Advice on Penang

[homedriver]

You can always take a bus,cab or hire a driver. In my opinion,it is better to hire a driver to go around places in Penang such as Batu Ferringhi,Teluk Bahang,Balik Pulau as you will waste your time on the road if you take a bus.Bus will take a much longer time to reach a certain destination cuz there are so many bus stops to stop.

If you take a taxi/cab,the taxi driver will only drop you at your desired locations and just drove off. They won't wait for you.Even if they do,you will need to pay a hefty fare as the taxi driver will keep the taxi meter running while they wait for you.Plus,you need to wait and hire another taxi after you visit a particular attraction. The waiting time is super super long as taxi services is not as effective and fast as in Singapore.

As for hiring a personal driver,the driver will take you to anywhere that you wish to go while also wait for you outside until you are satisfy with your visit at a particular attraction even if you spend 2-3 hours at the same place.The driver won't drove off or keep the meter running while waiting for you and you can be assured that you won't be charge a hefty fare.Price is fixed and in addition, you also save your travel time while enjoy visiting many places,get to explore more local food as alot of delicious and cheap local food are hidden and only known by the locals.Taxi and buses surely won't be able to take you there.Hiring a driver makes you feel like a boss!

There are few choices of car/mini van that you can hire.If you are looking at budget tour around Penang Island,you can request for a Pregio mini van which only cost RM 450/day for a 10 hours tour around Penang Island. If budget is not your main concern,then you can hire a Toyota Alphard which cost RM 1600 for 3 days of 10 hours/day tour.

Thanks again for your fruitful comment.

 

[Bak_Chor_Mee]

Hi i am selling away a 3 night stay accomodation (DOUBLE ROOM) booking at Armenian Street Heritage Hotel. Due to unforeseen circumstances, i can't make it on that period of the month. The stay will be from November 4th - 7th. Bought it at $225sgd (563.50MYR).. willing to let it go for half the price.

Armenian Street Heritage Hotel

Hotel is located just beside the Georgetown World Heritage, and it is conveniently located to most of the art murals. There are many cafes in the areas too.

I have also just called up the hotel, they say the dates or room can be changed, but there will be a 30MYR cancellation charge. It will be deducted from the 563MYR. It is a good deal as you only need to pay me half price, but get the desired dates you want since there is already a 530MYR payment made. You will just have to top up yourself if you decide to increase the number of days.

Please PM me if you're interested. We can try to work something out.

 

[Andrew Lee]

Hmm... so if don't mind to pay a bit more, trader is better choice than sunway.

Hey bro,why stay in a Hotel? You will know why I asked so after you read this article: Riley The Airbnb Addict Explains Why She Never Stays In Hotels Anymore - Vulcan Post

 

[Andrew Lee]

Take cab travel or book driver cheaper in penang? Let says 3 places per day. NearBy area we can just walk.

Firstly,the mode of transport from the airport to hotel. 3 modes:
1. Bus: Cheapest mode but longest time. Takes 1 hour to reach town area if you are staying in town as in Georgetown under normal traffic condition. Around 1 hour 30 mins if you stay around Gurney Drive.

2. Cab: Tickets can be purchased from one of the counters located at Penang Airport. There are two counters there which is clearly visible upon coming out from the Arrival Gate. But for 5 person, the fare will be RM 60 for ONE way to Georgetown. Two way will be RM 120! If you choose to stay at Gurney Drive, it will be RM 160 for Two ways. Takes about 40 mins to Georgetown and 55 mins to Gurney Drive under normal traffic condition.

3. Hire a driver with Free & Easy tour around Penang Island in a 7 seater MPV. Faster,comfortable and cooling MPV for you and your families.Usually if you take this Free & Easy tour around Penang Island with driver, they will provide a FREE TWO WAY Airport transfer for you and your families! So you save up to RM 160 just for the Airport transfer alone which really bo hua. Journey takes about 30 mins to Georgetown and 45 mins to Gurney Drive under normal traffic condition.

 

[wudimax]

Anyone know in penang, is there any furniture or electronics fair upcoming?

 

[Andrew Lee]

Anyone know in penang, is there any furniture or electronics fair upcoming?

Don't think so.Probably might need to wait till Dec. You are planning to go there to buy some furnitures and electronics? Actually, most of the time it is NOT much cheaper to buy furnitures or electronics during fair. Go around SME furniture and electronic shop and you will find prices are cheaper or same as during the fair.Surprise right but this is true!

The items on sale looks 'cheaper' cuz of the atmosphere.

 

[chehjin]

Anyone know in penang, is there any furniture or electronics fair upcoming?

don't bother. the prices are not very competitive plus some of the bigger fairs are located some distance away.

 

[Aresden]

i wanna solo travel to Msia prolly nxt month, pardon my ignorance but..why penang such a hot place to go uh? Other than penang, where should i, a street food lover go?
With much thanks....

 

[chehjin]

i wanna solo travel to Msia prolly nxt month, pardon my ignorance but..why penang such a hot place to go uh? Other than penang, where should i, a street food lover go?
With much thanks....

well, for 2 things, for the western crowd, it is most likely becos of the UNESCO status it just received.

for asian crowd, some attracted after watching the TVB drama which was filmed there or xiao niang re.

besides, its a inexpensive place for a quick holiday

 

[withluck]

well, for 2 things, for the western crowd, it is most likely becos of the UNESCO status it just received.

for asian crowd, some attracted after watching the TVB drama which was filmed there or xiao niang re.

besides, its a inexpensive place for a quick holiday

For many China tourists, they are coming to Penang for street wall murals. For nature lovers, they can visit Penang National Park for different adventures besides beach and a light house.

For some tourists, they are here for temples. Penang has different types of temples likes thai, burmese and ceylon types and their temple architectures are different, too. These temples can be found in the island itself.

Almost every month, Penang has different festivals going on and some festivals are not available or less popular outside penang likes Thaipusam and Chingay.

 

[Xeniel]

i wanna solo travel to Msia prolly nxt month, pardon my ignorance but..why penang such a hot place to go uh? Other than penang, where should i, a street food lover go?
With much thanks....

Good hawker food which it always has and recently the street culture has taken off. Proliferation of street art and a number of 'hipster' cafes/artisanal coffee shops opening there.

 

[bleonz]

any review on heliconia hotel penang?

 

[jwx_2014]

Hello! Anyone stay at these hotels before?

1) Spices Hotel (No, 5 Lorong Lumut, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, 10200)
2) Hotel Sentral Georgetown (No 12, Lorong Kinta, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, 10400)

I'm traveling from 10-13 Nov, just booked my tix and hotels last night for 3, so didn't have much time to read up on the surrounding areas for food/attractions/highlights etc. We will spend 1 night at first hotel and 2 nights at second hotel.

Anyone can share on nice food nearby/attractions/what to look out for (eg safety) or anything relevant to these 2 hotels i'm staying at? Btw Im traveling with 2 people >60yo, would appreciate consideration for this factor in planning my itinerary.

And does anyone know if there is still A&W in Penang and the location?

TIA

 

[Bak_Chor_Mee]

If u r asking about reviews on hotels, why not just simply Google the hotel?? Everything you need to know will come out in the search results.

For example, look out for hotel name and Tripadvisor together, plenty of reviews to answer your curiousity about the hotel.

Secondly, when you Google a hotel name, the search result will also comes with a Google map location of the hotel. Click on it and you can see if the hotel is nearby to whatever attractions u r interested in.

Just my 2 cents worth

 

[Andrew Lee]

Hello! Anyone stay at these hotels before?

1) Spices Hotel (No, 5 Lorong Lumut, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, 10200)
2) Hotel Sentral Georgetown (No 12, Lorong Kinta, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, 10400)

I'm traveling from 10-13 Nov, just booked my tix and hotels last night for 3, so didn't have much time to read up on the surrounding areas for food/attractions/highlights etc. We will spend 1 night at first hotel and 2 nights at second hotel.

Anyone can share on nice food nearby/attractions/what to look out for (eg safety) or anything relevant to these 2 hotels i'm staying at? Btw Im traveling with 2 people >60yo, would appreciate consideration for this factor in planning my itinerary.

And does anyone know if there is still A&W in Penang and the location?

TIA

You can Call/Whatsapp +65-9328 5098/+6011-1646 2733 for more info on hotels and transport in Penang.

 

[sbl2560]

Stayed at Hotel Sentral, in September, cheap, clean and good. New Lane hawker is just located nearby for local food.

 

[jwx_2014]

Hi! I heard there's free wifi all over Penang? Anyone tried before? Is it reliable/steady enough for me to not have to purchase mobile data? I'm only using it when I'm outdoors and checking for directions/access my documents stored on dropbox etc.

TIA

 

[withluck]

Hi! I heard there's free wifi all over Penang? Anyone tried before? Is it reliable/steady enough for me to not have to purchase mobile data? I'm only using it when I'm outdoors and checking for directions/access my documents stored on dropbox etc.

TIA

The Penang free wifi is only available in certain locations. One needs to register and login to use it. The login session is only active for couple minutes and one needs to relogin to continue surfing the net. As for the speed, if you are using mainly for text base websites, you find it acceptable. For heavy images websites, it is too slow.

 

[Lucas_]

Hi all, will need abit of help here. Been trying to plan a trip to Penang with my family.

For four person, is it possible to have the transport +flight/bus at SGD 1500?
Taking a bus will cost around SGD 90 a person (two way) while taking a plane will cost roughly around SGD 200.

Does anyone knows of any private transport service up to Penang?

Many thanks! Help appreciated.

 

[Andrew Lee]

Hi all, will need abit of help here. Been trying to plan a trip to Penang with my family.

For four person, is it possible to have the transport +flight/bus at SGD 1500?
Taking a bus will cost around SGD 90 a person (two way) while taking a plane will cost roughly around SGD 200.

Does anyone knows of any private transport service up to Penang?

Many thanks! Help appreciated.

Hi,if you are considering transport + flight/bus at SGD 1500,it is more than enough. Even if you include that in your accommodation, SGD 1500 is also more than enough.

You can get more advice on your financial travel planning and advice on Penang from local by Call/Whatsapp +65-93285098 for more info. They provide FREE advice on travel accommodation, financial travel planning, local places enquiries and private transport service in Penang.

Hope this helps. Thhank you!