This is the first in a series of posts about my recent 4D3N trip to Penang, Malaysia with Mr Bao.
To be honest, Mr Bao and I didn’t do much research into accommodation options in Penang. Since I had seen this hotel in some Penang vlogs, we decided to try it out. We had also found our room listed at a reasonable price on a third-party hotel booking site.
Check-In Process
The Prestige Penang is an award-winning luxury hotel located in Georgetown Penang, Malaysia. This 5-star hotel delivered the moment we arrived at the lobby drop-off. A doorman greeted us at the entrance and helped us with our luggage. We were then drawn in to the bright and open check-in area.
Apart from the usual hotel check-in processes, we had to put down a deposit of around 350 RM for room incidentals as well as other fees, like the Malaysia tourist tax. We got back just over 300 RM at the end of our stay after the fees were deducted. We opted to pay the deposit in cash but I believe it’s also possible to put down a credit card.
Since our flight came in before noon, we had a bit of time to enjoy our complimentary welcome drink. I opted for a hot chocolate while Mr Bao had an iced chocolate. We enjoyed our drinks in the modern heritage-styled dining area. We got lucky and our room was ready by 12pm so we could unpack our things before heading out for lunch.
Deluxe King Room
Quick note: I apologise for the following images of the room which were taken after we had already messed up the room a little.
Immediately upon entering the room, the shower and sink areas are on the right. This area has a cool marble tiling and matching finishes which complement the rest of the room. As you can tell from the pictures, the bathroom is open concept. I believe it’s an interior design trick to make a small room feel larger by letting more light in from the main living area.
Not to worry though! For more privacy, the bathroom area can be closed off with the floor-to-ceiling curtains. Oddly enough, the toilet is located separately from the shower area. The door to the toilet is seamlessly hidden along the left wall of the entryway. Both toilet paper and a bidet are provided.
The shower is large with a regular tap, a handheld shower head, and a rain shower! Three large bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash are also provided.
A delightful detail in the bathroom were the designs of the amenity kits provided! Each of these boxes included some bathroom essentials such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, as well as some extra frills like a basic men’s face wash kit. I love how the design of the boxes come together to show the iconic façade of the hotel.
Moving into the main living area, the room feels spacious and is fully carpeted. The linens were clean and everything was tidy. The room had a modern luxe feel with the shiny copper finishings, geometric wall trimmings, and velvet covered seats. Still, the cove lighting and under-bed lights made the room feel cosy.
The hotel has only four floors but has many rooms along a long corridor. For our third-floor room, our view was just of the small road outside our hotel and the low buildings across the road.
We also appreciated the two chairs and the round table near the window, which allowed us to eat-in several times throughout our stay. The TV came with several channels and also selected movies we could watch for free. The TV was even able to do screen mirroring with Android devices. We ended up falling back on our trusty Chromecast which we had used for our staycations in June and December 2022. Find out how we used it in this post here.
Something we learnt on this trip is that when we’re overseas, the streaming account recognises that we’re in a different territory. As such, we weren’t able to watch on Viu because our Viu account was linked to Singapore? I’m not sure what the exact issue was so if anyone knows you can leave a comment on this post.
Another thing I enjoyed with the room was that there were five drinks in the minibar! They also provided us with some local sweets which I happily munched on whenever I got a little peckish. Aside from the chilled drinks, there were two sachets of TWG tea and two capsules of Nespresso coffee. These were all included with the room.
I also wanted to highlight how they were using glass bottles for the bottled water. Not only do they feel classier than plastic bottles, they’re also reusable. Mr Bao was impressed by the service as well. When housekeeping noticed that we had emptied both bottles of water on the first day, they replaced them with three new bottles of water for us. The only drawback with this is that you would need to bring your own reusable water bottle to Penang so that you can take the water with you when you go out.
Hotel Amenities
We took a look at the gym and the pool, though we didn’t use either during our stay.
The gym was quite small but it managed to fit two treadmills, two ellipticals, as well as some other machines I couldn’t identify. Towels were provided to wipe the equipment down and the gym had mirrors on three sides so you could spot yourself.
The infinity pool was also fairly small but its main draw was the view of the jetty area off the edge. Despite the light rain when we visited, there was a family with young kids happily enjoying the pool to themselves.
Location
The Prestige Hotel is located in the North-East side of Georgetown. It’s a stone’s throw away from the famous clan jetties and a reasonable walk to some of the famous tourist spots.
For café lovers, the famous Norm Micro Roastery is just across the road from the hotel. For foodies, there’s a Michelin Guide recommended stall selling Nasi Lemak (Ali Nasi Lemak Daun Pisang) just around the corner. There’s no shortage of food in Georgetown but we did have some trouble finding local food nearby in the evening.
If you’re interested to know what to eat in Penang, keep a look out for my upcoming blog post!
Hotel Vibe
The overall vibe of the hotel was very calm and luxurious. The clientele are mostly tourists in their late 20s and older. Most groups were couples, older groups, or families with older children. There were also some business travellers staying for conferences. As a result, the hotel is reasonably quiet and relaxed. Do keep in mind that we were there during the off-peak season. The clientele may change during the Malaysian school holidays.
Pricing
I believe our room was just under SGD 170 per night. It’s definitely on the pricey side for accommodation in Penang. Still, keep in mind that it is a 5-star rated hotel. When considering its location, the size of the room, the service, and the amenities, I think the pricing is reasonable. Do note that this might have been a sale price and the off-peak price as well.
Overall Verdict
Would I recommend this hotel? Well, it depends on how much this hotel costs in your home currency, your budget, and your priorities for the trip. I think this hotel would be most suitable for couples and adult groups to relax and unwind while still being close to the tourist spots in Penang.
Personally, since it was my first trip overseas since the end of 2019, and my first overseas trip with Mr Bao, I thought it was worth splurging a little. I would gladly stay again if I came back to Penang. But I think there are also a lot of really interesting boutique hotels in Georgetown, and some beachside accommodation too.
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Travel Series: Penang, Malaysia – May 2023
In May 2023, Mr Bao and I went for our first overseas trip together to Penang Island, Malaysia! We got to do a lot of relaxing on this trip and also ate a lot of delicious food. If you want to read more about our trip, watch this space! I’ll be posting more about our trip on this blog and maybe also throwing a little vlog together.