Royal Penang Hotel

All in all, the stay at Royal Penang Hotel during our Penang trip was a pleasant one. This was the second time we been to the place, the first some three years back, when the hotel was known as Dorsett Penang. It was not a bad hotel back then, when my sister Julia and her family also came along during the stay, and Irfan was dipped under water during one of the swim. He was traumatised then and for the following year and a half, refused to enter a swimming pool. He was only two then. He got over it now.

Same as the last time, we had the apartment suite, which was huge. And we also had the partition door to the next room opened, for our maid to stay. This time around, my parents used the next room. And my sister was not with us for this trip. The suite consisted of three separate areas, the living room with a lounge and dining area, plus a small kitchenette with sink, a microwave oven and a full size refrigerator. The second area, the biggest was the bedroom, with a king-sized bed, sofa, another TV and a small study table. The last was the dressing area, with a walk-in closet and the bathroom. There was also a balcony there but the door was locked for security reason. Basically, the room was huge. And with the next room was also opened up, the boys kept running from one end to another.

The main bedroomThe whole length of the room, going into my parents room next door. Irfan was running from one end to the next.The main living area, with a dining table to seat four, and the main lounge.The balcony from the dressing areaWe were there for a three nights. Certainly, room-wise, there was nothing to complain about. Very comfortable and spacious. The only problem we had was the cleaners were a bit slow to clean our room. In fact, we had to call housekeeping on our second day to get the cleaners in. Another issue was the limited parking space that they provide. Although it was free and covered, I counted that there were at most 40 slots. In a 20-storey hotel, I thought that they should provide more.

Food was just average. Breakfast was just OK, nothing special to mention. It was enough for us, although they charged Idlan at children's rate. Apparently, the suite only comes with a couple of breakfast vouchers.

The cute kitchenette with the fridge and microwave oven.And Irfan was still at it .....the pool on the fourth floorNext, the swimming pool. It was pretty basic. There was no life-guard and no drinks served by the pool. The gym located on the same floor was closed for renovation. Surprisingly, there was no spa at the hotel.

The hotel offered discount for government servants, an all it took was for me to show my UM identification card. We got something like 20% off, which made a lot of difference. We hardly sampled any of the hotel meals as this being Penang, there were plenty of food everywhere, not to mention a KFC outlet located right across the street from the hotel. The hotel also has a connecting bridge to Penang Plaza right next door for food and shopping. The TV offered all the terrestrial channels plus Disney, one movie and one sports channel. Our suite had a DVD player should we fancy watching something.

The strategic location of the hotel, being right smack in the middle of Georgetown made it definitely worth considering again when we come back. Our usual place to stay was along Gurney Drive, but this time around, with the change of management, we decided to give this place another go. Compared to when it used to be called Dorsett, there had been hardly any change. Should you want to find out more about the hotel, please click here. And more stories about this trip here.

The Journey Up

After stopping over at AL-Manar to pick up Idlan’s report card and at Bukit Antarabangsa to pick up my Mum, we were off as planned to Penang. We stopped at a couple of spots - Tapah to fill up our tummy and Bukit Merah to empty Idlan’s bladder. But on the whole, the journey was very smooth. We got to Penang in time for some nasi kandar lunch, but checking into the hotel was a bit of a pain. As expected, our booking was messed up and the room they initially put us in did not have a connecting door.

After a couple of phonecalls and calling out the on-duty manager, we got what we ordered for, an apartment suite for us, connected to a deluxe room for my parents. It worked out great in the end.

Waiting for the main room to be cleanedIdlan filling the time doing some construction workFinally, we got ourselves unpacked. The weather was a bit on the gloomy side. Hopefully it won’t rain as we were planning to have dinner by the esplanade later tonight. I wanted my fix of laksa and ‘kangkong sotong’. Time permitting, we might drop by my Grandmother’s place as well to check on her.

We would see how things go out overnight. We might be traveling around the island - butterfly park maybe?

The Morning After

Idlan's fever settled by the morning and he was back to his usual self by the time we had breakfast. Suffice to say, it was chaotic at breakfast, mainly due to the venue being ill-prepared for the number of hotel visitors coming down for the buffet. We arrived at around 9.00 which was relatively early judging from the commotion happening right afterward especially from the Middle East visitors. I will leave the rest to your imaginations.

The weather was gorgeous in the morning. The boys got their bubble guns out and started to spray the place with bubbles. The morning walk was really nice. We quickly got back up to the rooms, got our stuffs into the van and back down to the main lobby to hang around for a few more minutes, absorbing the fresh air and calm ambiance. Colmar was certainly magically on a sunny Sunday morning like it was earlier today. We then took a pleasant drive back down to KL, stopping by to visit an ill relative on the way back home. Idlan started to develop temperature again, so back to the medicines.

The boys were more settled in the afternoon, so myself and Anita took time to do some shopping and went to the bank to settle my credit cards bill and the lot. I then went to Low Yat, and my God, the place was hectic. I stopped over at the Apple store to pick up a charger for my Mac Air, but apart from that, the whole afternoon was a blur. Unwanted to have a closer look at the Nexus S but most of the vendors kept confusing it with Galaxy S. I gave up after half an hour trying before joining Anita with her shopping.

The boys were now being put to sleep while I was preparing my slides for next weekend's talk in Yangon. Suffice to say, it would be struggle to complete then by the morning, but at least I have got the idea about what to talk about. The photos from Colmar would have to wait for the time being.

Arriving at Colmar

After a couple of trips to Colmar in the last few months, we decided to actually stay there one of these weekends and since I will be in Yangon next weekend, we decided to head up there yesterday.

We called the evening before to book a room, but was told to just head up there and talk to the reception as there were plenty of rooms still available and the room rate differs depending on the occupancy. Hmmm! That might be a sign that maybe the place was not as popular as we thought it was.

Staying the night, we were spoilt for choice in terms of which type of room to take. It was mainly a toss up between the family suite - two bedroom with king-sized beds or a one-bedroom suite - one room, a lounge and pantry. We went for the suit instead and it was cheaper the cheaper option as it turned out.

After settling into the room - which was well-kept but was showing its age - it was time to explore the resort. Pity. It turned out that the Japanese and Botanical Gardens were closed for renovations. A vital piece of information I thought in deciding sheathed to come or not! We were left to stay inside the resort - went to the swimming pool, had some food and other activities such as arts before going to the rabbit farm again.

Dinner was disappointing as we opted for the buffet and it turned out that we were a bit too early. The grills were not yet ready and there were not much selection for the kids. We were also not allowed to order ala carte there. Luckily the restaurant manager understood and did not charge the kids for the buffet. We went to our room to order room service.

There were still hive of activities late on at the resort. We went for a stroll after 9pm, had some desert, walk up the towers to get a better view. There were street magicians and fire eater putting up a show there. The games rooms were still open and were packed. There were also a show - a rather lame one by a Russian dance troupe - appropriately called the Russian Roulette. You can't get anymore tacky than that.

It was 3am when I wrote this entry as we were woken up by Idlan as he had a high fever. He was not back to sleep after some paracetamol. He nay have caught a cough from the maids. Luckily it was right after his assessment. It looked like we would beheading back home a bit earlier than planned tomorrow morning, all depending on how he felt first thing.

As I was yet to get the photos looked at, I thought I would sort my entries into a few headings later - the good, the bad and the photos. Watch this space. I need some sleep now.

The first few hours

The investment were really working up a treat. The boys and their iPads were inseparable. Idlan has just fallen asleep allowing Anita to have a chance to surf.

After a couple of hours on the pads, the boys were more taken to the Redshift app, about planets and the Solar System rather the games. It looks like I will have to look for more of those educational apps to get them going, and more games for Daddy.

So the first few hours were as we expected. Excited. At times eager to explore but failing miserably added to the odd tantrums.