G Hotel Gurney, Penang – George Town’s modern hotel for business, leisure, shopping

G as in ‘Georgetown’ and G as in ‘Gurney’; these names fittingly symbolises what the ‘G’ in G Hotel stands for – G Hotel Gurney, Penang and its sister property G Kelawai. George Town on the island of Penang, the famous Straits heritage city; and Gurney, the city’s foremost shopping district.

And since Happy Hour Asia’s very first visit to review G Hotel it has both been renovated and reinforced with G Hotel Kelawai – situated in its vicinity, with a short distance requiring just a few minutes’ walk between the two modern hotels.

The shopping has also been significantly strengthened (especially when it come to global fashion brands) with the arrival of Gurney Paragon Mall – situated right next to the Kelawai hotel and stretching over a whole quarter down to the beachfront road (also including a cluster of restaurants).

G Hotel Gurney, Penang: city hotel, resort

G Hotel Gurney has its entrance from the beach road, suitable juxtaposed with Gurney Plaza shopping mall. This older, waterfront mall is known for great shopping from brand clothes to inexpensive markets and nearby great hawker food.

G Hotel is just as much a city hotel as a resort with pool and sundeck; in fact the good reasons in favour for this hotel are plenty.

When G Hotel opened in late 2006 it was a welcome new addition to appeal to a wider and potentially endless stream of visitors and investors to this island-based, and also one-of-a-kind, heritage city where nationalities from the east and west have been mixing for centuries – and still are.

From its inception G Hotel has served a diverse guest clientele keen on leisure, culture & food and heritage (one of these in particular or a combination), or those coming to Penang for business or medical & hospitalisation needs. The Indonesian market, especially from Medan, comes to Penang for medical consultation and treatment because of the reasonable Medical treatment fee and professional doctors. Business-wise Penang is going from strength to strength.

Penang’s heritage status has also been much helped by UNESCO awarding George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2008 and the state has managed to restore and maintain the uniqueness of the site for visitors to visit.

With its concept this establishment was poised to become popular, given it would fill a vacuum; there were not enough of either new or refurbished hotel rooms and definitely many national and international hotel brands had (and to an extent have still not) come to the island. Especially in the start it represented a breath of fresh air, with its modern vibe and entertainment-driven large lobby come bar.

Upon opening, G Hotel was a new, local invention that had understood the needs perfectly well to cater to the modern leisure and business travellers, also by incorporating serviced apartments.

The trends and development of attractions in Penang basically require an all-in-one concept so that visitors can do shopping, have fun and relax at the same time. G Hotel has all this and is located in the shopping precinct.

In fact its al-fresco Tree Bar sits right between the shopping centre and the hotel, and offers a cool and calming embrace of nature via its interior design and motifs highlighting the beauty of Mother Nature.

Tree Bar offers a sought-after promotion of 10 glasses of beer from only RM120, and a 2-piece live band plays every Saturday and Sunday from 3pm to 6pm.

Simple and effective ways to encourage people and guests to meet in a convenient and appealing setting – adapting to the time of the day and both for business and pleasure – that is the formula for G Hotel, and of course in combination with very modern and functional rooms.

G Hotel Gurney, Penang hosts longest bar on island

It is easy to take a liking for G Hotel. It starts already when approaching the building, and more specifically so after dusk when the neon-washed façade (LED lights constantly changes colour above the entrance and upwards between hotel room windows) gives the entrance its feeling of a nightlife venue. On this note: in its early days G Hotel even hosted a jazz club (it was named G Spot – Penang’s leading Jazz Bar & Lounge).

And remaining today is of course its long and majestic lobby area, with G Lounge, the longest hotel bar on the island, with black bar stools along its neon-lit bar counter (an extension of the reception desk). A later refurbishment has unveiled a modern and fresh new look for the hotel with its chic lobby, where the layout seamlessly merges as guests traverse the grand lobby concourse.

The lobby lounge is furnished with designer armchairs and sofas and a special section by the bar offers white lamps, beige checked sofas, black velvet armchairs, and cappucino leather sofas. The whole lobby functions like a place where one can linger during the day (and order refreshments, coffee, Ronnefeldt teas and other drinks) and be entertained during the evenings.

F&B attractions

The lobby bar G Lounge offers ‘Buy 1 Free 1’ promotions on house pour and wine. As example of drinks a campaign there are also two special cocktails from The Botanist Gin Tableside Infuser: Garden Smile (The Botanist Gin, Chamomile Tea, Lemon Slice & Thyme) and Summer Lily (The Botanist Gin, Red Dragon Fruit, Torch Ginger Flower & Clove).

Looking at the hotel details more precisely, this contemporary city hotel is located at Gurney Drive, Penang’s favourite seaside promenade, where also some of the most upscale residential high-rise buildings are positioned. This strategic location is just (depending on the traffic) five minutes from the heart of George Town and offers convenient access to the city’s key business areas, not to mention those must-visit hawker food enclaves nearby. And it cannot be played down how convenient it is to have Gurney Plaza next door. Many afternoons the rain pours down and then it is nice to have only a few metres of rain zone between you and this shopping mall that has it all – a department store, a supermarket, a Cineplex, a karaoke centre, a food court and more than 300 specialty stores, many of them catering to fashionistas.

Within the modern confines of the lobby there are also oversized lampshades hanging from the ceiling, which also helps to give the interior a living room feel.

One of the elongated walls sort of consists in bright wooden blocks that are either tilted inwards our outwards.

As for the rooms they either face the ocean or overlook the island/city. The hotel’s revamped accommodation choices include: Deluxe Room (38 sqm), Executive Room (38 sqm), Executive Suite (78 sqm), G Suite (187 sqm), Duplex Suite (88 sqm), L Suite (67 sqm), and XL Suite (113 sq).

As previously the rooms are furnished with work desks and ergonomic chairs. Their new look is marked by brightness and neutral tones: bright beige sofas; creamy white walls; black-tinted round, sofa tables; upholstered armchairs with a black-blue pattern; greyish carpets; grey blackout curtains; and black and white bathrooms with black tiles. Toiletries are supplied from Eloura Eco-friendly Toiletries. More pronounced is the bedroom wall decor, with either birch tree trunks as wallpaper pattern and a purple textile and wooden bed head, or other textile patterns. Oversized built-in flat screen TVs are mounted on blonde wood wall panels.

G Hotel offers a constant stream of attractive and variable F&B offers for its two hotels.

Taste Café with both indoor and al fresco dining on offer, is the hotel’s all-day dining venue that serves the breakfast (including a good selection of pastries and cheese as well as hot dishes such as waffles, eggs, and a noodle station). 4-course Set Meals is served from Monday to Friday while the Eat All You Can International Buffet runs from Friday night through to Sunday noon.

And with the cross usage opportunity, sister property G Hotel Kelawai’s Spoon restaurant (with its appealing and stylish interior design) offers a splendid international buffet dinner, on Sundays – Thursdays, that was tested.

The sumptuous and high quality buffest offers cuisines from around the world, and where a free flow of house beer and wine (had a nice Tocornal Sauvignon Blanc from Chile) lands the four-hour experience at RM 216 Nett! The meat flame-grilled to perfection is sublime and the selection of the spread enough for the four hours it can be enjoyed! Mushroom soup, Smoked mackerel, Seafood, Pan-fried chicken with rosemary and garlic jus, Braised mussel with light cream dill sauce, Squid Masalla and way too many delicious desserts – since the apple crumble with vanilla sauce is to die for, but other cakes are just as irresistible (nut tart, mocha cheese cake, opera, orange velvet…).

Back at G Hotel, elements of wood can also be found a few floors up, where the dark and bright blue-tiled infinity pool is surrounded by a timber pool deck with plenty of day beds. Here guests overlook a park and modern residential high rise buildings in the vicinity and Penang’s jungle in the distance.

Other facilities: Gymnasium, the fitness studio with plenty of the latest machines for your exercising hours, and Infinity Pool, and an Executive Lounge for those who wants to elevate their stay and enjoy breakfast with exclusivity as well as refreshments throughout the day and evening cocktails. There are also complimentary G Cycles available on-site for guests wanting to explore the urban surroundings on two wheels.

And – not to be missed – on the ground floor G Hotel also offers Vino, the shop with over 100 labels to choose from under one roof, whether it is wine, whisky, Sake, Soju or anything to get your extra booze of happiness.

Once back in the room and feeling for a late-night in-room snack, there is currently room service until 11 pm offering Spaghetti Bolognese, Stuffed Chicken with Cheese, Smoked Salmon, Mee Goreng Mamak Style etc. In addition there is Chinese cuisine.

The food offering is of course also of importance in a gastronomic city of this calibre. Adding something exciting to the selection and in air-conditioned comfort can most likely attract an audience, since the city is by no means overwhelmed with modern designed waterholes.

At our stay G Hotel presented Miraku Restaurant with “a most innovative and scrumptious menu offering a selection of tempting and moderately priced Asian fusion delicacies – the perfect place for a quick lunch or dinner with friends and family.”

Once you get outside this appealing hotel you will also revel in the variety of this living heritage destination with its exotic mélange of the old and the new.

You will find out that from early on Penang attracted settlers and sojourners from the Malay kingdoms, the Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), Siam, Burma, China, India, Sri Lanka, Europe and the Middle East etc. You will find that there is so much interesting culture and living heritage to explore, that you will want to return again and again.

And while development seems to be rapid this will most likely also strengthen Penang’s selection and the intermingling of nationalities while still keeping its charm.

Note: G Pool and G Pool Bar experience is closed for now due to Covid-19.