A Great Place to Use the Internet in Malta

Can you blame me? I'm sitting here among luxurious white cushions and tables, writing to you from the lobby of the Hotel Juliani-not to be confused with the St. Julian's Hotel, both in Malta. After a year in Malta, I finally discovered a lovely place to use the Internet (when I'm not home and using the stinking Internet there).

Right next to this lovely place is a McDonald's cafe. This was the first place I used a free Wi-Fi location. But the Internet worked off and on and there was loud music all the time. That worked with no problem. And, of course, there were mothers with kids who spilled hot chocolates all over the tables-one time a centimeter from my laptop.

Then I tried the Mint Cafe-another nice place off Tower Road on the other side from the Surfside restaurant. I like the food there at the Mint Cafe. The Internet would work, but the place also had very loud music and mothers coming in with kids spilling stuff.

(Right now I'm getting really annoyed at two women speaking in very loud, rapid Maltese near me, but this doesn't happen a lot here.)

Here's what I like at the Juliani:

1. The Internet works.

2. The music is nice and in the background.

3. The place is lovely to sit in.

4. You can order tea or coffee and sit here for several hours with your laptop. (I'm terrified that someone is going to throw me out now for saying that.)

5. The bathrooms-which I frequent-are great. They flush like Heaven. I don't know if there are toilets in the afterlife, but if there were, these would be in line for first place. One of the stalls even has a nice stone shelf for your purse or bag (this is in the women's room-I don't know what it's like in the other place).

6. The wait persons (servers) are nice.

7. The food is good if you're hungry. Today's waiter gave me two scrumptious bran muffins for the price of one because he thought one was too small! So I ate both of them.

My only worry is that they're going to close this place down because I like it. Jekk Alla Jrid
(which means G-d Willing in Maltese), I hope they don't.

Take a look for yourself: Hotel Juliani, Spinola Bay, Malta

Ilene Springer is author of An-American-in-Malta.com.