George Town, Penang has too many things to offer, many places to be explored, that one-time visit is never enough. So, during the Chinese New Year earlier this year (yes, I know, this post is uber-late), I revisited this city with my college friends to catch up with each other. Since we were only a group of three, we decided to stay in a hotel for our convenience, as well to satisfy our needs of enjoying good hotel design.
We chose to stay at G Hotel Kelawai—a rather new hotel in Penang that is located between two of the most distinguished shopping malls in Penang, the newer Gurney Paragon, as well as the older Gurney Plaza. Better yet, G Hotel Kelawai stands just a block away from the ever-crowded Jalan Burma that staying here will assure a boring-free exploration of its surrounding.
But if you are like me, that sometimes, you just need to relax and indulge within the hotel, G Hotel Kelawai has a lot to offer. As we booked an Executive Premiere Room for our stay, we are entitled to access the club lounge which is a very nice touch to our whole stay.
Because of its prominent location and obvious branding, finding this hotel on our arrival is easy. We entered the property through the main entrance and directly welcomed by a dark yet glamour interior design. Black and bronze color plays an important role of the interior ambiance here. And since it was just days after Chinese New Year, a blazing red installation of lanterns beautifully stood as the centerpiece of the lobby. Love it!
We checked-in through the ground floor receptionist, although as club guests, you could opt to check-in on the more exclusive, more private club floor. I forgot why we chose to check-in there, but nevertheless, the process was hassle-free, and we were offered ice cream as club guests—a nice gesture but might be better if we were escorted directly to the club floor for the check-in process.
Entering our own room was like a child that could not wait to unwrap his gift—we couldn’t wait to examine every detail, nook and cranny, of this 45 square meter room and how it is designed. Does it worth to be labeled Executive Premier as a room? I think so.
With the room layout dividing the bed area and the toilet with the same length, the luxury of the room’s spaciousness was well-perceived. Moreover, with separate living, resting, and working area within the bedroom, the room is also designed to be efficient with no unplanned and empty corners. I love how the room design plays with the similar dark-colored finish I found in the lobby area. It gives the feeling of connectedness and contemporary-ish luxury throughout the hotel.
But, the highlight of this room, to me personally, was not the bedroom—it was the bathroom! Separated with a sliding door, the bathroom allowed me to feel like I was entering a wholly different and upscale luxury. It was bright thanks to the huge windows at the front-end of the room, also its prominent white-colored tile finishes. A nice touch is the bronze glass finish on one side of the wall as an accent to still connect the design with the hotel. When the sunlight seeps in and touches the interior, the bathroom gets even brighter and feels more luxurious. Ah, this is such a good example of how natural lighting could add dimensions to the design!
I also love to highlight the toiletries by Appelles Apothecary & Lab. The shampoo, with a lemongrass fragrance, was so soothing and elevate my bathing experience! G Hotel Kelawai sure knows how to pamper their guests with good toiletries product!
I could say, the toilet is almost perfect—the faucet, the shower, the bathtub, the toilet itself, all the sanity wares display luxury. With its rather affordable room rate for this kind of luxury, G Hotel Kelawai is my top choice if I ever travel here again, based on its bathroom itself.
Moving on—this hotel is not all about its guest room by the way—we spent quite a lot of our time here in the club lounge during our stay. Its location, to be honest, is not quite exclusive, positioned on the same floor with the rooftop bar and swimming pool. The swimming pool got quite busy on a certain time, which reduce the exclusivity of the club lounge. However, thankfully, the service, and the foods and drinks, offered during the afternoon tea and evening cocktail was redeeming enough.
I did not say that I couldn’t enjoy the rooftop swimming pool, rather, this area was also one of my favorite places within this compact hotel building. During the sunset and early evening, gazing and taking photographs of George Town surely was my favorite activity here.
I would not talk about my breakfast experience here as it was not that memorable, and I remembered the breakfast at the Spoon restaurant was the only letdown during my stay here. I understand that being a hotel in a city well-known for its culinary is a huge challenge for the hotel’s F&B team.
For travelers looking for a perfect location a abase while exploring Penang, G Hotel Kelawai might be a good choice, not far away from the city center, and a good starting point to explore Tanjung Tokong, Batu Feringgi, and beyond. As for design-geeks and staycation-goers, this hotel has enough amenities to please its guests.
