Kooning Hotel — Hotel in George Town

We stayed in a private room.

The pros: Location of this hotel is better than great. It was close to pretty much everything. The best part was the choices of foods in the area. Very short walking distance to all the good foods around. Yet, on a very quiet street.

Cold and hot drinking water provided pretty much everywhere in the hotel. And they don't provide bottled waters which is great for the environment. Instead they give you a big stainless bottle so you could fill the water up as you wish.

Bed and pillows are very comfy. The bed was perfect. Not too soft, not too hard. The pillows were wonderful to me. You know, when you always expect the pillows to be super high in a budget hotel but it wasn't like that here.

Vending machine stuffed up nicely on the ground floor. Got everything from water, other drinks, beers to snacks and instant noodles.

Staff was nice enough even though we only saw her twice during check in and check out.

The cons: Room was poorly designed and badly equipped. Especially the ladders going up the bed. It was super steep. I bet there'll be accidents coming. You would hurt yourself at least once in this place. At best you kick something, your head hit the ceiling. At worst you fall down the steps and break something.

The couch was also probably the worst one I've seen, they could've just put a wooden bench there and it'd feel exactly the same. The water pressure was almost sad. The rain shower was lovely but without the pressure it was almost useless. And there's no other amenities like tissues, not even a bath mat was provided.

3 night stay but none of the housekeepers in sight. We don't mind if the sheets or towels aren't changed. We are okay if the room isn't cleaned. But no one came to fill up toilet papers nor the shower gel. And the reception only opens between 8am-8pm. We were always out during that time. If you don't offer cleaning service at least calculate how much toilet papers we'd need for 3 nights and put some spares? And maybe check if you're running out the shampoo and shower gel in the room?

Despite the heaviest door ever, there's no soundproofing. You could hear every single thing around you. People outside walking, people downstairs talking. (and again, you either risk it and go down talk to them on your own or just forget about your sleep. Like I said, no staff between 8pm-8am)

Internet was as good as no Internet at all. Never worked on any devices we had with us.

In conclusion, we will have to think about it real hard whether to stay here for our next visit or try another hotel. (we've been to Penang many times and compared to all previous stay this was probably the least pleasant...

WARNING - 100MYR deposit stolen

Upon arriving we were asked to give a deposit of 100 Malaysian ringgit for the room, the staff did not inform us that if we had an early check out we would need to pick up the deposit the night before (in this case, what is the point of the deposit?). I messaged them after checking out and they agreed to return the deposit through transfer to my bank but it could take 7-14 days. I was okay with this, but it has been over 3 weeks and they have sent no evidence that it has been sent, and have continued to ignore any messages I sent them since. They show no intention to return the 100 ringgit.

On top of this, as other reviews have noted, the cleaning staff arrive between 7:30-8am and they will make a lot of noise shouting and slamming doors while they clean. If you want to sleep any later than these times they will definitely wake you up with their noise.

The wifi is basically non-existent 80% of the time and when it does work the signal is weak. It didn’t bother us during the stay but also the ladder is steep, and it wouldn’t be friendly to people with mobility issues.

The hotel is in a good location, and it is clean and comfortable enough. But I do not think it is a good option when they behave like this. If you stay here make sure you pick up your deposit within these specific unspecified times, or they will not return it...

I booked 1 bed in this hotel for 2 nights. The hotel was new, modern, clean, and the location was nice.||The hotel itself is located in China town, restaurants, bus stop, shopping mall, breakfast stalls, traditional market, the party area, are within walking distance from this hotel, but this hotel is far from the noise.||||The hotel was clean, modern, and new.||What I like about this budget hotel is the option to just book the bed (like a hostel), but you'll only get 1 room mate. For those who wants to save money, definitely this hotel is for you.||The ladder to top bunk was firm and strong, no need to be scared if you sleep in the top bunk. There were 2 big drawers under the bed that you can use to keep your bag save. Big enough to put my small carrier.||||Bathroom was clean, and the hot water worked pretty well, too well if I may say because sometimes it keeps warm even though I tried to make it cool.||||Staff were also attentive and friendly. You can fill your bottle with the water available at the common room.||I definitely will stay here again if I ever...