Hotel Penaga

The old house has so much character, with stained glass, shutters, lovely design, and plenty of space. We stayed four nights in the Clarke Terrace Garden House with jacuzzi and found it clean and comfortable, with good air conditioning and fans. The balcony was a nice extra, and the fridge, filtered hot and cold water, crockery, tea, and coffee were handy. The large bathrooms had great showers, though the ones in my room didn’t work very well. It’s easy to get around by bus, and the staff were friendly, helpful, and professional. Breakfast was nice, just a smaller selection than at other Malaysian hotels we stayed in. A few things could be better: a welcome guide would have helped us figure out the jacuzzi, and guests should be told the garden light switches are tucked inside the electric cupboard. There was some noise at night when rowdy guests came through the courtyard after drinking, and I found the bed a bit too hard. Still, it was a beautiful stay and I’d happily come back to Penang.

The room was huge and impressive, and the soft bed with a fan overhead was great after a hot day. Staff were friendly and helpful, and gave us good recommendations when we asked. The hotel’s in a handy spot for shopping or catching a bus to other parts of Georgetown. A great place to stay.

The front desk staff were very nice, but housekeeping was rude and needed to be told what to do. One day, after we asked for the room to be made up, they only made the bed and didn’t sweep or wipe the tables. Breakfast ran from 7:30-10:30am, but if you came close to 10 the staff seemed annoyed, and food wasn’t replenished unless you asked. The same food was served every day. The water jug often wasn’t refilled, and I stopped asking, so I stuck with the peach tea instead. Our room at hotel Penaga was spacious, with a balcony and jacuzzi, and the antique wooden furniture looked nice. But the floor gave my husband a splinter, so be careful with kids. The beds and pillows were rock hard. A mattress topper helped for a while after my husband asked for something softer, but we still woke up really sore. We faced the main road, and it was extremely loud, even after midnight with motorcycles and car engines. There’s also a motorcycle rental or garage spot across the street. If you’re on the second floor, you can hear the person above walking around, and the floor is very creaky and loud. We stayed four days and were very disappointed with this supposed “4 star” hotel. It ruined our Georgetown experience.

We left the very next morning after just one night, but the hotel refused to give us a full refund for the unused nights. My five-year-old was bitten repeatedly by mosquitoes in the room, and I could hardly sleep because the conditions were so filthy. We’d been charged RM150 for an extra bed for three nights after finding the sofa bed unusable. Its cushion was so worn and soft that anyone sitting on it sank almost to the floor, making it completely unsuitable and unsafe for sleeping. The extra mattress was no better: it was badly worn, had black stains, and its cover had a large visible stain. Two pillowcase covers were stained too. It was disgusting and far below a reasonable standard of hospitality. When we checked into our two-storey unit, water was dripping from the upstairs toilet onto the ground-floor sofa. The sofa was wet and unusable, which raised serious concerns about maintenance, hygiene, and basic safety.