G Hotel, Penang

We are quite pleased with the hotel as we are upgraded to 1 bedroom suite because they were running full. We have booked 3 rooms and all our rooms are upgraded. We enjoyed the Executive lounge too, stopping by to have a drink after a long shopping trip. The pool was also great, with a jacuzzi pool as well. On the flip side, we tried the International & Japanese buffet in the hotel restaurant on one of the nights, sad to say, it awful and not up to standard at all. There were limited staff working and you have to queue quite long just to pick up some fried prawns. The cook was deep-frying some prawns in a small pot of oil so you can imagine how long it takes to have your order fulfilled. Also, if you are q-ing for noodles, you have to wait for the same cook to juggle between frying the prawns to cooking the noodles. The steam egg for example was very hard, did not meet the basic japanese food standard. In fact, majority of the food was not up to standard. The california temaki was too dried, you couldn't swallow well. Anyway, we reckon to pay for M$85++ per pax for this meal was totally not worth it. However, meals aside, we will definitely stay in this hotel again if we are planning to go back to Penang.

The main purpose for our stay in Penang was to shop, eat and visit family. To these ends, the G Hotel filled its brief. The hotel facilities and the building itself are very impressive. I was impressed with the equipment available in the gym and for those interested, the treatment received at the day spa was also of a good standard. The room itself was spacious and clean. The only criticism we had in terms of the hotel facilities itself is the sound-proofing of the rooms. For us, as we were out most of the day and had fairly quiet nieghbours, it wasn't really a problem. However, if this is not the case, I could see how it could be. The noise from the bathroom next door can be heard quite clearly (e.g. flushing toilets and the shower running - thankfully nothing else was heard!). The staff were all very courteous, polite and helpful. We requested and received a room with a nice seaview, although my wife and I had to sleep in two king single beds (even though we had requested a double) due to a mix up with the booking. We did not have any meals at the hotel (given the multitude of restaurants and eating places nearby), although we did have the breakfast buffet one morning and there was plenty to choose from. It was all fairly standard fare, western and asian, although I will make special mention of the mini chocolate croissants. Delicious! The location of the hotel was perfect for us. We were located right next door to what we considered the best shopping complex in Penang [compared to the others we did go to including Queensbay Mall (near the airport) and Prangin Mall (city centre)]. A taxi fare from the airport to the hotel was a standard RM38, although the trip to the airport was slightly more expensive. A taxi fare into the city centre is a standard RM15 (although we managed to bargain it down to RM12). The Gurney Drive hawker stalls are a 2 minute walk from the hotel and are a must for night time eating.

Great hotel in a fantastic location. Staff were very helpful and courteous. Generally had a great stay from start to finish and am raring to return. Definitely my first choice hotel in Penang and would not hesitate to recommend it to others coming to Malaysia. Thanks very much for a great stay!