Honestly speaking, this Guesthouse has to be given credit for making the effort to spruce up the backpacking scene in Penang, Malaysia.
Free local palm wine on Wednesdays, Haunted Tours around Penang for the Month of Cheng Beng, and student discounts are among the few things that they have managed to come up with.
Read more-
Magnificent April promotions and events that will guarantee to get your heads bobbing!!
Like them on facebook at > Roommates Penang
Roommates Guesthouse Penang is the newest and latest guesthouse in Georgetown Penang.
Check the video out !!
It’s the next big thing to hit the island after Ryokan Chic Hotels. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me present to you the ‘Smallest Guesthouse in Penang’!
The land area of this shop is 530 ft2 and features only 2 rooms but sleeps 16 people. When we interviewed the creative team that worked on this project- Quote “Space and comfortability was such a big issue, we had to knock every existing wall down just to create space. The shop is a 18th century ‘straits eclectic’ type of shop lot which they managed to restore including the timber flooring, facade, terra-cotta tiles and the louvered windows.
That's how i like it! Music, Smoking and Knitting! 😀
The common area which most guests like to gather around during the evening is the ‘five foot way’ outside the shop. The ‘five foot ways’ were introduced during the British Colonial Times. They were used mainly to shade the public from the rain and sun.
Porch outside Roommates Penang
The guesthouse rents bicycles which are an easy way to explore the inner city . You get to ride at your own pace and enjoy the ‘Real Georgetown” which consists mostly of all the non touristy temples, food and attraction.
Having dinner at the famous hawker food stalls at Kimberly Street with the other guests.(my new roommates and friends)
The whole guesthouse has an open concept with very little closed spaces. To create space, they used a lot go glass in the structure, to create optical illusions that the place is big.
Beanie bags that are just so gooood to sleep in !
top view of the 'dance floor' and bean bags from the second floor
Free internet stations that come with speedy connection and microphones to make skye easy
Jamming session with our permanent resident - Mr Kapok Guitar
Staying at roommates is all about meeting and making new friends during your travels
Happy hour at Roommates Guesthouse Penang! It all starts with some 'Happy' Juice!
Our dorm beds are made of 3 inch steel and are CREAK PROOF!
Enjoying morning breakfast in the lounge.
Heritage cups and saucers are used
And because it is the smallest Guesthouse in Penang, we had to attach a map of where Roommates Penang is located. The colored lines are the routes when you arrive from destinations. Green color route is for when you arrive on a ferry from Langkawi. Orange line is for when you arrive from the Ferry from Butterworth or from the Train. The blue line is for when you arrive by minivan from Thailand.
Map of how to get to Roommates Penang
You can find out more about Roommates by visiting their website > www.roommatespenang.com . The difference in staying in this guesthouse is that, on the outside it looks like your average pre war shop lot that manages to camouflage it self with the surrounding heritage city. But the moment you enter the place, it automatically tones down the mood. The staff is so friendly, the people are great and the ambience is perfect. Makes me want to stay there again. Maybe i will 😉
We hope you find your stay at Roommates Penang as enjoyable as we did! For more free backpacking information please like us on Facebook at >> Backpackies
Filed under backpacking, budget hotels penang, Guesthouses Penang, Penang, Penang hostels
Ryokan on Muntri Street, Penang just recently opened its doors to their first batch of guests about 1 month ago. (30th April 2011).
There was a promotion that for the one day only (which is the opening day) they invited 20 lucky facebook fans to have a free stay at the hotel.
Subsequently the remaining fans had a 50% discount of the rooms for the same day.
We unfortunately missed that special day. (To be honest, we missed the FREE STAY more!! :D). But after hearing so much hype about this place, we decided to review it. Of course again, there might be plenty of reviews already of this place online since its such a nice setup. But at backpackies, we try not to bullshit our fans, and of course, we try to take pictures that actually give you the whole feel of what to expect during your stay at Ryokan @ Muntri Street Penang.
So taking out our microscope and V800 “dont take any sh*t” xI3 Faultfinder- We begin to review Ryokan.
Ryokan is located on Muntri Street, just 5 minutes walk from Penang’s Clubbing Hotspot- Upper Penang Road and also Heritage attractions like Kapitan Kling Mosque, Kuan Yin Teng Temple, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, State museum and many more. And the best thing about it is also, it is walkable some of the famous food stalls in Penang. Hameeds delicious roti canai and sup kambing, Red Garden food court with their daily chinese girl singers entertaining you while you dine, Chulia Lanes Curry Noodles, so please don’t get us started.
Verdict: Location A++
Ryokan Chic Hotels is the latest chic and fashionable "budget" hotel in Penang
The facade was pretty impressive, mainly because of the nice neon lights and decoration. Definitely chic! We love the combination of cement art and the usage of wood in their front door.
|There are some outdoor seating as well, which are only practical in the mornings and nights because during the day, it gets really hot. And not to mention they use Steel Chairs! Really? In the inside,usually during the day, the air conditioning will be on so it’s not that hot. The living area cum cafe is quite spacious and tastefully decorated we must say.We are impressed.
The bar counter wasnt really ready yet when we were there so there were only minimal drinks and food that you could order.
There was a stage in the cafe so presumably that is for the live band to perform sometime in the future. Well actually during their opening they did have someone sing!
Lounge and cafe area
The wifi is free but you can only pick up the signal at the very back near the stage. Towards the front, its a bit weak. Its good in a way because, it prevents people from the outside (previous guests) to steal wifi from the road side.
Nice bar counter made from cement- It was soooo smooth! 😀 ha ha ha
Accommodations are up top. You will need to take off your shoes, and there are some nice racks where you can put them. So this keeps the whole sleeping area clean.
no shoes inside the accommodation
Towards the back, there is another set of similar looking cabinets.
heading to the rooms
No its not for shoes and slipeprs! These are the free books and magazines for you to read. There are some bean bags, and lights that is meant to be a reading corner.
The flooring on this whole place is wood, so there is a nice texture when you walk around barefooted, you can feel mother natures grains…..massaging your feet. And of course, since its wood, you can hear people walking about the guesthouse. In olden times, this is a security feature, where the residents in the house could know if there were thieves entering their house through the noise from the wood planks.
The rooms and chillax corner, we will show later. The Loft was still renovating when we were there. So we might need to sneak in again for a free photoshoot next time. Damn the planks!
This is the chillax area, where there are fans only, and bean bags, lights and books for you to enjoy a good book. Maybe doable during the nights when its not so humidly hot.
All the rooms are on the left hand side of this walkway. And all of the rooms have air conditioning.
We took the 4 man dorm room which was about 100 ft2 in size. A comfortable size to sleep in. The furniture and bed linen were all white which we love, because with white is, you could actually see if the place was dirty or not by one look. But after we checked it, this place was very clean. (Mainly because it is brand new). The beds were singles (not super singles), but the mattress and pillow were abit on the hard side. At first it felt firm and bearable. But towards the end, it was abit too hard for us. There is a cabinet where you can store your personal items. You will need to bring your own padlock for this.
Also with the bunk bed, you have your own personal light, plug point and small tiny space where you can place small items next to you when you sleep. The reading light was bright and big enough, unlike some places where we have reviewed who uses cheap night lights as substitute. The air conditioning inside comes with the controller, so you can adjust accordingly. There is no fans in the room.
One thing we noticed is that the rooms did not have any dustbins for waste?!
Their room rates are
6 person dorm – RM 35
4 person dorm RM 38
4 Person Girls Only Dorm RM 40
Luxury private room – RM 138
Towel rental – RM 3
Blanket rental – RM 3
(Yes the room does not come with any of these)
4 pax dorm
private little space to charge your electricals and hide your valuables but just be careful because it doesnt come with any lock.
metal cabinet to store your own stuff- You need to bring your own lock
Although blanket and towels do not come with the room rate, they do provide a simple breakfast. The breakfast is still more impressive than some of the other guesthouses. But of course Ryokan’s rates are a little higher as well.
Breakfast of the day
The coffee, tea and juice is free flow, but the breakfast menu keeps changing for variety. I could count how many baby hot dogs they gave me. The potato chips was a bit soggy. So if you can, its best to drag your lazy butt from the comfortable bed and have breakfast early. Breakfast is from 8-10.30.
Next weeeee will be checking out the toilets and showers. There is a long sink just outside the showers. They provide gel soap which smells nice.
public washing area - brushing teeth, and washing face
Since this is the only washing area, i guess you can also wash your small laundry items here as well. You just need to bring your own soap powder. You can get them at the minimarts along Chulia Street. The showers were very spacious and well ventilated.
The water pressure was excellent and it came with hot water and cold water. Not that you really need the hot water unless you were doing some sort of private spa session in the showers. But then again, its nice to have it.
The good thing is, the showers had free fragrant smelling shower gels and shampoo. When i was in the bathroom, i could hear an australian guest comment ” Oh MY GOD, the shower gel smells so nice”. So that actually proves that my nose is still working.
Toilet paper on the other hand was a bit different. They were giving us paper towels to wipe our ass. We find that abit different but at least it wasnt newspapers like they use in China.
The tv lounge was a great concept. There is a nice mural of Ryokan on the wall, and they had bean bags for seating in front of a huge LCD screen., (Im sorry we didnt manage to check the size) But its sufficient. The sound system from the tv was good enough. But i do wonder how loud and till when can you watch tv at night? Since next to the tv area is actually rooms. Do let us know if you have tried it.
beanie bags at the lounge
Yups, if there is no one there, you can just lift your legs up (even if you wearing a mini skirt), just relax and enjoy the show.
The tv comes with ASTRO (malaysias only cable service)
This was the impressive mural of Ryokan we were talking about. This is a close up on the mural. Looks almost exactly like it, dont you think?
Finally after watching people lift their legs and enjoy a movie, i decided to lift mine up as well and call it a day.
Till our next review. Ryokan Chic Hotels has certainly raised the standard of guesthouses/ budget hotels in Penang. 5 thumbs up!
If you guys are going to stay in Penang, Ryokan is a good bet.Its clean, its tastefully done up, nicely designed for comfort and look, so there fore
Quality and Comfortability – A+
Just like the painting on the wall i guess, after you leave Ryokan, you become a monkey (because of the other crap services from the other guesthouses around Penang)?
-Ryokan didnt pay us to say this if you are wondering.
For more information – Visit their Website – Ryokan Chic Hotels Penang
But whatever it is, please do join our travel group on facebook- Backpackies is on facebook!
Dont tell us you dont have facebook har!! Till then have a safe trip and have fun traveling!
Filed under Air Asia, backpacking, budget hotels penang, Guesthouses Penang, Penang hostels
Backpacking - Who says, NO money cannot have fun? 