Sampling the nights of Malta

Writing for Unison.ie, the largest Irish online news portal, Maeve Sheehan tells the story of a spa visit to Malta:

The hour was late in the trendy nightclub in St Julian's, the heart of downtown Malta. A woman famous for winning the second-biggest divorce settlement in the UK sat regally in a roped-off VIP area. A showbiz journalist lingered by her. Meanwhile, the club's suave owner recited a litany of reasons why the tiny island in the Med was the most laidback and cosmopolitan of tourist destinations - climate, siestas, diving, snorkelling. Not forgetting friendly locals.

On cue, a uniformed police officer darkened the door - but far from turfing us out of our disco heaven, he proffered handshakes and explained he'd dropped in to buy a couple of cokes. But we weren't in Malta for the friendly policemen. We were "spa tourists" who turned out to be staying at the same hotel as the wealthy divorcee and her girlfriends. The Fortina Spa Resort lays claim to offering the first "spa bedrooms" in the world - hence, the girlie appeal. According to the brochure, numerous female stars of Coronation Street have lolled in its mud baths..

So it was with some reluctance that we were dragged away from our private spas on a requisite sight-seeing tour. Malta has a curious mix of cultures, evidenced in its medieval dungeons, cobbled streets and grand palaces and churches. Its Arab conquerors were ousted and the famous Catholic Knights of St John installed. They fought off the Turks and enriched the island with bejewelled churches. Mdina, dubbed the silent city because of the absence of cars, is a walled citadel dating back to Arabic times, while the beautiful walled city of Valletta boasts two Caravaggios in St John's Cathedral. No surprise then that the island has more than 360 churches, and souvenir shops peddling chocolate Knights and Order of Malta biscuits.

Less pious pilgrims pay homage to Oliver Reed - who, true to form - died of a heart attack in a pub in Valletta where he was filming Gladiator. The bar stool from which he slugged his last grog is a shrine for fans who sit on it while raising an Ollie Reed commemorative mug to the late hell-raiser. Malta, of course, has built its reputation on movie sets thanks to the glorious scenery, its temperate climate that falls to about 12°C in winter, and a bevy of tax breaks. The most photographed locations are around the archipelago of islands that includes Gozo and Comino, with white sands and turquoise seas...