There are actually very few hotels to choose from if you want to stay in the heart of Valletta, Malta's stunningly preserved 16th century capital.

The Osborne is situated within the city gates, and housed in what was an old inn, intended for visitors to the Knights of St John. The building dates from the 16th century, and some of the public areas on the ground floor still retain an historic atmosphere, with heavy stone walls and wooden ceilings. We stayed there on the recommendation of the Sunday Telegraph Magazine (courtesy of my parents). I suppose with a recommendation like that we should have known what we were getting...

First the positives: the location really is amazing, although at night Valletta is surprisingly quiet. There are enough restaurants to ensure you won't starve, and walking through the ancient streets in the evening, free of the daytime coach-package tourists, is undeniably atmospheric. (NB: Most of the bars and restaurants are situated across the harbour in Sliema, so if you want a large choice for drinking and dining, stay there. There is also a regular ferry across the harbour, though).

Secondly, the staff in the bar and restaurant were very friendly indeed, and had a great sense of humour (though often at our expense!). The buffet breakfast also has plenty of choice, although the quality was pretty average (you could always fall back on toast, fruit and cereal, though). Thirdly, it's great value for money if you get a good package, and it is perfectly clean.

More neutrally, the guests seemed to reflect an odd mix of very traditional, middle-class British pensioners (presumably also readers of the Sunday Telegraph) who were slightly bemused at finding several gay couples also staying there. The small number of non-British Europeans must have felt rather outnumbered...

Now some of the downsides. The restaurant food for lunch and dinner reflected a different era of British cooking, as if stuck in a 1960's time-warp of meat-and-two-veg. Great if you like that sort of thing (and other guests did), but hopeless if you don't. This was something we found elsewhere in Malta - one of the less positive remnants of colonial British rule. So I'd advise against going full-board, unless travelling with a conservative Great Aunt.

The standard rooms are also looking very tired indeed (superior rooms have been refurbished more recently, but we haven't stayed in one of those), and street noise can penetrate early in the morning. If it's hot, the air-conditioning can also be rather intrusive. (However, as Malta can get fiercely hot in summer, I'd advise travelling in May or October in any case.) Finally, Reception staff were OK, but not great at sorting out problems (we didn't have any, but others did).

Overall, you could do worse, but I recommend paying a bit more and staying in one of the 5-star hotels just outside Valletta, or in Sliema itself. Even better, the old capital of Medina further south is also very atmospheric, and has some very comfortable, if pricey, hotels.