Hotel 1926 – Penang
Jalan Burma
George Town
The Hotel 1926, situated in Jalan Burma in Penang’s capital George Town, has an interesting history. Originally built as civil service staff quarters, it has gone through several metamorphoses to its present incarnation as an hotel.
Cost
Around RM140 per night. Mid-range between budget and luxury. This hotel is pitched at those who want some comfort but don’t want to pay for 5-star accommodation.
Facilities
There are very few facilities in this hotel, and some very confusing information about what is available. The blurb on their brochure says that their café is open until 11pm but it actually closes at 9pm. Room service is only available until 8pm.
The rooms have a TV and fridge. Although advertised as a “mini-bar” the fridge contains only two small bottles of water. Never mind, the Chinese restaurant next door is open till 2am and is quite happy to sell a few bottles of beer for you to take away.
We had a “superior” room which was rather cramped so I would be wary of taking a standard sized one. The room contained one of the smallest double beds I have ever seen. Even so. the sheets were too small for the bed. We ended up remaking the bed with the sheet on sideways just so there was enough to cover us.
The hotel’s promotional material described it as a place of “understated elegance”. Hmmm, an interesting description.
I can’t comment on the food as we never ate there, partly due to their early closing time and partly because there was nothing on their menu which appealed to us.
Location
It’s not too far from the KOMTAR, which is the hub of the city. You can take a bus further down Jalan Burma (a one way street), to the two-way traffic part of the street, cross the road and take a bus to the KOMTAR. Alternatively, you can walk there in about 20 minutes. That’s fine during the day but not so good when you’re trying to get home after a night on the tiles. Going in the rainy season doesn’t help matters as there are plenty of open sewers to fall into when visibility is very poor.
Overall rating 2/5
I very much doubt if we would stay there again.
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