Oriental Hotel Penang — Hotel in George Town

DO NOT RECOMMEND! Worst hotel in our 2.5 month trip. We always search for the same requirement for each hotel at a similar price. This is by far the worst hotel we stayed at as we are comparing hotels of the similar range.

Arrived around 9pm for check in, waited 1 hour for check in as reception was dealing with another customer. We stood around waiting with no acknowledgement to us. When we finally got to the front desk, he asked us "what do we want?" in a not so friendly way. We literally stood there, both of us with 4 bags waiting patiently for 1 hour, you would possibly expect them to know 'what do we want?', if not a slight acknowledgement. To make things slightly worse, check in was also very slow. Everything is hand written and seems like I was back in the 1950's. Everything was written in note pads and manually completed.

Finally arrived in our room and the wifi was not accessible. This is not an option for us as we need it for our online business. We went down and asked for some help. We said we can access outside the room okay but inside the room it's not possible to even find the wifi signal. The receptionist told us 'just keep the door open' which was a surprise response to us which we didn't expect. Finally, we suggested changing rooms to which they agreed. We got put into another room which was eventually worse than the first room.

In summary, the second room had a fridge which was totally broken and not usable (the whole door was bent and didn't seal), the Wi-Fi dropped in and out but could access 'sometimes' but worst of all, the windows had absolutely no soundproofing. We could hear the ‘techno beer garden’ (500m away) all night until 2-4am. This was unbearable and we had to sleep with headphones in.

During our stay, we asked for toilet paper and water to be delivered as we do not request for our room to be cleaned daily. This also took 3 requests to reception in which they brought us water and 'towels'. There is no secure parking for cars or bikes. We were told to park on the sidewalk by 'housekeeping' and reception (ironically the same man from check in). I asked if he could help to find a better solution nearby even if we had to pay a fee. We got the response, 'I do not know, I do not ride a bike, I cannot help you at all', all whilst looking down at whatever he was doing.

Lastly on check out, we were asked to change money for our deposit as they didn't have change. Usually during our stays in SE Asia, the original deposit is placed in a secured envelope in which is given back to the customer, in this case, it was again done by a notepad which was hand written for all the people that had checked in that hotel. This is more of a security and professional aspect of basic services that you provide to a customer.

Couple of petty items in there however this is truly the worst hotel we stayed at and we HIGHLY DO NOT RECOMMEND this hotel until something is fixed in particular the staffing, wifi and noise. We can usually put up with some aspects considering the price we are paying and the area of the world we are in (check our other reviews) but this is a totally unacceptable...

If I were to describe this place in three words it would be Nostalgic, Comfortable and Economical.

Having stayed in hotel rooms half of my life (I might be exaggerating a little) from the super luxurious high end resorts to the places (or spaces) you would liken to a coffin, this place would make it on my top 10 list of must stay hotels in Penang.

As soon as you step into the hotel, it's like a blast from the past. Suddenly, I felt like a little boy with mum and dad checking in at the hotel. Even though I have never stayed at this hotel when I was a kid, it brought back childhood memories of hotels in the past.

There's a classic contemporary feel in this hotel. Rooms are super spacious, have undergone recent refurbishment and the bathrooms look gorgeous. The TV size is less than 30 inches, comes with limited local channels but there's more to see just down the road from this place so why stay in and watch the telly right?

The refrigerator is about 4 ft tall probably enough to store up for a week or so. The bed gave me a really good night's sleep. Just a reminder about the Daikin built in AC they have, it's super chilly, be prepared with your long johns as it's going to be quite nippy.

The view from the top was stunning and if you're on a tight budget and looking for a place in town close to local hot spots, this is the place to be.

The staff at the front desk was so friendly and pleasant. She had a great work attitude and we were checked in under 5 minutes. She must be part of the Gonzalez family. Excellent service and assistance provided.

Parking's in the back, if you're not sure just check with the front desk. There's a laundromat right outside the hotel next to the parking lot.

All in all, I would say, don't judge a book by it's cover. I took a leap of faith and yes while the outward appearance of this place is nothing to brag about, the interior certainly has a distinctive character. The furniture and telephone in the rooms are really classic. Even the switches reminded me of the good ol' days.

No complains about the housekeeping whatsoever. The room was in immaculate condition. Muy Bueno.

Arigato, Merci, Dhanyavad, Syukraan, Terima Kasih, Gracias, Obrigado, Xie Xie, Nandre, Khop Khun,...

1)This is the WORST HOTEL I experienced during my years of travel in terms of Customer Service and Cleanliness !!2)When I checked in on 17Aug2023 late noon I was given a room (room No 709. 7 floor), which was NOT CLEANED. The Room STINKS and the stench came from the toilet bowl, which is FULL of SHITS !! I went to Front Desk and informed the staff (late aged man: ARROGANT. UNFRIENDLY....), who assigned this room to me. He Told me, go see the house keeping, this is NOT his concern. Luckily an Indian man appeared, went and check the room and AGREED the room is Flirty and gave me No707 room !!3)When I check out on 21Aug2023. I request Front Desk for Private transport to PENANG AIRPORT. A female (Philly?) inform M$65 for a GRAB. I checked and found GRAB Charges ONLY M$19+. She refused to reduce the fare and asked me to book GRAB Myself; and OFF the WIFI , so I UNABLE to book. I went out of the hotel and seek HELP and got a GRAB to airport @M$19+ !!3)I was told Hotel Top Management aware of these, BUT NOT BOTHER !!4)Spent MUCH Time doing this FEEDBACK to HELP (RECKON TRIP.COM should check on this hotel and de-lit from Your DATA BASE) FUTURE POTENTIAL...