Holiday Inn Resort Penang

January 11, 2013

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Words)

Ok, let's sambung from my previous entry here.

Since we did nothing much on the first day except enjoying and relaxing ourselves in the room, so this entry is mainly a review about the hotel itself.

Checking-in to this hotel is generally straightforward but we were told that two out of three rooms that I booked weren't ready and we would have to wait. However, they made the waiting-time more comfortable by offering the complimentary drinks, so fine then. Asked the bellman to store our luggage and decided to kill time by enjoying the free drinks at the coffee house and later exploring the hotel area. Rooms were finally ready only after 40 minutes. -_____-"

By the way, I made the booking through Hotel Travel website; mainly because they offered the cheapest rate at that point of time (room plus breakfast). Not sure if this has got to do with a luck thing but I always find my best rate right here. Hehe.

Staff

Friendly and attentive EXCEPT those in Children Playroom! Trust me, they should not be the ones to handle the kids! Anyway, 5 stars given to all coffee house - waiter and waitress, because they were all fast on feet yet still provide a courteous service. Imagine the hotel full occupancy rate and the number of people they have to serve during breakfast, but they just made it efficiently. *Clap! Clap!*

Room

Clean, tidy, super comfy beds (two queen sized beds in the room), spacious, quiet (surprisingly because our room is on the beach wing facing the main road) and all the good nice things that you can expect from a newly renovated room ;) Perfect.

What else in the room? Tea-coffee making facilities, mineral water bottles, in room safe, hair dryer, flat screen TV with Disney channel (most important hehe), complimentary toiletries, mini fridge, extra towels, extra pillows, iron and ironing board, all included. Just the perfect way to make our stay pleasant. :)

We decided to stay on the beach wing even though many people suggested the tower wing for its beautiful sea view rooms. But since we are family with two active little boys, staying on the beach wing seem to be more practical and manageable as it houses all the main facilities; coffee house, children playroom, swimming pool and of course, easy access to the beach itself. For info, beach and tower wings are separated by the main road but worry not, there is overhead bridge connecting these two.

Facilities

Medium sized adult's pool but it seems too packed during this full-booked-season. Kids pool? Gone case, just too small for every kids to go in. Some kids may have to swim in the adult's pool with floaties. T____T

Beach area; no designated swimming area and we have to be extra careful due to the paragliding activity going on there. Cleanliness? So-so but acceptable. What most important, my kids enjoyed their whole time there.

Children Playroom

This is the only NEGATIVE point that I would like to highlight here. Not many things for my kids to play with except those self paid ones like clay/tshirt/keychain painting stuff. But this is not an issue here. The main issue here is about their UNFRIENDLY and IMPOLITE staff which definitely act beyond my tolerable limit. And they totally pushed my angry button on when the staff asked Aiman (in a very harsh manner) to clean up the mess he made! Come on, he is just TWO YEARS OLD and its hotel's children PLAYROOM after all! Which logically kids are allowed to play in anyway they like, regardless the mess that they possibly make (unless its dangerous), right? Aiman, he just dumped out the entire basket full of toys but that was all! Jumble of toys, so what? However, in less than 5 minutes, that lady came said, "kemas balik, takmau sepah-sepah" (clean up the toys otherwise it will be messy) ANGRY! ANGRY! We have been to many hotels before hence the experience in several kids playroom as well, but this one is totally the worst!

Not only that, I witnessed on how this lady chase out a group of kids (not locals, probably age 10-12) because there were making too much noise and jumping excitedly on the bean bags. Seriously??? This is so unacceptable. Ok, there is more. This lady, later on decided to lock the door from inside and pretend not see nor hear any parent who knocks the clear window so that they can get in as well. So yes, I was the one who has to open the door after one another, because I was already there inside. I bet she is just damn lazy to entertain more kids and to clean up more mess. Unfortunately, I didn't get the chance to check on her name, but she was the one on duty on 29th December 2012 around 5-7pm. I seriously hope that management can do something with her, if she is still around. Indian girl by the way. Maybe to place her in some other department but please not under kids playroom.

Food

Breakfast was good, big spread, variety of foods but coffee house was a bit crowded, probably due to Christmas & Year End week. Owh, their omelette is seriously one of the best I had so far. With EXTRA EXTRA cheese inside! Hehe.

Location

Perfect! Just right smack in the middle of Batu Feringgi area and the night market too.Many eateries around including The Ship (western) and Tarbush (middle east) just next to the hotel. Mini market, convenient stores and laundry shop is just a stone's throw away.

Conclusion?

Satisfied but not totally impressed. Still, we totally enjoyed the stay and would definitely recommend this hotel to others :)