1926 Heritage Hotel Penang

“Tastefully refurbished hotel close to historic centre.”

Newly refurbished colonial style hotel just west of the historic centre. Welcoming staff, great breakfast and very comfortable rooms. Pool was welcomed after a hot day sightseeing. Excellent restaurant and bar was a nice bonus.

“Come for the food, sleep somewhere else”

Start with the good news. The two restaurants and the bar are the real highlight of this property. The food is delicious, the drinks list is genuinely appealing and the entire food and beverage team is extremely friendly and attentive. We had a fantastic evening at Root House by gēn in particular. … more

Start with the good news. The two restaurants and the bar are the real highlight of this property. The food is delicious, the drinks list is genuinely appealing and the entire food and beverage team is extremely friendly and attentive. We had a fantastic evening at Root House by gēn in particular. Even if you are staying elsewhere in the area, it is well worth coming over for a meal. The hotel side is a different story. The reception and housekeeping staff are also polite and attentive, and for the first day or so the shine of a brand-new property carries you along. Once that wears off, the problems are hard to unsee. The air conditioning units drip and not only in the rooms; the same problem is visible in the common areas. Look up at the ceiling in your room to find the offending spots, because the paint is already rotting around them. In our own room the AC stopped working altogether. It took five members of staff to sort it out and their opening offer was simply to move us to another room, delivered without a hint of apology, as if this kind of thing were routine and not worth caring about. The rooms are small. The windows face parking lots. The pool has zero privacy from the street, so anyone walking past can look straight in. The so-called patio rooms are a joke: the patio itself sits directly on the parking area (see the photo for the beautiful view). There are no privacy curtains, so avoid the ground floor unless you are comfortable with strangers peering in. One of the rooms we were given had its windows largely blocked by external water tanks. Noise carries constantly from staff, machinery and back-of-house operations. Breakfast is mediocre. To top it off, they cancelled our spa booking at the last minute, which was a huge disappointment. They advertise themselves as a five-star property, but the reality is closer to three stars at most. My honest suggestion: sleep somewhere else, and come here for dinner.

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“Good Hardware but software letdown”

First time stay for us. This is a beautiful property, newly furbished, good location, staff were pleasant, rooms were modern and well equipped etc...great hardware. Unfortunately the attention to details was not commensurate. On arrival there were no fresh glasses for welcome drinks..we noticed th… more

First time stay for us. This is a beautiful property, newly furbished, good location, staff were pleasant, rooms were modern and well equipped etc...great hardware. Unfortunately the attention to details was not commensurate. On arrival there were no fresh glasses for welcome drinks..we noticed this again as we were checking out. Sitting on the sofa outside the entrance to the cafe the ceiling aircon was dripping water and the area around had mouldy patches. There was also an unpleasant odor around the lobby which the manager confirmed was coming from the restroom. I don't wish nitpick but small details matter and it is a shame. An attentive manager would and should have picked all these up. Poor software...poor management

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