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 Penang, Malaysia travel tales
Our customers share their travelling experiences in Penang, Malaysia.
Read about first hand stories on travel tips and guides, events, entertainment,shopping, food, business and transportation.
Also, you might want to read our
Kuala Lumpur city guide,
Langkawi city guide,
Melaka city guide,
and Penang city guide.
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| M Ainsley |
30 December 2003 |
Stayed at Sunway Hotel Georgetown - Penang, Malaysia.
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Overall Penang is not the best value as a tourist destination when there are more scenic and better equipped locations not too far away (e.g. Phuket, Phi Phi island etc) The shopping is not great. Komtar is seriously showing signs of age. We would only recommend the Tourist Centre at the top of the Komtar tower for the view. We paid MR5 each to enter an essentially bare room with a panoramic view of Georgetown.
In fact the room looked like it had been used as a bit of a storage area - no displays and any literature that was available had a cost attached. It was a grab for cash with no enthusiasm in displaying or promoting their island. We attempted to visit Penang Hill and paid a taxi to take us to the Funicular Railway only to discover that it had been closed for repairs. Surely the tourist centre could have had information regarding that to save tourists an unnecessary trip not to mention wasting money.
The night market at Batu Ferringhi is excellent and well worth the trip. We would recommend the restaurants out there and in Georgetown there are plenty of good places to eat. The Eastern and Orient Hotel is a grand and elegant step back in time. We visited and sat out on the terrace overlooking the sea and enjoyed a pot of tea. Beautiful china and very old world. Even the milk was warmed so as not to cool the tea too much. As a holiday destination, on the whole, we found Penang not a place that we would consider returning to. There are much more scenic places.
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| G Fong |
28 December 2003 |
Stayed at Grand Continental Penang, Hotel - Penang, Malaysia.
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I think people should take up the 1 day tour package (RM 35). Will bring you around and can understand Penang better. Do not take unlicenced cab as they will con you. Imagine the bus interchange and the hotel are just less than 2km and charging us RMB 10.
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| Y Chan hwa, shawn |
28 December 2003 |
Stayed at Oriental Hotel Penang - Penang, Malaysia.
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Try to travel by foot and bus, you can get to see more. Those mini buses are quite packed, take those larger buses like bus nos. 101 and 85. Don't fall for those taxi drivers who offer you 'tour packages' to bring you around Penang. Such packages are often expensive, try to bring a bottle of mineral water the weather is very hot over there.
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| H Hj mornie |
18 December 2003 |
Stayed at Grand Continental Penang, Hotel - Penang, Malaysia.
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I hired a taxi with a driver for a rate of RM$25.00 per hour. However, this is just a general rate as the driver is always willing to negotiate the rate despite the fact that he brought me around the island for a sightseeing. Restaurants and foodstalls are numerous but I would like to recommend Caravan Cafe which is famous for its nasi kandar and nan. Other stalls are available at Gurney Drive which is just 15 minutes drive from the hotel. You may find a great variety of foods there as well as one of the largest and most modern shopping mall in town, The Gurney Plaza. People there are generally helpful and friendly and they have very good knowledge on the history, geography, social, aspects of the island.
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| T Kin chee |
17 December 2003 |
Stayed at Tanjung Bungah Beach Hotel - Penang, Malaysia.
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For those who like to shop and eat. Penang is the right place. If you like the beaches then choose a hotel at Batu Feringgi area. Try some of the chinese restaurant (coffee shop style) for dinner, it's good and reasonable price.
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| M Tripp |
17 December 2003 |
Stayed at Cititel Penang - Penang, Malaysia.
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This was my second visit to Penang. I really do enjoy this island destination. As a history enthusiast, there is a tremendous amount to see, and Georgetown has an exotic flair that just cannot be found at home in Canada. It is a great place to learn about and experience the different cultures that make up Malaysia, and is home to great shopping and nice beaches as well. There is something here for everyone. Most of old Georgetown can be toured on foot, though the narrow, busy streets and apparent lack of places to walk may be a little intimidating at first. Trishaw drivers and taxis are always available should you not want to walk, but be sure to negotiate rates in advance. Most larger hotels offer tours of the city, and other parts of the island that are too far away to walk to. Penang (Pulau Pinang) is a great place to spend a week.
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| V Woerdeman |
12 December 2003 |
Stayed at Equatorial Penang, Hotel - Penang, Malaysia.
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Recommend NOT renting a car in Penang. Taxis are fairly inexpensive. Negotiate price! Labor rates for Taxi drivers is about 20MYR/hour. I rented a car from Hertz at the airport upon arriving Saturday night. I knew something was up when they did not give me a map. The clerk behind the counter drew me a map to the hotel, and then the man who delivered the car to me made changes to the map. I found the hotel without too much trouble (considering I'm an American who hadn't driven on the left side of the road before).
Traffic lights are free-for-all's when they change to green 'cause everyone has packed in every available space when the light is red. Look out for swarms of scooters & motor bikes during the day.
My Indian friend and I toured the island on Sunday and discovered why no maps are given. We purchased a map, but found that few of the streets are labelled anyway. In Georgetown, we spent 30 minutes trying to bypass the town. What's really funny is that we could not find the bypass and we "went in" to the streets of town to find that streets which WERE labeled with signs WERE NOT on the map, and those shown on the map had no signs. We eventually had the good fortune of finding a highway sign which pointed us to Bayan Lepas (the airport). We made it to the airport fairly easily from that point to find no signs for rental car returns! We asked someone and found where to leave the car, but the rental counter was now closed. TAXIS, TAXIS, TAXIS!
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| A Kok cheong |
10 December 2003 |
Stayed at Tanjung Bungah Beach Hotel - Penang, Malaysia.
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The location of the hotel is easy to find, it is on the road side on the way to Batu Ferringhi. It is also very close to Gurney Shopping Plaza and the night hawker centre. Lastly, you can easily access to some of the tourists attraction such as the Ferringhi Night Market, Botanical Garden, Penang Hill and Kek Lok Si at Ayer Itam.
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| S Koh |
07 December 2003 |
Stayed at Shangri-La's Rasa Sayang Resort - Penang, Malaysia.
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Penang is always hot and humid so come prepared. Beware of the mosquitos. Eat in Hawker centres for the true flavour of the local dishes. Amazingly good standard for such humble looking facilities.
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| T Fooks |
28 November 2003 |
Stayed at Shangri-La's Golden Sands Resort - Penang, Malaysia.
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Pulau Pinang is justly famous, from its spectacular approaches across the bridge, to its history, diversity of cultures, and range of cuisine. In recent years it has become much cleaner, and its road system much improved, to the benefit of tourists. Traffic behaviour is also much more civilised than in the past, and any reasonably competent driver would have no difficulty driving a hire car here. This is a beter option for those who like the freedom to explore. For fine dining I recommend you try The Ship restaurant on Batu Ferringhi (near Golden Sands Resort) - huge western and asian menu, great food, reasonable prices, and great ambience.
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