* G Hotel Penang: Part 1 (hotel review)

Going to Penang is like taking a trip down memory lane as Penang is a place I called  'second home' for 5 years. Though Penang has transformed quite a fair bit, something about Penang remains very much the same. It is still a food haven especially for those seeking the special local flavours of hawker fare. Believe it or not? I  have already made a list of what I wanted to eat way before the journey even began. (see G Hotel Part 3: Food Oh Glorious of Food Penang ) 

The hotel of our choice for this short visit is G Hotel which claimed to be "Malaysia's Most Stylish Address".

G Hotel is located at Gurney Drive, a seafront promenade popular among the locals and tourists alike. People hang out here to enjoy the sea view and sea breeze and also to dine as this road is famous for hawker food.
This photo is taken from the entrance of G Hotel. The traffic is usually heavy and gets worse in the evening especially during the weekends and public holidays.

Even though this is a seafront hotel there is no nice beach to enjoy and obviously beach and watersport activities are out of the question.

This is how the "beach" looks like during the low tide. It is really muddy and unappealing.

This is the hotel lobby and lounge. There are two entrances into the hotel. The front entrance faces the busy Gurney Drive and the back entrance faces a shopping mall. What you see in this photo is the back entrance. Both the entrances are see-through from floor to ceiling and wall to wall.

This is the reception counter and it merges with the bar counter making it one of the longest I have ever seen in any hotel. (Except for First World Hotel perhaps - pl refer to my earlier posting) 

The hotel lobby is furnished with plush chairs. There are ample of them so you will not be deprived of a seat even during the busy checking-in or checking-out hours. 

The setting is contemporary, with many designer pieces of furniture.

You can see a few modern art pieces right here.

The lobby/lounge area however lacks privacy and exquisiteness as it is too noisy and chaotic at certain hours.

This is our welcome ice-cream. Tasted great as it is not too sweet.

The "g" logo is seen everywhere in and outside the hotel.

We stayed in a 1-bedroom suite on the 5th floor.

There is a pantry equipped with a sink, a kitchen counter, a small fridge and coffee and tea making facilities.

On the house are mineral water, and sachets of coffee, tea and milo.

These are complimentary too and are replenished on a daily basis.

Some few nice features in the suite include the high stools and a long table counter which are ideal for chit-chats over cuppa tea.

The lounge is equipped with a flat screen TV,  a comfortable sofa, a day bed and a working table with free broadband internet access (wired and WIFI).

This is a photo of our suite at night.

This is the bedroom.

There are 2 sets of foam and feather pillows.

There is another day bed here.

...and another TV.

Provided in the closet are bathrobes, bedroom sandals, umbrella, iron, ironing board, a safety box, a bible and a shopping bag.

This is something nice too - availability of huge drawers to put in your stuffs.

This is the washroom.

There is a bathtub and a separate shower cubicle.

These are the bath amenities provided. The packaging lacks style though.

This "Tau Sar Pneah" comes free with our special room package.

No, we did not order this wine. Our package came with a free trishaw ride and the staff messed up our schedule a little. To apologize for the blunder made, this wine was sent to our room. Overall the service was good.

This is the hallway with the lifts. If this hotel is 5 star then Shangrila-KL must be 7 star. (Do compare this photos with those of Shangrila in my earlier posting)

The hotel swimming pool is located on the 3rd floor. The special feature is the wooden deck that gives it a more natural ambiance.

There is a jacuzzi (hydropool) in the swimming pool area. The baby pool is just adjacent to it.

This photo is taken at the pool area.

The gym which is also located on the 3rd floor is big and well equipped.

Also available are the steam and sauna room.  Spa treatment is available for interested patrons.

You can borrow bicycles at the concierge area and ride them along a raised pavement on the opposite side of the hotel, a stretch of 1 km or so.

This is the raised pavement I was talking about.

This is g cafe, a 24 hour restaurant on the lobby floor. We had our breakfast here.

You can choose to sit inside the air-cond. restaurant or outside which is  a covered open-air area.

 There is a fair spread of cuisines. The "siew mai" is nice.

The "kway teow" soup is nice too.

The "chee cheong fun" and the pastries are nice but many others are just satisfactory.

There is a pan-Asian Chinese restaurant in the hotel. We had a lunch here.

For starters, it was melon soup.

Fish, squids, duck and prawns each cooked in different styles for the main meal. 

For desserts we had ice-cream and cream caramel. Overall the meal was  
satisfactory.

There is also a Japanese restaurant in the hotel.

Besides the lobby area and Gspot  (what a name!),the live music bar & lounge, this hotel is a non-smoking hotel.

Other activities for hotel patrons include shopping as there is a shopping mall just beside it. The hawkers' centre is a very short walking distance away. Many other eateries and restaurants line the entire stretch of Gurney Drive. 
There are also many cabs outside the hotel to take you to other places of interest in Penang. This place is so happening that its claim as "Malaysia's Most Stylish Address" is probably justified.

Related Posts: 
G Hotel Part 2: Seeing Penang on a trishaw
G Hotel Part 3: Food Oh Glorious Food of Penang