We selected Emma's property after much careful consideration of potential places to stay for our family holiday in Malta. Its very strong reviews were the reason we chose it, so feel it is worthwhile detailing our experience so that others can make their own choices.
On arrival we were told by Sam, Emma's local representative that there was an issue with the plumbing. We only had scolding hot water in some of the rooms. Sam informed us that a plumber had been arranged for the following day.
The following day Sam informed us that in fact a plumber would not be coming that day, but instead the following one. By the time that day came, all the water had effectively run out (the hot water tank having drained, as well as the cold water tank in the roof). We were unable to bath our small children, nor flush our toilets: this was hardly the dream holiday we'd envisaged.
During the time we were waiting for the plumbing to be fixed, we attempted to cook a dish that we had prepared in the oven. Shortly after turning the oven on, the electricity in the flat cut out. We reset the trip switches, but whenever we did they would retrip unless we turned the oven off. We asked Sam to get this repaired which she promised she would but this never happened.
After the plumbing had been fixed we noticed that water was leaking from under the plinth below the kitchen sink. We put a jug under the sink to catch dripping water and again informed Sam of the issue. She informed us that her father would visit the following morning to investigate and if necessary repair. This didn't happen, so I enquired but got no reply from Sam. By this stage the faults of the flat and our attempts to get them repaired were beginning to ruin our holiday so we accepted them for what they were and, given Sam's lack of response elected to try to enjoy the rest of the holiday.
Although these were the main issues, it's also worth mentioning that the TV didn't work as advertised and required time to set-up properly; that the towels were fairly threadbare and not really of a standard appropriate for an AirBnB at this price; the toilet seat in the main bathroom was loose thanks to some brittle plastic on the hinge; the balcony door on the twin bedroom was faulty; the lighting throughout the flat isn't great and there is more street noise than would be expected given that the flat is double glazed: expect to be woken early.
The flat is, as others have stated, well located with easy access to the main street of Mellieha (which is a nice base to explore Malta and Gozo), although parking can be an issue.
I was happy to receive a partial refund for our trip, but this was only given after I'd requested it and with no accompanying apology for the issues we'd faced both with the flat itself but also the service of those issues.
It's also worth noting that I was somewhat surprised that "Emma" actually turned out to be "Gary". I only found this out after we connected via a video link to resolve the TV issues. Whilst this clearly wasn't the worst of our issues, it was somewhat disconcerting to find that the person I'd been interacting with wasn't who they were purporting to be, despite AirBnB's supposed identity checks.
Overall this was one of our most disappointing AirBnB trips. It seemed likely that the apartment hadn't been stayed
in for some months (the clock in the kitchen was still set to summer time) and would have benefited from a full preventative maintenance check prior to guests visiting.