Self-catering apartments in Malta, licence checked

Self-catering in Malta makes complete sense once your trip runs beyond a long weekend. Eating and drinking account for more than half of what visitors spend on the island, according to the MTA, Valletta’s small hotels fill early, and with children, space is worth its weight in gold. My one condition is that the flat is licensed, and in Malta that takes two minutes to check.

How many holiday lets there are

The Malta Tourism Authority register I checked on 28 September 2026 lists 8,361 licensed holiday lets, 7,159 on the main island and 1,202 on Gozo. The MTA calls them short-let rented accommodation. They’re hardly a niche. In 2024, 34.6% of the nights inbound tourists spent in Malta were in this kind of accommodation, against 52.6% in hotels and similar.

By size, the stock is built for couples and small families. Of the lets where the figure is given, 2,279 have one bedroom, 2,869 two and 1,974 three. Only 409 have four or more. If there are eight or ten of you, the main island won’t make it easy, and I’d look at Gozo’s farmhouses instead.

Checking the licence

The MTA publishes a public register that you can search by licence type and locality, or download in full. Every let has a reference starting with APT, a name and an address. My method is simple. Before paying anything, I ask the host or platform for the licence number and look it up. If it isn’t there, I don’t book.

That isn’t paranoia. Being on that register is what separates a licensed let from one without a licence, and since July 2026 every licensed property has to collect the eco-contribution at €1.50 per grown-up per night, so a host who never mentions it has already told me something.

Where the flats are

St Paul’s Bay has the most, 1,135, followed by Sliema with 1,039 and San Ġiljan with 745. Then come Valletta (594), Swieqi (504), Mellieħa (450) and Gżira (406). On Gozo, Marsalforn has 244, Xagħra 147 and Xlendi 131.

Without a car, I’d go for Sliema, for the Valletta ferry and the seafront, as I explain in hotels in Sliema. Valletta has 594 lets inside the old city, many in old buildings with stairs, so I’d always ask about a lift. For a family beach week, Buġibba, Qawra or Mellieħa.

Gozo does self-catering best

On Gozo, a flat isn’t the alternative to a hotel, it’s the norm. According to the MTA, 44.2% of Gozo-only visitors in 2024 chose flats, farmhouses or villas, against 29.9% in hotels. The Ministry for Gozo describes everything from simple seaside flats in Marsalforn to luxury farmhouses, almost all with free Wi-Fi, air conditioning and an outdoor pool. For a family or group with a hire car, a farmhouse with a pool is about the best thing you can rent anywhere in Malta; see Gozo hotels.

When the sums really add up

The kitchen is the real argument. Of the €412 a British visitor spent on the island in 2025, €233 went on eating and drinking, according to the MTA’s spending study. You don’t need to cook every night for a flat to pay its way; breakfast at home and two or three suppers in make a noticeable dent. There are more ideas in Malta on a budget.

The eco-contribution is easy to budget for. Two adults on a seven-night let pay €21 between them, and children under 18 pay nothing, so a family flat for a week barely registers. What does register is location, because a cheap flat an hour’s bus ride from where you want to be isn’t cheap at all.

Flat or aparthotel?

There’s a third way I think gets overlooked. In the hotels register, 33 hotels declare kitchen-equipped units and 11 have aparthotel in their name. You get reception, cleaning and sometimes a pool, plus a fridge and a hob. Nearly half, 14, are in St Paul’s Bay; they’re in hotels in Buġibba and Qawra.

For a two-night break, though, a flat is more faff than it’s worth, with key collection, check-in windows and cleaning rules. There I’d rather have a guesthouse or a small hotel. And whatever you book, your UK plugs will work as they are, since Malta uses the same three-pin sockets.