I will try and be balanced with this review. So, I will start with the positives then highlight some serious negatives which the host ought to address.
Positive:
- Easy enough find and get to.
- Check in experience was generally good and we were met by someone working in a bar across the street, who I assume is an employee.
- There are grocery stores nearby and it is a short walk down to the harbour.
- There are places to eat nearby
- Aircon was available in every room and did not require additional payment. This was very welcome and is essential if you are in Malta in my opinion.
Negative
- The airbnb was listed as having a hot tub. This is obviously quite a specific thing and when this filter is applied, many good apartments disappear from the search results. This was a big part of our booking the property. It became apparent quickly that there was no such thing. I was then very disappointed with the way the host managed this
1) He said we were the first people to actually "complain" and he never knew that was listed
2) He "offered" to contact airbnb to cancel our booking which would have resulted us looking for a place last minute at high expense. This felt like a very unfriendly offer veiled as a helpful one. Frankly, I felt we were almost being threatened with him cancelling our booking if asked for any kind of compensation.
3) I then had several messages from the member of staff from the bar telling me contact him in future. Obviously the host felt we shouldn't have raised our concern with him and may have felt annoyed about. That's the impression I was left with.
- There wasn't a single sheet of toilet paper in the whole flat which I found remarkable
- There was also no hand soap and no other basic toiletries
- Every other property in the block is an airbnb and rubbish is freely left the doors. Doors will bang all night, people access freely from the street who don't live there. It is a small grace that there is some insulation of the flat door so sound is blocked from the hallway to some degree.
- You are right above a bar called Bellini. This is where the person who met us worked and I am unsure if the host owns it and other airbnbs in the block.
- This bar seems to draw mainly 18-21 year olds. The bar is small so they spill out into the street. There were physical fights throughout the night and you often witnessed these just coming into the apartment. Cars will sound their horn all night trying to get past all of the people in the street.
- The windows have next to no sound insulation and there has been zero reinvestment of the significant profit into this. The windows are essentially like those you find on a sliding slower door. This is unfortunate as the host has spent money on internal doors with good seals which do not allow too much noise transmit.
- There is also a takeaway downstairs and mopeds come and go all night picking up orders and leaving their engines running.
Overall the key issues for the host to act on in my opinion before this property should be listed on airbnb again are:
1) Remove any references to facilities which are simply not available like a hot tub
2) Provide basic toiletries and hand soap, toilet paper
3) Installation of sound insulating windows. This is absolutely essential for anyone under the age of 20 or who wants to sleep ever before 0530 to book. I can sleep anywhere (I work nightshift) and couldn't sleep though the noise generated by what I presume is another business operated by the host.
4) To manage complaints more genuinely