Vistana Hotel, Penang
213 Jalan Bukit Gambir, Bukit Jambul, 11950 Penang, Malaysia
Tel: (604) 646 8000 Fax: (604)-646 1400
e-mail: vispg@ytlhotels.com.my
http://www.ytlhotels.com/properties/vistana/pg/index.html
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Exterior
Interior
Pool
Penang, Vistana Hotel
Vistana Hotel Review
This is a city hotel with no access to the beach. It is close to the Penang Internal Airport, and the Bayan Lepas Free Trade Industrial Zone (also known as the FTZ). If you are a business traveller looking for a decent 4-star hotel, this is definitely the hotel for you. If you have a family, and you are not interested in spending too much time on the beach and you plan to be around the sourthern part of the Penang island, this is also the hotel for you. If you are looking for a hotel with easy access to the beach, then look somewhere else.
This is one of the cleanest 4-star hotel I have seen. The floor is shinny and well taken of. The restrooms are clean, really clean. I am impressed with the overall cleaniness of the hotel. I would rate this hotel as the cleanest 4-star hotel I have seen.
The hotel feels new and fresh. It does not give you a feeling of a hotel that has been around for a long time. Furniture and upholstery are new and clean with little sign of “wear and tear”. Walls are nicely painted. The hotel has a lot of glass windows and doors and all glasses are kept squeaky clean.
If you are looking for a hotel with a holiday ambience, you may be disappointed. Employees of the hotel are dressed in city hotel business-like uniform and not Bermuda shorts and staw hats However, if you are looking for a hotel that is practical, safe and clean, then this hotel will not let you down.
Safe basement parking is available for guests and visitors. There is also a big ballroom for funtion use (i.e. wedding reception or product launch). In addition, the parking space in front of the hotel can be temporarily converted into a temporary shelter for function use should anyone run out of space to host any event.
5 minutes drive away is the Bukit Jambul Shoping Complex for those who wants to shop. The airport is 10 minutes away. The industrial zone is 10 minutes away. Within a 10 minute radius of the hotel are a collection of restaurants that offer all kinds of food including Malay, Indian, Chinese and Western restaurants at all range of the budget spectrum.
In addition to hotel rooms, the Vistana Hotel also provides 2-3 bedroom apartments for those who prefer an apartment style stay or those with a number of room guests.
Pool
The swimming is on a higher floor (4th or 5th or 6th floor, I cannot remember exactly). It is an open air swimming pool. The pool is large enough for children and adults to enjoy and get a good exercise at the same time. Some hotel’s swimming pool are oval or kidney shapped but this swimming pool is mostly square shapped providing enough length for a good exercise. There is a children’s pool which is attached to the adult’s pool. The pool and its surrounding is well maintained and clean.
The restroom attached to the pool is clean. It is not constructed with expensive material but there is effort put in to keep the restroom clean and the hotel clean.
Exterior
This hotel during the daytime is nicely painted in white colour. It gives you a nice clean feeling. The surrounding is clean and quiet. To the right of the hotel is the road that will take you to the Bukit Jambul Shopping Complex which is 5 minutes away.
A new building is being built to the left of the hotel. The building’s name is called The CEO. This building will offer offices on higher floor and shopping complex on lower floor when done. During the day, the space after the coconut trees and before the main road can be used to build a tent for event hosting purposes.
The hotel is brightly litted every night. In the night, this area that is considered quiet but not too quiet. Due to the fact that this hotel is a business hotel, there is not much night time activities as compared to other beach hotels. There is no signing at the hotel’s restaurant (coffee house). Locals do not go to this hotel for evening gatherings.
If you are lucky, you can catch a view of a beautiful sunset by the Vistana Hotel.
There is a 24-hour restaurant within walking distance from the hotel. The restaurant is an Indian food restaurant named Restaurant Penang Kayu Nasi Kandar. The restaurant is open everyday of the year and is reputed to be the best Inidan food restaurant on the island. Prices of food in Kayu is certainly the most expensive on the Penang island, with a loading of an extra 10% as compared to other Indian food restaurants on the island. A roti-tisue (for those of you who do not know Malaysia food, roti-tisue is a sweet pancake that is made as thin as a tissue) costs a whoppin RM4 but it is the biggest and thinest roti-tisue you can find on the Penang island !!
Interior
This is where you will check in. To the right of the check-in counter is the restaurant and lift to rooms. To the left of the reception desk is the main entrance. Behind the reception desk is the big ballroom. The other pictures are all pictures of the hotel lobby from different angles.
This is the hallway to the left of the reception area that leads you to the hotel ballroom. The lobby restroom is to the right. This photo was taken during a hot afternnon and the sun is shinning in through the tall glass window.
This is the reception area of the big ballroom. The big doors on the right of the picture leads you to the ballroom. Some of the big glass windows on the left are also big glass doors that allow direct access to the ballroom. I did not manage to snap a picture of the inside of the ballroom. You can click on the Vistana Hotel official link on the top of this page to view the ballroom. I like this ballroom because event guests get direct access to the ballroom through the entry points at the glass door on the left of this picture. The glass doors are transparent (not heavily tinted) and are visible from the main road if anyone is driving by (extra publicity for your event).
The elevators that take you to the guest rooms are on the left. Walk to the end of this corridor, turn left and you are at the hotel’s one and only restaurant. This is just fine because there are a number of restaurants available around this hotel that are within walking distance. For those who drive, there are all types of restaurants at all types of budgets that are within 5 minutes drive from this hotel. You can find Malay, Indian, Chinese and Western restaurants all around. The vast number of available restaurants is not surprising because employees who work in the Free Trade Industrial Zone lunch around this area during weekdays 52 weeks a year.
This is the only restaurant/coffee house in the hotel. I do not know if this restaurant is open 24 hours. My opinion is that it does not matter because there is a 24-hour restaurant within walking distance from the hotel. The restaurant is an Indian food restaurant named Restaurant Penang Kayu Nasi Kandar. The restaurant is open everyday of the year and is reputed to be the best Inidan food restaurant on the island. Prices of food in Kayu is certainly the most expensive on the Penang island, with a loading of an extra 10% as compared to other Indian food restaurants on the island.