Thomas Jones rides into Penang by bus on a whirlwind tour of the Malay Peninsula for a look around historic George Town and reports on the town’s most fashionable address – the G Hotel.

Visiting Penang is an essential part of any Malaysian trip and seeing as we would be getting a living history lesson from the many aspects of the Malay, Chinese, Indian and 19th century colonial era culture of old George Town, we thought it only fitting that our Penang hotel should be a vision of 21st century comfort and edgy design for comparison’s sake.

The G Hotel was our choice, a 14-storey design hotel on Gurney Drive, right on the waterfront and only a short taxi ride from the heart of the old town. The 304-room hotel opened in 2007 and is ‘a place to be seen to be seen’ on the island that provides style, convenience, dining, and nightlife all under the one roof. There is even a shopping mall right outside that can be accessed without having to get caught in the rain.

“Guests checking in downstairs get a chance to take in the enormity of the space and style in the ground floor lobby.”

Upon arrival we were unexpectedly directed to the Executive Floor and hence a very speedy check in process up in the Exec Lounge. As luck would have it was just after 4pm so the snacks and cold drinks were laid out and waiting. The timing of an ice-cold Tiger beer on a weary traveller who has just spent four hours on a Malaysian bus simply cannot be understated. That said, checking in down in the lobby looked like a pretty nice experience since guests get a chance to take in the enormity of the space and style in the ground floor lobby. Lots of open areas and funky furniture, high ceilings and the boutique buzz of a superior design hotel can’t fail to impress with its G-ness. Everything is G here at G-Hotel. G-Lounge, G-Café, and G-Spot (the bar, nothing else). G-Lounge has a 46-foot-long bar that extends off the main reception so you can still get an icy cold beer regardless of being a non-Executive type – you will, however, have to pay for it. Yep, enjoy a drink while you wait for your room, just make it a quick one as the staff don’t muck about and your key will be ready before you finish your first sip.

The G-Lounge bar is a natural extension of the ground floor reception area.

Entering the huge and comfortable room I honestly felt wowed by its cool, chic interiors and the huge inviting king-sized bed situated in the middle of the space. With itchy feet and a bus-weary body it was time to head out to explore George Town. The hotel offers guests the use of bicycles, complete with helmets and all the safety gear for guests free of charge, but in the Penang heat I wasn’t so sure about that. Setting off on foot down the waterfront promenade we made it less than a kilometre before the dripping sweat forced us to hail a taxi for the rest of the journey. It gets mighty hot in Penang and after taking in the sights for a few hours the hotel reached out with an air-conditioned embrace upon our return. How the colonials lived here for so long in the days before electricity I will never understand.

Later that evening we poked our heads into Sesame & Soy, the hotel’s fine dining Asian restaurant for a quick drink before heading out to the open-air market just up the street to enjoy a slap up seafood feast Penang-style. Cold beer and seafood under the stars is just the tropical ticket in this part of the world and it just can’t be beat. An unexpected rain storm put up a good challenge, however, just as we finished eating so we were forced to run the 200 metres back to the hotel. In the lobby we looked up to see the neon sign for the saucily named G-Spot up on the first floor. It looked just the ticket and the smooth jazz emanating from inside was just what we were up for. The bar’s vast array of whiskies goes all the way from the bottom to the top shelf and encouraged an impromptu distillery tour while the quartet ensemble laid down the tunes. Somewhere between glasses, under the coloured lights and leather of the bar, a cigar was proffered, accepted and smoked – it was just the right thing to do in this splendid place where all I had to do to get home was to ride the elevator to bed.

G Hotel Gurney Drive
Penang, Malaysia
+60 4238 0000
www.ghotel.com.my

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