Eastern And Oriental Hotel, Penang

Great stay, amazing room!

Excellent hotel for location, history and amenities. My only complaint is the lack of training on how to handle mistakes. I realize I am in SE Asia but when something bad happens to a guest, the hotel needs to take ownership and respond. I arranged a tour with the hotel in which the driver did not speak English, got into an accident on the way to the destination, and then abandoned us at the location. The hotel’s response was “here’s the company’s number if you want to talk to them” and “so sorry.” If you want to be a five star hotel, you need to lead with service.

Beautiful colonial style hotel reminiscent of The Oriental Bangkok and The Raffles Singapore (also opened by the Sarkies brothers). Location is perfect and amenities are plentiful. Check-in process was very professional and smooth. My only complaint was how a tour problem was handled. We booked an SUV to the top of Penang Hill because the train was closed that week for service. The driver spoke no English, got into an accident on the way to the hill and stranded us at the top for almost an hour. Luckily I was able to connect to internet at the top and the hotel informed me that he was “at the top” which was not true. He was generating a side fare and driving someone else. The amount paid is 10 times the amount of the train. We were given no instructions on where to go - only “be here at this time.” We wasted an hour waiting for him, which could have been spent exploring. When I told the hotel, they told me to call the company. I advised that since the hotel provided me with the company, that they should handle it. Their response of handling it was “so sorry” and that was it. Hotels are often chosen by amenities and/or location, which this hotel has, but it is defined by service. Everything was handled well while we were there but it was obvious that some of the staff were not trained on how to handle problems. I still like the hotel but I’m just disappointed that they did not handle it better.

Amazing hotel with history

Room smells bad, also the double bed is like a baby bed, too small. Great swimming pool, good breakfast.