George Town was founded as a British trading post in 1786 and grew on the movement of people: Chinese merchants, Tamil labourers, Malay traders, Armenians, Achenese, and the Peranakan communities that came from the intermarriage between them. The buildings they put up are the reason the town is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The shophouse is the form. A narrow frontage on the street, a long deep plan running back, a five-foot covered walkway at the front required by colonial ordinance, and one or more internal air wells open to the sky for light and ventilation. Thousands of them survive across George Town, in Straits Eclectic, Chinese, Anglo-Indian and art deco styles depending on the decade.
Why the conversions are the point
A restored shophouse hotel gives you the air well, the tiled floors, the timber screens and the depth of the plan, which is an experience of the building rather than a view of it. The good conversions kept the structure and worked around it.
The trade is scale: these are small hotels, usually under twenty rooms, without pools or gyms, on streets that are busy by day.
Batu Ferringhi, twenty-five minutes north, is the beach strip: large resorts, a long stretch of sand and a night market. The water is not Langkawi's and the beach is workmanlike.
The nine below are split between the two.
George Town
Inside the heritage zone, in restored buildings.
Eastern & Oriental Hotel occupies a colonial building on the seafront that opened in 1885, founded by the same brothers who built Raffles in Singapore, with a sea-facing lawn, a pool and every room a suite. It is the historic hotel of the Straits.
Eastern & Oriental Hotel
George Town seafront · 5★ · $$$
An 1885 all-suite landmark with a sea-facing lawn
Check availabilityCheong Fatt Tze - The Blue Mansion sits in the indigo-blue mansion built by a Chinese merchant in the 1880s, restored over years and now holding eighteen rooms around courtyards. The building won a UNESCO conservation award and it is the most photographed house in Malaysia.
Cheong Fatt Tze - The Blue Mansion
Leith Street · 4★ · $$$
The indigo mansion that won a UNESCO conservation award
Check availabilitySeven Terraces Hotel occupies a row of Anglo-Indian terraces on Stewart Lane, restored with period antiques, a small pool and two very good restaurants. It is the best conversion in George Town.
Seven Terraces Hotel
Stewart Lane · 5★ · $$$
Restored Anglo-Indian terraces with period antiques
Check availabilityMacalister Mansion, a Member of Design Hotels sits in a 1906 mansion built for a Chinese tycoon with an English country-house interior, a garden and a bar in the grounds.
Macalister Mansion, a Member of Design Hotels
George Town · 5★ · $$$
A 1906 mansion with an English country-house interior
Check availabilityThe Edison George Town occupies a set of linked shophouses with air wells retained, a courtyard and contemporary rooms behind the original frontages.
The Edison George Town
Heritage zone · 4★ · $$$
Linked shophouses with the air wells retained
Check availability23 Love Lane Hotel sits on Love Lane in a restored Straits Eclectic building with a handful of rooms, a courtyard and a personal operation.
23 Love Lane Hotel
Love Lane · 4★ · $$
A Straits Eclectic building with a courtyard and few rooms
Check availabilityCampbell House occupies a restored building near the clan jetties with a small room count and a good kitchen.
Campbell House
Campbell Street · 4★ · $$
Small restored building with a good kitchen
Check availabilityBatu Ferringhi
The beach strip, twenty-five minutes north.
Shangri-La Rasa Sayang, Penang occupies a large garden site on the beach with two wings, several pools and mature grounds. It is the established resort on the island.
Shangri-La Rasa Sayang, Penang
Batu Ferringhi · 5★ · $$$
Mature garden grounds on the island's main beach
Check availabilityPARKROYAL Penang Resort sits on the same strip with a pool, a beach and full family facilities at a lower rate.
PARKROYAL Penang Resort
Batu Ferringhi · 4★ · $$
Beachfront pools and family facilities at a lower rate
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The shophouse guest houses across George Town are excluded, and there are dozens of them at very low prices in buildings that are just as interesting. They are guest houses rather than hotels.
What to do
Eat, which is the reason Penang has the reputation it does. Char kway teow, assam laksa, nasi kandar, cendol. The hawker centres and the street stalls are where the food is, not the restaurants.
Walk the heritage zone: the clan jetties built on stilts over the water, the Khoo Kongsi clan house, the Blue Mansion, and the street art that was commissioned in 2012 and became the town's second attraction.
Go up Penang Hill on the funicular for the view and the cooler air, and to Kek Lok Si temple below it.
See the Peranakan Mansion, which explains the Straits Chinese culture that produced the food and the architecture.
Take the ferry from Butterworth rather than the bridge if you can, for the approach.
Practical notes
Penang has an international airport 40 minutes from George Town, with regional connections. The bridges and a ferry link the island to the mainland.
December to March is the driest. April to October is wetter, with rain typically in intense afternoon bursts. It is hot and humid year round.
George Town is walkable and the heritage zone is compact. Batu Ferringhi needs a taxi or the bus.
Explore 4 & 5 Star Penang Hotels
Questions people actually ask
What is a shophouse?
A narrow deep building with a covered walkway at the front and an internal air well open to the sky. Thousands survive in George Town.
George Town or Batu Ferringhi?
George Town for the food, the architecture and the reason to come. Batu Ferringhi for a beach that is decent rather than remarkable.
Is Penang really that good for food?
It is generally considered the best street food city in Malaysia, and the competition is serious.
How many nights?
Three. Two in George Town and a third for the hill and the temples.