and quite uncomfortable.
* There was no hot water in the kitchen sink and we had to heat water through the kettle to wash the pots. Yes there is a dishwasher but there weren't enough cups, glasses and such things for us to use to justify putting a wash on; We hadn't been shown how to do this anyway and it looked different to the ones we use in the UK.
* The cleaning cloths supplied were minimal and not very good, so we had to buy more, as we did with kitchen towels as there were none at all supplied. We didn't expect a welcome pack,