The Eastern and Oriental Hotel is more than 100 years old now, though it’s a bit like Trigger’s broom in that it’s all pretty much been replaced over the years. It’s an impressive piece of architecture, and that’s reflected inside as well, where it’s very grand. Each of the corridors is decorated with art, which sometimes took the form of photos of Penang, sometimes paintings, and sometimes ornate tiles.
We stayed in a studio suite, which is the smallest room available; it’s still very big (wife noted it even might have felt a bit too big, but I disagreed!). Ours was in the south west corner, meaning it had a view of the sea and of Penang Hill.
As you enter the room, there’s a surprisingly long corridor, leading to a wardrobe. From here the enormous bathroom is on the left, with the bedroom section on the right. This was the second consecutive place we stayed at which had separated his and hers sinks. Perhaps it’s a fashion these days. The bathroom had a claw foot bathtub and a separate shower too.
The bed was firm and comfortable, and sat opposite a very traditional looking…TV cabinet! This held a fridge with complimentary soft drinks, a Lavazza coffee machine, and a TV with a pretty ropey picture which had news, film, sport and local channels. There was also a very nice writing desk and a comfy armchair, plus a balcony. In addition, perhaps aiming at bonus points from me, there were some beautiful old maps of Southeast Asia on the wall.
On the ground floor, there is a shop selling souvenirs of Penang, a tailor, a barber, and a dressmaker, plus a little gallery of the history of the hotel. It’s quite a nice touch. Staff were mostly friendly, though a couple were a bit curt at times.
We ate dinner and breakfast at the hotel (the latter was included in the price), at the Sarkies restaurant which we had been to previously. I’ll update that review with a bit more detail shortly. In terms of recreation, there’s a gym, a spa, and a pool on the 6th floor. The pool has views of the sea, and a very weird sun lounger area so if you were to swim when it was busy, you’d feel like you were putting on a show.
The E&O is a very nice hotel, though the price is very high. We got a special deal, and it still felt a little more than I wanted to pay. It’s also deliberately old-fashioned, and the room seemed old even though the wing we were in was only built in about 2012. However, if you want this retro colonial style while being close to town, the E & O is an obvious choice if you have the cash.
Address: 10 Lebuh Farquhar, 10200 George Town, Penang
Telephone: 042222000
Website: https://www.eohotels.com
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