The Southern Boutique Hotel — Hotel in George Town

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Not recommended for female and/or anyone who needs privacy and security

On Jan 28, close to midnight, friend and I was in the room, one sleeping and one having shower (the whole bathroom is glass made, people can see thru inside if curtain is not all closed). Both of us heard our door was being scanned and subsequently being opened. (There is no door knocked beforehand) We were shocked and we shouted then we heard a guy said “sorry sorry” but we did not manage to see who did it and that night, we used a chair to block the door as we were scared.

The next day, we approached Malay receptionist (male) he was the one who welcomed us on the first day, I told him what had happened last night so he checked the CCTV and noticed that the night shift Chinese staff (male) did it.

An Indian staff (male) explained to us that the Chinese staff wanted to check another room but accidentally used his staff card to open our door.

Seriously, who the hell will check the room at around 12am

The Indian male staff said he could arrange the Chinese guy explain to us together with the hotel Manager - Vincent. My view is, all these male staff really did not know the seriousness of this issue. They look at this just as a few seconds incident but this impact and phobia to female would last for long. The video has shown their staff opened the door, this is the fact. No matter what the hotel staff trying to clarify, this hotel should still bear the responsibility. Say sorry really no cure.

Indian staff started to talk about what they could do to the Chinese staff but I am not shareholder of this hotel. I seriously not interested to know how they gonna train their staff so I asked “what you gonna do with your customer now”. The Indian staff said “no” so no means what. He only keep telling me that he is sorry about this

I understand the customer right, some hotel would offer full refund + voucher as the compensation but this hotel does not want to go to this route. He did not offer but keep asking us how do we want to resolve this. In my view, the hotel staff and the management should provide solution to customer not the other way round (again, don’t keep talking about how you gonna train your staff). So, after a bit tiring of listening to the same things they said, I propose “refund”. And he agreed partial refund. Now, on this matter, I seriously think that the refund request should not come from the customer.

Both me and my friend discussed about it further and decided not to even get the refund, as this is not about money can settle our uneasy feeling/ phobia. Imagine today, you were a solo traveller and you were having shower (naked) in the glass made bathroom with your curtain open, and the male staff “accidentally” opened the door again without anyone shouted at him and he stepped inside to the room. This will be a harassment incident, CCTV showed, enough evidence, can be a court case.

From female perspective, we step up and voice out. We don’t wish to see any more victims like us. Indian staff (male) explained to us that this is the first time and will be the last time, we want to raise a red flag here to alert you all, if you experience the same with this hotel, it’s definitely not the first or last case. Me and my friend just found out that there was similar incident happened in Jan, 2020. See...

Deluxe room facing the street (WARNING READ THIS IF YOU GET THIS ROOM)

If you are in one of these make sure you are shown it first. The ones that point towards the street have no sound proofing, no glass , they are just wooden shutters. Be clear you do not want the room and would instead like another not facing the street or with glass sound proofing. If you don't do so, you will hear everything at night and will not be able to sleep. The room is otherwise really beautifully done, matt black all over the toilet piping and the beds are sumer comfortable. Big screen TV with 15 channels a few sports and an English one that plays US TV and sports. And comes with a mini fridge which only gets cold if you leave the access door to the fridge open. There is a digital safety deposit box that can fit a laptop and a few personal belongings. The shower is in the same room at the toilet so be prepared for wet feet or sandles. And the room doesn't come with hand towels or hand soap, so you may have to ask for extra hair towel too if you need one. Bed is semi hard, but comfortable enough.

Superior room facing the food court

Everything is the same as deluxe but is smaller, there is no safe and no fridge. But you do get to sleep at night because they have sound proof windows that cut out alot more sound. It's strange that a cheaper room has this one thing that the downstairs rooms lack. It's a real miscalculation by the owners of this hotel, as we heard several people complain of no sleep in the Deluxe rooms. They still try and get people to sleep in them. This will surely tarnish this young hotels reputation. I suggest to the owners they get some sound proofing before the rating really gets ruined.

Other facilities of the hotel

There is a great coffee machine that makes the best chocolate tea and peach tea! I recommend you try it out. There is a roof top seating area to enjoy the sun.

The day staff Excellent, really well mannered, they provide excellent service and try their best to resolve all issues! They make this review not fall to a 1.

The night staff Horrific, nightmare people with no understanding of hospitality and management. The first night we stayed in the Deluxe room we learnt of the poor sound proofing of the room.

Look at my trip advisor for the open letter...

I never write reviews, however I feel the need to share my experience at this hotel, which is arguably the worst hotel I’ve ever stayed in.

The price we paid was good, but what we got in return is enough to put me, and I’m sure others off staying again.

Firstly the sound proofing is none-existent. There are shutters on the windows that you can close and a window that has a single pane of glass that keeps absolutely no noise out. This is ok during the day, but the location of the hotel is close to a nearby food court, which from around 9pm - 1am has live music that you can hear so clearly, it’s like they’re in the room with you. Therefore sleep is near on impossible before 1am unless you bring ear plugs.

You can also hear noise from the corridor right through the doors, so anyone walking past does cause some disturbance, no matter how quiet they are.

The walls had very visible yellowish stains on them, and could really do with a touch up.

The bedding seemed clean in first inspection, but there are very visible stains if you are in the bed and looking at the bedding.

The shower / toilet was in one room, and was so close together that once you had a shower, the whole toilet was wet, including the floor, so made it impossible to use after a shower. Minor inconvenience, but an inconvenience nonetheless.

Lastly, we were there for 3 nights, and were in and out of the hotel fairly regularly, and only saw the receptionists on three occasions, luckily two of those times were for check-in and check-out. We wanted another room key, but on a number of occasions I went down to ask, and there was a sign out saying they were on a break the sign told people to WhatsApp them if they needed and assistance, which is a real issue if you wanted something as you’re walking past.

Overall verdict is if you want a stay with basic comforts of a hotel that includes good sleep and being able to talk to a staff member, do...