Parkroyal Penang, Malaysia

When looking for accommodation in Penang there are 2 popular places to stay - the city of Georgetown or at one of the resort Hotels at the popular Batu Ferringhi Beach on the western side of the Island.

We chose the Parkroyal, Penang and were happy with our stay.

It is located in a great spot right on the lovely Batu Ferranghi beach, has a nice pool, beach bar, friendly staff, free Wifi (however it was very slow) and a great buffet breakfast.

The night markets and hawker stalls were just outside the hotel and you could walk along the beach to the left and find a maze of nice cafes and restaurants for dinner.

We would definately stay here again or at the Golden Sands up the road as that looked nice too.

I fully agreed Dundalkspur that Park Royal Hotel Penang practised double standard. Some years ago I too was assigned to a room close to the kitchen although the same rate was paid by a caucasian guest. Tendency of Malaysian operators giving preferential treatment to whites is disgusting.

We were very happy staying at this hotel. It is situated virtually on the beach, and is surrounded by magnificent tropical gardens. The pool is huge, and very inviting. Our room was very comfortable, and a good size, with a balcony overlooking the gardens and beach.
The service is excellent. Effeicient without being intrusive.
There are two restuarants, a la carte and buffet-style. We chose the buffet. It was very good value.
The decor is typically Malaysian- very attractive, with dark wood abundant.
There is a band playing in the inner courtyard every evening, with impromtu karaoke.
Beach sports are popular- para-sailing, kayaking, jet-skis and volleyball
The gardens, facing the beach, have plenty of sunbeds- if you wish to work on a tan. Snacks & drinks are available until 9pm around the pool. There is also an outdoor 'bar' next to the pool.
There are a few shops inside the hotel- quite expensive, but I found a lovely swimsuit at the beachware shop- the name escapes me.
An outdoor market is situated almost right outside the hotel, where we found some great clothing bargains. Shoes, bags, clothing etc available really cheaply. Also Malaysian batik shoes and sarongs.

Unique Quality: The views, especially at sunset, are truly sublime.
We enjoyed being able to meander down to the beach, have a long walk, and then comeback for a swim in the pool.
Internet connection & TV available in room

Directions: Batu Feringhi Beach

Stay was great! The hotel has 2 pools (1 with water slides) which my kids (ages 8 & 10) loved. There was also a good selection of water sports (with reasonable prices) provided by the hotel at the beach which is just outside the hotel grounds. Most of the staff were good: polite and very friendly. Night market just outside the hotel made it very convenient for shopping.

Unique Quality: Hotel has good-sized family rooms which comes with 1 king and 1 queen bed. Our family room had a good seaview. Room amenities were everything you would expect of a 4-5 star hotel. The hotel has a kids room -- the Koko Nut Club. There are child minders who would take care of the kids and organize indoor activities. The room has board games, a mini pool table, wii, movies and books etc to occupy the children. Best of all, there is no extra charge for the service (except for material costs if your child wants to do some handicraft such as key-chain making or flower vase painting).

I had a seaview room on the 5th fllor overlooking the magnificent view of beach and sea. The room itself was just delightful, the bathroom was lovely with nice toiletries from St Gregory's Spa, spacious bedroom and great balcony. Service at this hotel was excellent!
The entrance lobby of the hotel is good enough for you to go "Wow!" and you know its going to be a great place! The lobby lounge was very spacious with cool breezes blowing through from the beach, lots of nice sofas and cushions.
Great place to stay for a short beach holiday.

I was very dissopointed with this hotel after reading all the good reviews on it before hand!
I was very unhappy with the room allocation -we had to change rooms 3 times , dirty , no views , damp .
I booked a partial sea view room and being an indian was disgusted that the hotel gave free upgrades to Australians to deluxe and grand deluxe when they booked the basic room!!!
We were intially given a dirty room ,no views on top of the kithchen , then moved to a room with no view ,them moved to a room where you cannnot sleep due to the bar singers !!!!!!!
The colurs and the state of the hotel was very poor!

Unique Quality: breakfasts ,near all eateries,buses,beach

Our kids could not get enough of the waterslide. Climbing those steps was good excercise for them too.

Unique Quality: The slide was so big it even fitted adults on too.

Our Family sized room had the best decor. We fell in love with it and all the space we had.

Unique Quality: Loads of cupboards, an ironing board too. a small balcony overlooking the water slide. Free newspaper at our door each morning. Plenty or toiletries and lots of fresh towels. Great choice of tv channels.

This hotel cannot be praised enough in my books. It has the lot!! Great sized family rooms which contain a king sized bed and a queen sized bed. A very spacious bathroom . Plenty of cupborad space to really spread out all the stuff you've brought or bought while on holiday. There are two pools one for the kids with a great big water slide and a quiter relaxing pool for the grown ups. Those that want also have easy acces to the beach. There are plenty of chairs and louge chairs by the pool or on the grass overlooking the beach. There is a spa, tennis courts, gym , kids club , shopping arcade, hair salon and water sports down on the beach. I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone its suits families of all ages & sizes.

Unique Quality: The pools were the greatest hit with our kids but it's also the little features that add up. The great buffet breakfast, the wonderful bars & restaurant by the pool. The close proximity to the night market that runs every night. Loads of local shops and restaurants just outside your door. Easy access to taxis and buses just outside on the main street.

Directions: On the main batu ferringhi beach road next door to the holliday villa

This extremely comfortable hotel was well designed so that there was little noise from other rooms, and the late night music in the lounge was only audible when the balcony doors were open. It was dark when we arrived, but with morning we had a superb view across the pool and gardens to the sea.
The main pool was intended to be for adults, and there was another large children's pool with a toddlers' area. The main pool sloped down to deep water in the main part and the garden was designed so that some part of the pool was always in shade. It was spotlessly clean, and not heavily chlorinated. Provided we went down early, it was possible to swim lengths across the pool, a distance of perhaps 18 metres, though there were no lane markings! For most of the time people did a gentle breaststroke (around the island was a popular course) or wallowed by the edges talking. There were lifeguards on duty, although I didn't see them do very much. As in most resorts, people had their favourite lounges and would 'book' them with pool towels fairly early in the day. Pool towels appeared to be plentiful and were constantly washed and replaced, so most people seemed to take 2, one for drying and the other to line the lounge. Each day the lounges would be freshly arranged in pairs with a table, complete with menu and little flag, between the two, but guests soon would spoil the orderly arrangement, grouping more together, moving them in to the sun or following the shade. The flags were waved to summon service which was attentive, although, like most hotels, the prices were far higher than a few metres away outside.
Breakfast was not included in our package and apart from occasional drinks and an odd snack we ate outside the hotel so we did not sample the hotel's food.

Unique Quality: Unlike many hotels, tea and coffee making facilities were provided in the room, along with a jug for storing boiled water to refill drink bottles. We were provided with a newspaper and 2 complimentary bottles of water daily, and when our rooms were made up, fresh cookies were left.
The bathroom provided toiletries, and there were the usual showercaps and sewing kits and satellite TV. As well as the usual hotel laundry service, there were coin operated washers and dryers in the basement, a very useful service.
All the staff we encountered from the maids cleaning the rooms to the pool staff were friendly, courteous and service oriented. After my accident, when we were unable to extend our stay because the hotel was booked out, the desk staff called around for sometime before negotiating a good deal at another hotel.