Macalister Terraces Hotel — Hotel in George Town

Extremely Disappointing Stay at Macalister Terraces Hotel

My husband and I stayed here for 5 days, 4 nights together with his parents, and it was one of the most unpleasant hotel experiences we’ve ever had.

On our second night, the lady at the reception demanded that we pay RM50 for “cleaning fees” because there were some tiny blood stains on the bedsheet. When we explained that my husband has a chronic eczema skin condition, she showed no empathy or professionalism at all. Instead, she coldly told my husband to “wrap himself up so as not to dirty their bedsheet.” That was incredibly rude and insensitive — we were honestly shocked by her attitude.

Even after I paid the RM50, I asked if that would cover the rest of our stay in case of any small stains due to his condition. She didn’t give a clear answer and kept repeating that my husband should wrap himself up — very unhelpful and disrespectful.

Then, things got worse. On our third day, we returned to our room to find that housekeeping hadn’t even cleaned or tidied it, even though we had requested for it to be made up. We decided to let it slide, thinking maybe it was just an oversight. But on the fourth day, another staff member approached us and again demanded another RM50, claiming there were blood stains found during cleaning! This is beyond ridiculous.

I’ve stayed in many hotels, and this is the first time I’ve ever been repeatedly charged for something that should be part of basic housekeeping. Isn’t cleaning — including minor stains — already included in the room rate? If the hotel cannot handle guests with normal human conditions or minor accidents, they really shouldn’t be in the hospitality business.

Overall, our stay here was filled with disrespect, poor service, and complete lack of empathy. The management clearly needs proper training on how to handle guests and situations professionally.

We were really looking forward to a relaxing holiday, but instead, we left feeling embarrassed, frustrated, and very disappointed. Definitely would not recommend this hotel to anyone looking for decent service or understanding staff.

Edited/ respond to the owner reply:

Hi Owner, thank you for your response. I would like to clarify a few points for accuracy. We were not annoyed when Liza requested RM50. We immediately paid her and even asked politely if that amount would cover the rest of our stay. She didn’t give a clear answer, but instead asked my husband to wrap his hand to avoid staining the linens further. Yes, the bedsheets were changed on the second day (the day we paid the RM50). However, on the following day, although we requested for our room to be made up, no action was taken. We assumed the cleaner might have missed it. The next day, the room was tidied, but the bedsheets and pillowcases were not changed — which was fine with us, as all we really wanted was just for the room to be cleaned and tidied. Regarding your claim that we “threatened” your staff — that is completely untrue. What actually happened was that when the young male staff approached us a second time to ask for another RM50, we explained that we had already paid and felt it was unfair to be charged again. We told him we were fine to pay if needed, but that we would also be leaving a review to share our experience. That is not a threat; it is simply being transparent about our intention to give honest feedback. The staff even replied that it was okay for us to leave a review.

We believe reviews — whether positive or negative — should reflect genuine experiences to help future guests make informed decisions.

Lastly, reading your reply only reinforces our impression that the management does not handle criticism well. A simple acknowledgment or clarification would have been sufficient, but instead your response came across as defensive and personal. That, unfortunately, says a lot about the hospitality experience one can...

Due to an oversight on my part, I had the opportunity to stay at two hotels during my recent trip to Penang - one of which was Macalister Terraces Hotel! Not my first visit to this beautiful island but definitely one of the best boutique hotel stays I've had here! I stayed in room 19 from 3rd to 5th November 2022. Wonderful experience!

What I love about the hotel: the cozy, welcoming, laid-back vibe of the lobby (which almost looks like an art gallery with the numerous awesome 'for-sale' artworks adorning almost all the walls!), an even cooler, hipster-like roof-top garden, extremely spacious bathroom, and stylishly decorated, clean, inviting room with super comfortable bed! Plenty of spots to chill and reflect on life around the hotel. The front-desk managers - a Chinese lady during day shift and an Indian guy for the night shift (it's a shame we didn't get to meet the boss? I heard he would recommend alot more nice eateries) - were really friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and service-oriented. For instance, when we encountered some issues with the drainage flow of the bathroom sink, when the aircon remote control is out of batteries, when we needed some cutleries for supper, and when it started to rain heavily just as we were about to head out for breakfast, both of them attended to our requests almost promptly, getting housekeeping staff to look into the sink and change new batteries, hunted high and low for a fork/chopsticks for us, and lent us umbrella so we could go for our brunch!! I am not sure why some guests were bothered by noise issue as we didn't hear anything disturbing during our stay and we definitely slept soundly and comfortably every night - thanks to the bed and 10/10 sound-proofing! :)

There's a water disperser (hot and cold) on level 2 (near the entrance to the roof-top garden) as well as one (cold) beside the front desk, on top of a kettle in each room. You can help yourself to the complimentary snacks beside the front desk tho it wasn't replenished regularly. Huge, private parking space right in front of the hotel... so it's quite safe. Walkable (like less than 10mins) to quite alot of popular food joints, such as: New Lane street foodstalls (charcoal char koay teow, BBQ chicken wings, satay & chee cheong fun), Restoran Zim Sum (dim sum, porridge and noodles), Sister Yao's Char Koay Kak (MUST TRY!), and Richard Rivalee Nyonya Cuisine Restaurant (right opposite the hotel!). Easy to obtain Grab rides to anywhere too. I like how the hotel is located on slightly quiet street but still close to almost everywhere most tourists will need/visit. There's also a pharmacy within walkable distance. No need to bring your own toiletries as it's all - including room slippers - provided. You can also access radio channels on the TV which is great!

There's really nothing much I can nitpick on... and I will definitely return to this hotel if I visit the island again... but do note that there is no lift to access the second floor... which may be an issue for some so it's best to request for a room on the ground floor. Instead of plain water, maybe the hotel can explore serving juice/cordial as the 'complimentary' drink beside the front desk. Last but not least, maybe...

This is a really small hotel and that’s about it about this place. This hotel has been refurbished from some shop houses and given a modern feel, other than that there is nothing heritage about the hotel or rooms. Maybe the bedroom wardrobe with holes had a heritage feel (see photos).||We booked 4 rooms for 3 nights and were assigned 3 facing the road and a room without windows. ||Booking: as this is a small hotel as stated by the owner, deposit requires a bank transfer and payment in cash is prefer versus credit card. Upon checkin, the owner of the hotel has the audacity to tell us, such a small amount ($144) for tourism tax, you still want to charge to a credit card. ||Location: 7 of the 20 rooms faces a road that has traffic noise even late into the night. The poor sound insulation of the rooms makes it susceptible to the traffic noise for rooms facing the road. This is make worst as into the quiet night, a lone vehicle zooms pass the hotel. If you are a light sleeper, avoid this hotel at all costs.||Because this is a small hotel with a maximized layout, there are rooms next to the lobby toilet, and a few close to the staircase. The floors are tiled and not carpeted and noise cause by other guests movement travels. The only 2 rooms that has some form of noise insulation are rooms 19/20. Not to mention some rooms does not have windows. ||Security: the 3 rooms on the ground floor (room 1-3) facing the carpark is outside of the lobby and has no form of security except for 2 CCTV cameras. Basically just imagine your bedroom doors open to the carpark lots, if you have a concern for privacy n exposure avoid these rooms. This can be a concern for some. In addition, there are no night duty personnel (as stated in the notice) after midnight n anyone can access into the hotel as the front lobby door was never locked during our stay. ||For people driving and returning late, their car headlights will be shining into your room and the worst case may crash into your bedroom if they are highly intoxicated. Impossible is possible. ||I guess if you handicapped or cannot climb stairs, the carpark lot rooms will be the given choice. ||Maintenance: rooms are fairly maintained but some of the aging has started to show especially in the bathroom. This is less than 15yrs old hotel. |Bathroom had hitec weird lighting colors… Pink, Green n White, wonder what’s the designer kinky intention. ||At RM300 per night excluding taxes, look for other...