EST Hotel Penang — Hotel in George Town

I stayed here for one night in a single room on the ground floor. On arrival, don't be mistaken as there are 2 hotels on the same street with similar names. One is EST hotel and the other EST Express Hotel, if you find yourself in the wrong place staff will redirect you. However, both seemed to think I was with the other until I produced my confirmation. ||The reception is clean, modern, with friendly staff, but small, a theme that will continue. On checking in I was charged the 77 Ringit fee plus had to pay a 50 Ringit deposit, for which I got a receipt and was refunded in the morning. This seemed rather pointless as it was for any damage incurred, but was returned before they checked the room.||I actually laughed out loud when I opened the room door as I thought I'd entered a broom cupboard. I've stayed in some small hotel rooms in my time but this takes the biscuit! Again the room is clean, has TV, good wifi, shower and air con but that's where the positives end. ||On opening the door to the room you literally have one foot square to stand in before entering the bathroom and before touching the bottom of the bed. That is the ONLY floor space there is. If you want to enter your room, crawl straight into bed, get up the next day and leave then it is the place for you. Bearing in mind I was pretty much doing just that, but found the smallness of the room very uncomfortable. ||The single bed is wedged in between 2 walls, there is no space on either side and no windows, you must climb in on the bottom of the bed and shimmy your way to the pillow. If you want to watch TV (directly at the bottom of the bed on the wall), this is your only option. If you want to read/relax/do anything other than shower, this is where you must be as there literally is no-where to stand or store your bag, let alone hang clothes. If you have a suitcase, the only place to store it is in front of the door, which will block your access to the bathroom. ||If you are remotely claustrophobic (which I am not), do not stay here. Imagine being stuck in an elevator, buried alive or even being a bee trapped in a jar and you're getting close. ||I don't normally use air con, however after 2 minutes of being in this room (scratching my head at the logistics of how I could unpack), I turned the air con on, as I felt there literally was no air left in the place. It stayed on all night as every time I switched it off I felt I couldn't breath. ||You can hear everything going on outside so if it's busy I doubt you'd get a decent sleep. There is only one power point so if you want to charge more than one item you'll have to take turns. ||The mattress wasn't comfortable, pretty lumpy feeling but the bathroom had everything you needed and was very clean. ||I asked the reception staff on arrival how far the airport was, they told me 3km and a taxi would cost 38 Ringit. I know for a fact you can get a taxi from Georgetown to the airport for that, so realised I was being ripped off. But not wanting to walk 3km, I opted to book the taxi. ||In the morning, a different reception guy said the taxi was 36 Ringit. On getting into the taxi, he put the meter on and drove the 700m to the airport! I most definitely could have walked it easily. The meter said 17.55 but the driver asked for 36. I pointed out his meter said less and he said the hotel staff should of told me it was more. He accepted 18 so it looks like the hotel and taxi have a scam going. Just walk it. ||All in all, if you are happy with confined spaces apand like getting ripped off for taxis, then this is the place for you. I can't comment if the double rooms are better. On the plus side, it felt like a jail break when I left and reminded me I never want to commit a...

We stayed here a night as we had an early morning flight the next morning. We arrived at the hotel after 3 pm to check in but was unable to do so as they had some maintenance work being carried out on all the rooms. I think it was more like fumigation as I could smell the pesticide. We were told to come back after 6 pm. We left our huge baggage behind in the hotel. We finally made it back to the hotel after dinner at 9 pm. We had wanted rooms on the ground floor as we had huge bags. Unfortunately we were late apparently and all the rooms downstairs had been taken up. We were given first floor rooms. We had to lug our heavy suitcases up the steep staircase and no one was around to help us. We needed a taxi in the morning and told reception to get us one for 5.30 am. The rooms were small, basic but relatively clean. We had a good nights sleep. Reception called at 5 am to say that the taxi is waiting. Apparently the lone reception guy had the time wrong. Luckily we were ready but was 15 minutes late coming down. The grumpy taxi driver seemed upset. Taxi fare was RM35 for the 10 minute drive to the airport. Will we stay there again?Maybe. It provides the convenience of being very close to the airport. Service was however very poor. Pricing is reasonably cheap and rooms are ok...

Was there as my flight is too early in the next morning. The hotel is only less than 10 minutes drive to the airport - though the taxi will still charge no less than RM15 for the trip. The hotel location is the best in my opinion for a budget hotel - very near to halal and cheap eateries, lots of grocery shops around and bus stop just 2 minutes walk from the hotel. The room is ok for the price - small, with just enough space to move your luggage. I am a light traveller, so it doesnt matter much. There is no elevator though, so choose rooms at the lower floor if you have...