when you say "we have been to Qawra so we know what Malta as a whole is like ", I presume you mean you stayed there and went around Malta from there as Qawra is not "proper Malta". I'm sure you are aware Qawra is right next to St Pauls Bay - what did you like about Qawra and Malta last time, we can then point you towards other similar things.

Thank's gozomark,
Yes we did travel round the island, with public transport and on the mini bus trips. What we like most about it is the friendliness of the locals and the fact that they are very child friendly & family minded, I like the fact that the locals are out walking or eating of an evening and always the kids are there too.
We are stayng in the Santa Maria appartments do you know it? any good? also if you can recommend any where to visit (we have done popeye village ) with a 9 year old that would be great.
thanks
Mary

St.Paul's Bay is quite a busy little place and very beautiful.
The bars I recommend are O'Connors Irish Pub, next to the Crown Hotel and Jesters opposite San Pawl Hotel.
The entertainment is mediocre unless a British singer is on as the Maltese seem to sing in a Maltese accent. Paul McEvoy is excellent and does a wide range of songs to suit everybody. What a voice.
Steve Cole is another who has great talent.
Most bars will try to rip you off so be careful.
The Maltese aren't as friendly as people think and can be very hostile if you cause a fuss about over charging and suchlike.
There are some very nice Maltese but on the whole they seem very arrogant and selfish.

Macca67

I presume you won't be visiting Malta again - I don't recognise Malta from your description " most bars will try to rip you off... on the whole they seem very arrogant and selfish ?? "

As for "The entertainment is mediocre unless a British singer is on as the Maltese seem to sing in a Maltese accent." - firstly, what language do you expect them to sing in, and secondly your implication that singing in a Maltese accent means they are mediocre says alot about your arrogancy

maybe its your attitude that gets the reaction you describe

Just my opinion mate, you may not have experienced this but I experience it every day and even my MALTESE wife has commented on it.
I have lived in St.Paul's Bay for eight years now and I know what I'm talking about.
You don't need to jump down my throat cos you disagree with me, I'm just stating my opinion, or would you rather everyone just said positive things about Malta?

Oh, did I mention the extremely polite and helpful bus drivers and the way the Maltese people keep the streets so clean?

I think Macca67, may have had a bad experience in some bar which I would be glad to hear about! share this experience with the forum so that we can avoid it.

I have always found the Maltese to be anything but arrogant and selfish. They speak very direct but I guess it is just the way they speak, but if you were to ask them for assistance then they will be only too glad to help.

Most will be helpful to tourists, but even my parents who are in their 70s have been given a bad impression by the Maltese. They visited two weeks ago and in the Mind Your Head mini market at the Santa Maria Hotel they bought a bottle of Foreign wine and were charged 6c for the deposit on the bottle. When they returned the bottle the same man told them there was no refund as this only applied to local wine bottles. When they pointed out that they had been charged for the bottle and produced the receipt the shop keepr started swearing at them and told them to leave his shop.
How arrogant is that?
I've been in Malta for 8 years now and I see things like that and hear horror stories like it everyday.

I think the older Maltese are more tourist friendly than the younger ones, but they are all trying to cheat a cent here and a pound there.
Just my opinion.

I hope no one holidaying here ever gets to see that side of them.

Macca67 - the shop was quite right on the 6c - its refundable on local wine, not on imported wine. Their attitude sucks, but the shop assistant was correct. You don't help your arguement by writing "they are ALL trying to cheat" - that's not an opinion - you are stating it as fact - so you are saying there is not one honest Maltese person ???

Thanks for informing that they charge a deposit on bottles and that you can take the bottles back for a refund.

I have often been charged a deposit in Shoppers Mellieha, not knowing that you can return them for a refund, but I will now return the bottles.

Yes but they aren't allowed to charge you a deposit on foreign wine bottles, are they?

Also I do admit that not everybody in Malta is how I described. There are some honest people about.

it was introduced as an environmental tax - some include it in the price, others don't.

Can I just have my two penneth (!) about this topic.
I have been going to St pauls bay for about 18 years and I have never been 'ripped off'. In fact when I go with hubby he always does the money so when I go on my own I have no idea what all the coins are. I usually put a handfull of change onto the bar and they show me what they are taking and explain the money to me.

I have to agree about the entertainers as in the Maltese acts that I have seen (surprisingly with maltese accents!) usually are very dated in their acts. Tie a yellow ribbon etc. i have seen Steve Cole (who incidently sings with a 'northern accent') several times (he plays at Ziggies bar) and I am a fan. if anyone knows him tell him that the 2 sisters from Mossley say Hi.

If anyone ever gets the chance to see a Maltese singer with the name of Ozzi (Lino, i think) I think that you will be impressed. I know he does two bars in Mellieha but I'm sure he will do a round elsewhere.

He's excellent, but a word of warning...he's very loud.

I also like Ozzylino He does some great UB40 songs - yes, very loud
http://www.geocities.com/ozzylino/newonegigs.html

Isn't anyone going to mention Ira Losco
http://www.iralosco.com (speakers on please)

Steve Cole is a great singer and a great laugh.
Have seen Paul Mc Envoy quite a few times at Reflections Mellieha Saturday nights - yes, great voice and he also likes to change his line-up of songs week to week. Love the "Leave your hat on" routine, only thing I'm not so sure about is the late Barry White's "My first, my last, my everything" with the Scottish accent
Charliegirl, I agree with you in that a lot of Maltese acts are very dated, sort of 1970's British holiday camp. I think the Maltese accent makes it difficult to pronounce "th." I remember the first time I heard "Happy Birthday" here - I thought it was a joke because it sounded like "Happy Beer Day"

Ooooo Ira Losco, phwoooar what a babe, no need to mention this to Mrs Sliema2 though

OK Just returned from St Pauls Bay to-day after two weeks. On the subject of "mind your head" the staff really dont want to be there rude and dismissive to customers. We were not impressed with St Pauls as a whole very dirty and not a lot going on there.
I still think the Maltese are generally a nice people but you do get good and bad all over .Avoide at all costs The "fat arrogant carter at Midna " he really did try and rip us off then when pulled up about it shouted and swore at us (my 8 yr old daughter was with me)According to one of his colleauges he does this kind of thing all the time A favourite trick of his is to tell tourists that the price is per person when it is really per carrage. We have reported him to the tourist information board and await their views BE WARNED!!!

Is there a horse and carriage ride anywhere in Malta that is not a rip-off?

Hi maryandebs, please don't think me pedantic but by "the fat arrogant carter" I presume you mean an overweight Karrozini driver ?, the traditional Maltese horse drawn carriage ?, well in my opinion anyone who takes a ride in these is perpetuating cruelty to these poor animals, in general the drivers seem to have no regard for there animals welfare, they leave them standing in blazing heat often without any shade or water, they expect them to pull carriage loads of tourists all around Malta not just Valletta and Mdina, you will often see these unfortunate animals struggling along busy polluted main roads such as St Anne's Street in Floriana and Valley road Msida and Birkirkara being beaten by there drivers, there has been to many unfortunate stories regarding these poor horses, but the one that really sticks in my mind is the story of the horse that broke it's leg in Floriana earlier this year near Bombi, unfortunately the animal had to be put down and a vet was summoned, the vet wanted to give the horse a humane lethal injection to put it to sleep without further suffering, the low life driver from wouldn't allow this as in his intellectual view the chemicals in the injection would make the horse meat unsaleable (horse meat is eaten in Malta and will appear on menus as Laham Ta Ziemel) the horse owner instead insited that the animal be shot instead, however the vet didn't have a gun so another had to be called thus perpetuating the animals distress, what a tragic and avoidable end to a noble beasts life, this type of cruelty and lack of care is very prevalent amongst Karrozini drivers, in 14 visits to Malta we never have, and never will take a ride in one of these, I know people only like to hear about the nice things, but in my opinion responsible tourists need to be aware of things like this.

Regards
Sliema2