PENANG -- area code (60-4)

BUTTERWORTH
• Unique Motel
  2/F 6914 Jln Ong Yi How (corner shophouse), Raja Uda, Butterworth, Utopia Map, 016-415-3050, FAX 333-7584, email. Center of Raja Uda Town (Butterworth's Chinatown) on the mainland. Same row as MAYBANK Jln Ong Yi How Branch. Convenient to a lot of hawker foods and restaurants nearby. Inexpensive single, double and triple rooms with air-con, TV, and some with en suite bathrooms.

  HISTORIC GEORGE TOWN / PENANG ISLAND

• Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion UTOPIA VERIFIED JUN 2012
  14 Leith St, Utopia Map, 262-0006. Gay and lesbian-friendly heritage accommodation just a couple blocks from the classic seaside Eastern and Oriental Hotel. Why not stay a night or two in the most beautifully restored traditional 19th century Straits Chinese mansion in Penang, nicknamed Le Maison Bleu for its exterior of period indigo wash, setting of the feature film Indochine? Billed as a "flamboyant masterpiece of 38 rooms, 5 courtyards, 7 staircases and 220 'yin-yang' windows," this home belonged to one of China's last Mandarins and one of Asia's first celebrity capitalists. Of special note, the home is designed according to fung shui to take full advantage of elemental wind and water forces, and is a masterwork of inventive ways to harness chi, including hidden rainwater channels throughout the structure. Rooms are furnished with antiques, art, photographs and objet from daily life in Penang of old. Rates are very reasonable and include breakfast. Unlike visitors on the twice daily guided tours (11am and 3pm M-F), guests have run of the mansion and may take photographs. Walking distance from nearby heritage streets and major architectural landmarks. Winner of a UNESCO Conservation Award and a National Architecture Award for Conservation.
• Hutton Lodge
  17 Jln Hutton, Utopia Map, 263-6003, 263-6002, email. Experience living in one of George Town's few remaining colonial-style bungalows. The breezy and shady interior has been restored and decorated with mid-century modern touches but left mostly white/minimal. Clean, comfortable aircon rooms with large beds. Gay and lesbian-friendly and located in the heart of the city, just off a block off Penang Rd and the start of heritage walking tours of George Town's many attractions. Garden terrace, Wi-fi, public telephone, laundry, luggage storage. Some rooms have attached shower/WC. Parking and bicycles for hire. Comfortable, low-frill rooms at extremely low rates. Utopia Member Discount
• Muntri Mews UTOPIA VISITED JUN 2012
  77 Muntri St, Utopia Map, 263-5125, FAX 263-4125, email. Gay and lesbian-friendly Muntri Mews is an affordable, understated luxury accommodation for today's "flash packer" in the heart of Georgetown UNESCO world heritage site. It is easy walking distance to the key heritage landmarks in the city and a 20 minute drive from the Batu Feringghi beaches. Their heritage-listed building was formerly the stables and carriage works of the street's grandest terraces. All of the romantic, artful suites come with en suite bathrooms, LCD TV, Wifi, and spacious sitting areas which open to the verandah upstairs or the lush private patio downstairs. The Mews café prepares the best fresh local produce for a menu inspired by Asian cuisine combined with a selection of tasty international favorites. Antique, deco and retro furniture and a tropical garden seating outdoors make this a convenient base to explore all that this amazing heritage city has to offer. Ask the owner for updates on the local scene.
• Seven Terraces UTOPIAN VERIFIED MAR 2013
  Stewart Lane, Utopia Map, 264-2333, FAX 264-5222, email. A dazzling heritage courtyard of 18 suites brought to life by the award winning hoteliers behind Muntri Mews and Noordin Mews (winners of the 2007 UNESCO Award of Distinction for heritage conservation and regular Conde Naste Hot List nominees). Enter a grand row of 19th Anglo-Chinese terraces, in the absolute heart of Penang's finest and most intact heritage lanes, to encounter a romantic, beautiful and timeless retreat. With a lap pool, Asian fusion dining room, full bar and exquisitely furnished reception and public areas. All suites are aircon with satellite TVs, beautiful open plan bathrooms. Four poster carved Chinese beds grace the mezzanine bedrooms and exquisite gilded Peranakan antique furniture and artworks fill the living rooms below. Le Grande Apartement d’L’Emperetrice Chinois Bris’e has four bedrooms, a private entrance and its own garden terrace. It is furnished with a collection of laquered, chinoiserie cabinets, opium beds, desks, altars and other exquisite touches. Next to the Goddess of Mercy Temple and just minutes stroll to George Town's major icons.

  Comments from Utopians:

  "Spent two nights at Seven Terraces boutique hotel. Fabulous! From good looking staff to amazing masseur and crazy tasty foods, I will certainly be returning. Not the cheapest, but you get what you pay for." -- David T, Mar 16, 2013

  
  

  Comments from Utopians:

  "Red Inn Cabana in Leith St is clean, convenient and centrally located." -- riverrobles, Jun 12, 2013

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