Hotel Penang

[anotheruser]

I am sure this topic has been done before but never hurts to get the latest info out there. Doing a three day visa trip to Penang and looking for a hotel in around the 2,000 baht a night range. It can be a little more or less I am not that bothered. There will be two of us sharing a room and we want separate beds. Never been to Penang but I am guessing Georgetown is the place to be based out of. I am open to other ideas if there is actually anything worth seeing but plan is to be lazy and just eat good Malay food and do a few pubs.

Something that doesn't smell like sewage and has clean sheets and a visa service to save me from going to the embassy is all I am after. If there is a good restaurant on site or close that is a bonus. Oh a fridge in the room would also be nice.

Thanks

[HooHaa]

chulia mansion, dont know about the twin bed thing, because if im not sharing the bed, im not sharing the room.

its within 2 minutes walk of both jims and banana and i have been told by the manager they have connections at the emabssy too.

[anotheruser]

Looks good thanks for the advice.

[anotheruser]

Well it turns out I booked Chulia Heritage Hotel rather than Chulia mansion. We shall see if it is any good. LOL

[bendejo]

Word to the wise: all the maps and guide books call it Lebuh Chulia, but the locals, even the bus drivers, call it Chulia Street.

Good town for chowing down, but mind your hygiene.

Careful with the ladies hanging around on the street at night, usually they are not ladies.

[phuketrichard]

just look on booking.com

I stay at the MIngood for 100 MYR

fits my needs

[anotheruser]

I actually managed to change my booking to Chulia Mansion. Most the reviews were very positive and it looks like it should be okay for the price.

[anotheruser]

Well I am in Penang right now and as my question about hotels has been answered I thought I would take the time to give some of my impressions of Georgetown.

The people have been exceedingly helpful and friendly. People have come up to talk to me or just say high often and it wasn't because they wanted anything. I haven't been hassled or harassed that much here.

Alcohol is a bit more expensive but not outrageous. Small bottle of Tiger at a touristy British bar is 16 RM. you can find it cheaper but this isn't much different than an ex pay bar in Bangkok price wise. Availability of alcohol is better than Thailand. What I mean is that it is sold in every store anytime of day with no time restrictions. Bars are allowed to stay open until when ever they want to. A few of the bars I was at stayed open just for the few of us that wanted to drink. Again this goes back to the friendliness of the people and level of service.

The food is very nice here although I am getting tired of Indian food really. The selection of farang food isn't anywhere near as extensive as Bangkok. This is kind of made up for by the fact that the local food is delicious.

The hotel Chulia Mansion is okay but has several issues that make me not want to come back. If you need reliable wifi for work or any reason this place isn't a good choice. Also when I booked online I didn't see the fact the rooms are non-smoking and they fine you 100 RM if you do. 100 RM is no big deal over a stay of 3 days so I just did what I want and paid it.

Another note on this place is the power went out for around an hour and when I finally got fed up to see what was going on the staff that was working said it was the whole block but there were lights on elsewhere. It may have been the whole block but the rest of the block had generators or power of some sort.

Another note is whether you see it as a positive or negative you can smoke inside most any place in Penang and the price of cigarettes are reasonable.

Taxis are still cheap but not as cheap as Thailand. Although I have not had to haggle here and even if they do not turn on the meter, the fee is low compared to the 500 baht starting points in Bangkok. So although they may ask for 15 RM with no meter, they speak English, know where they are going and one even plaid a radio station that was English music. So the slightly higher price is somewhat justified by a higher level of service in my opinion.

If you are looking for ladies or guys Malaysia will not compare favorably to Thailand.

All in all I enjoyed my trip to Penang. So after all of that rambling does anybody know if Malaysia allows back to back visa exempt entries? I may consider spending more time here if Thailand continues to.. Be Thailand and would like to know if Malaysia is stick about coming and going.

Forgot to add that the single entry Thai visa issued here is easy to get and takes less than 5 minutes to get at an agent here. They will use an iPhone to photo you and you don't need anything more than a passport and the fees. No questions asked

[bartender100]

Well I am in Penang right now and as my question about hotels has been answered I thought I would take the time to give some of my impressions of Georgetown.

The people have been exceedingly helpful and friendly. People have come up to talk to me or just say high often and it wasn't because they wanted anything. I haven't been hassled or harassed that much here.

Alcohol is a bit more expensive but not outrageous. Small bottle of Tiger at a touristy British bar is 16 RM. you can find it cheaper but this isn't much different than an ex pay bar in Bangkok price wise. Availability of alcohol is better than Thailand. What I mean is that it is sold in every store anytime of day with no time restrictions. Bars are allowed to stay open until when ever they want to. A few of the bars I was at stayed open just for the few of us that wanted to drink. Again this goes back to the friendliness of the people and level of service.

The food is very nice here although I am getting tired of Indian food really. The selection of farang food isn't anywhere near as extensive as Bangkok. This is kind of made up for by the fact that the local food is delicious.

The hotel Chulia Mansion is okay but has several issues that make me not want to come back. If you need reliable wifi for work or any reason this place isn't a good choice. Also when I booked online I didn't see the fact the rooms are non-smoking and they fine you 100 RM if you do. 100 RM is no big deal over a stay of 3 days so I just did what I want and paid it.

Another note on this place is the power went out for around an hour and when I finally got fed up to see what was going on the staff that was working said it was the whole block but there were lights on elsewhere. It may have been the whole block but the rest of the block had generators or power of some sort.

Another note is whether you see it as a positive or negative you can smoke inside most any place in Penang and the price of cigarettes are reasonable.

Taxis are still cheap but not as cheap as Thailand. Although I have not had to haggle here and even if they do not turn on the meter, the fee is low compared to the 500 baht starting points in Bangkok. So although they may ask for 15 RM with no meter, they speak English, know where they are going and one even plaid a radio station that was English music. So the slightly higher price is somewhat justified by a higher level of service in my opinion.

If you are looking for ladies or guys Malaysia will not compare favorably to Thailand.

All in all I enjoyed my trip to Penang. So after all of that rambling does anybody know if Malaysia allows back to back visa exempt entries? I may consider spending more time here if Thailand continues to.. Be Thailand and would like to know if Malaysia is stick about coming and going.

Forgot to add that the single entry Thai visa issued here is easy to get and takes less than 5 minutes to get at an agent here. They will use an iPhone to photo you and you don't need anything more than a passport and the fees. No questions asked

Why complain about a dodgy hotel wifi, that may even be compromised when a dirt cheap package for a smart phone in Malaysia costs about 15 RP for a few days?

[anotheruser]

Because it is a service offered and you will see many people have said the same thing about this on tripadvisor. Places next door have wifi that works and it is an issue the hotel could easily fix. It is their internal network that is at fault and I really don't want to buy a new sim or bother with packages just to post crap like this on thaivisa. If they dropped 15 a day because I didn't use their wifi I would be in agreement.

[phuketrichard]

NO SMOKING means no smoking, Why did you?

I, for one, cant stay in a room that someone has smoked it.

[anotheruser]

I did it because I paid for the room and it was my decision. I paid the "fine" for what it is worth i smoked in the toilet and steamed the smoke out of the room. I offered the money to smoke voluntarily with out being asked. If you read between the lines you will find it is more like we found a new way to make money more than no smoking.

You must have had a horrible time finding rooms that have never been smoked in on your travels in SE Asia. I just shouldn't have said anything but if you must know room 207 in Chulia Mansion has been smoked in so take note of that. Anyway I do enjoy your trip reports and was hoping I could make one of my own to describe Penang. So far I have only received flack over why I would want internet as advertised and why I would smoke in my own room. Although I had requested a smoking room from the time of booking.

[phuketrichard]

i dont have a bad time finding rooms and i travel all over ( Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Malaysia) all the time

Next time step outside to smoke, it would be fine with me if they fined people $1,000 to smoke in a non smoking room, since u do smoke u have no idea how it ruins the room for us non smokers.

as to internet, how cares, not like ur going to live there.

there are good places an bad places, but I personally can put up with anything for a day or 2 an dont find the need to mention such small things that go wrong, IT's Asia

The rest of ur report was very nice, I love Georgetown, especially walking around , plenty of good western food off of Chula street.

MY ONLY real complaint is the food is so dam good and my stomach fills up to fast LOL

[anotheruser]

Nothing