est-gratuite

Courtyard - George Town, Penang, Malaysia

218D JALAN MACALISTER,
GEORGE TOWN, PENANG,
MALAYSIA, 10400

Tel:
+60-4-297 2300

Official website:
https://www.marriott.com/en-us/hotel...nang/overview/



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est-gratuite

Anyone been here and can report on the hotel ?

Also, how is the location for sightseeing and walking around ?

puchong

I would also like to know whether they offer free breakfast to elite members + welcome bonus points? Do they have any suites available to uprade to?

Are there plenty of eating venues within easy walking distance?

kiwimagic

Currently here on a 5 day award and as a titanium lifer upgraded to a 1 bedroom suite despite it being a 4 day Hari Raya holiday and hotel almost sold out. No lounge, however an amazing breakfast and during the day elites have access to the Gin Library where you are entitled to 2 free beverages from noon till 6pm per day, plus elites also receive a choice between 500 Bonvoy points or $UAD10.00 per day food and beverage allowance. This property is a hidden gem great outdoor pool, steam room and sauna. Location is close to night food market and a 10-15 minute walk to Komtar, home to major shopping and tourist attractions in Georgetown.

plam1365

I stayed here for nearly 4 weeks in April/May. Was only Gold at the time, so no upgrades for me. Rooms were pretty good. AC was weird, as changing the thermostats didn't really seem to do anything. I often froze at night because it would get down to 19 °C (66 °F), even with the thermostat was set to 25 C. Hotel is kind of secure because they have a 24 hour doorman, but entry to the lobby is unrestricted from the underground garage. Access to the room floors is controlled by the room key, and you can only select the floor you are staying on. Housekeeping came every day, and they seemed to change the towels daily, even when you hang them up (indicating that you plan to reuse them).

Breakfast was included in my corporate rate, so I don't know if free breakfast is offered. I presume it is. They check your room number on a printed list when you enter the restaurant. Breakfast was pretty good, by American standards. Notably, though, they do not serve bacon or pork sausage. They do have a small array of Chinese and Indian food available, so it's more like a brunch every day, starting at 6:30. The restaurant also has a pretty decent a la carte menu for dinner (and presumably lunch). It's a little pricey compared to local standards, but still very inexpensive by USA restaurants.$20 per person goes a long way.

Walking distance to a lot of food stands, but some people may not like the environment. Definitely different from the US. Numerous sit-down restaurants nearby as well, but nothing high-end. We spent a lot of time on Chulia Street which has a number of decent restaurants. You can also go to Gurney Mall or Gurney Paragon where there will be a large selection of restaurants (and good air conditioning). You could walk to Chulia street if you're ambitious, but it would be about 2 miles in the heat. Be careful walking around, as pedestrians do not seem to get the right-of-way. The Gurney area is about 4 miles away, so not practical to walk there.

Grab (the uber/lyft equivalent) is a cheap way to get around the city, but you'll have to sign up for an account and pre-fund the wallet. Fares are generally 10-20 ringits (2-5 USD) to most nearby restaurants. That's less than the tip on most uber rides in the US. It's also a good way to order food for delivery. If you're adventurous, you can rent a scooter for about $10 per day, including a helmet.

One minor annoyance: There is a mosque about a mile or so away that broadcasts a call-to-prayer every day around 5:30 AM. Even staying on the 13th floor, it woke me up a few times. It's not very loud, but it's definitely noticeable. Might depend on the particular room you're in. There was also a new apartment building being built across the street, but didn't really notice any noise from there, even though they work on weekends. It might be mostly complete by now.

I'm going back there for another extended stay next month, so I will post with any new developments.

puchong

Thanks for that detailed report. Just curious - how did you travel to Penang from the US? Any airfare bargains? Most flights I look at seem to have become quite expensive in the last 6 months or so.

plam1365

I flew in Singapore Air. It was pricey, but I was traveling on business. My premium economy round trip was around $3800

diablo77

Was there an option to turn off the AC?

plam1365

Yes, but it gets really warm if you turn it off. I would usually leave it on overnight, but get up to turn it off around 4 or 5 in the morning. Some coworkers of mine who were also staying there would do the same thing.

GoSh4rks

I find that hotels in Asia nearly universally ignore hanging towels = I’ll use them again, and will instead replace anything that looks used.

Sam P. Goodman

Recently completed a 5 night award stay here and was really impressed. As I think others have noted here and elsewhere on FT, this is night and day better than a typical US Courtyard. Here are the highlights:

Pros
Great value (5 nights for 40,500 points)

Used SNAs to upgrade to Executive Suite on high floor

Friendly service throughout. The guys working security at the door were particularly friendly and even helped load our luggage into our Grab on departure.

The Gin Library is fantastic. Fun, stylish vibe, nice drink menu, good food menu too. I took $10 per person/day food and beverage credit as my amenity (actually only 40 MYR, which is closer to $8 USD), which equated to a couple of cocktails each day. They also offered elite happy hour from noon-8pm (2 drinks x 2 people off a special beer/wine/non-alcohol drink menu). After a long day of wandering and eating great local food, we often found ourselves relaxing the night away over some cocktails and bites, while looking over the city. I prefer this to a typical lounge even if I’m buying my own food and some of my drinks.

There’s a laundry one door down that is open 24 hours for self service. They also offer next day full service from 9a-3pm.

Breakfast at Penang Kitchen is nice. Nothing spectacular like many hotels in the region, but still pretty nice. The made to order waffles were particularly good. Coffee was not, but good coffee is easy to find around town.

Cons
Room had a couple of cleanliness issues (splatter on a couple of doors).

As others have reported, AC was kind of all or nothing. We generally let it crank in the living room and let it seep into the bedroom.

There were three of us, but we only got 2 towels on a couple of occasions.

Location isn’t great for the immediate area and not very pedestrian friendly. We normally walk everywhere, but found that it was safer (from a not getting hit by a car perspective) to take a Grab to wherever we were going and explore from there. Grab is incredibly cheap (e.g. 5-7 MYR to most places in Georgetown; the 30 minute airport trip was 25-30 MYR)

plam1365

Thanks for the report. I'm heading back there this week for a 3 week stay.

Did the F&B credit cover breakfast? Just curious how they handle bonvoy elites I'm

Sam P. Goodman

Sorry for not specifying. Breakfast was free for all 3 of us (2 adults and 1 kid) as a Titanium.

plam1365

Thanks. I wasn't sure because I booked a rate without breakfast. So you got breakfast AND the FB credit. Nice.

I'm Titanium also, but my company has a discount rate which includes breakfast. I booked a slightly different rate.
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thereisnoaddress

Had a 2 night stay. Nothing more to add to the above comments except:

- Pool is open from 7:00 - 19:00 and gym is 24 hours. There's no racks but two benches and some weights.
- Did not get upgraded other than higher floor as titanium. AC was working fine for me. I thought the towels were a bit too thin and not very comfortable.



- Did not get bothered by the mosque when staying on the 22nd floor.
- The breakfast was quite good -- lots of varieties. The build your noodle bar was nice.

- next door laundry was very convenient. RM 9 to wash and RM 9 to dry. 25 minutes each.