Naturally, the hotel occupies a prestigious George Town spot, perched between the banking district of Beach Street and the Weld Quay area. Many of the city’s highlights – shops, galleries, cultural treasures and co – are within easy reach.
Planes
Penang International Airport is 19 kilometres away, a 40-minute drive. Plenty of airlines fly here, including Cathay Pacific, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and Malaysia Airlines.
Trains
Half an hour away by car, Butterworth Station is on Malaysia’s West Coast Railway Line, which runs south to Gemas via Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur. Butterworth is also connected to the KTM Komuter Line, which connects Butterworth to Padang Besar on the border with Thailand, where passengers can transfer to Thailand Railway Services for travel to Bangkok.
Automobiles
You don’t need a car, as it’s easy to gad around George Town on foot or by public transport. That said, the Prestige Hotel is a few minutes’ drive from central George Town; guests with wheels can park up in the on-site car park.
Worth getting out of bed for
Penang puts ancient temples, lively markets, hushed museums, an enticing food scene, artful galleries, shops aplenty and sun, sea and sand at your fingertips…
If jetties could talk, we’d like to hear what the six remaining Clan Jetties have to say. Part of the Penang Heritage Trail, this floating village stars stilted houses, built more than a hundred years ago, belonging to various Chinese clans. Chew Jetty is the most tourist-friendly, boasting the most stilt houses, the longest walkway, a notable temple, plus plenty of photo opps. Continue the cultural kicks by visiting the 18th-century Goddess of Mercy Temple (aka Kuan Yin Teng), which is Penang’s oldest Taoist temple. Admirable architectural features include the sweeping roofs, the gigantic doors adorned with paintings of Taoist deities and the dragon-entwined pillars. On Sundays, Lebuh Pantai (also known as Beach Street) goes car-free for Occupy Beach Street market, with stalls a-go-go, live music, streetside football games, skateboarding and more. Peer into the past at the Penang Peranakan Mansion: a museum that richly showcases how the wealthy Peranakans lived in the 19th century.
Pander to your beachy side at Batu Ferringhi, popular for its scenic sprawl of milk-white sand and lively night market, or at Tanjung Bungah: a pretty seaside suburb positioned between Gurney and Batu Ferringhi.
Local restaurants
Top up your caffeine levels at Constant Gardener Coffee in the Chinese Chamber of Commerce Building, on Lebuh Light; or linger over lunch at sourdough-crazy Joies Cafe on the first floor of 32 Jalan Moulmein. Popular George Town dinner options include pasta feasts at Caze by Buu’s Kitchen on Lebuh King, and small-but-mighty Monsieur 85, for French fusion food at 316 Lebuh Pantai.
Local bars
Toast the good times at The Canteen at ChinaHouse on Lebuh Victoria, which has a talented jazz band – and a bounty of other foot-stomping live acts – up its sleeve. Bonus points for pork-pie hats.