Eat, Pray, Shop: Malaysia - Hutton Lodge (Penang) Review

One of the recommended 'hotels' (according to TripAdvisor; ranked #10 of 84 hotels) in Penang is Hutton Lodge. In fact, some bloggers previously stayed here as well. Though not really a hotel, it's actually a 19th century Indo-Malay bungalow restored in 2006. 

Hutton Lodge is right in Jalan Hutton near Jalan Campbell (Lebuh Campbell) and Penang Road where a bus stop is also conveniently located (directly in front of 7/11). Also just a stone's throw away is Mydin - think of it as SM's mini version (run by Indians) because they've got it all for you (yeah, I just had to write that LOL). Forgot your curling iron? Yup, they got that too.

Hutton Lodge's Facade

How to get here:

From the port, you can take the FREE CAT (Central Area Transit) Bus and ask to be dropped off at 7/11 along Penang Road near Mydin. Alternatively, you can take a taxi, like we did, because we were too lazy to look for the bus and paid RM6.00 each. We were surprised we got a lady driver.

By the way, don't be irked if Malaysian taxi drivers are a little pushy about taking you somewhere aside from your desired destination. We experienced this in KL as well. Understandably, they want to earn some extra cash by taking you to 'partner establishments'. 

In our case, the lady cab driver 'insisted' we sample some chocolates from another Beryl's outlet in Penang. She said it's okay even if we don't buy anything. After some pushback, we eventually gave in to her 'suggestion' just to end the conversation. In the end, we bought boxes of chocolates just because it's cheaper here than in their KL store. I love, love the 70% Ghana dark chocolate, by the way. :D She gave us some free maps and also recommended we try the Red Garden Hawker Center at night.

Driving around Georgetown, we admired the gorgeous colonial architecture everywhere. It seems so clean and laid back here; a very pleasant respite from the chaos of Kuala Lumpur and the bus travel to Penang (I'll do a separate post on this). Time seemed to suddenly slow down once we stepped in this town. 

Anyway, after a few minutes, we finally reached Hutton Lodge. To reserve, book here. I think they asked a RM50.00 deposit for the key and remote upon check in, but since we were only staying for a night, we were able to convince the staff to just waive the deposit and then paid the RM100.00 upfront instead of paying it upon check out.

One side of the reception and common area where desktop computers (for an hourly fee) are also available. 
This area is a bit spartan, though. 

For only RM100.00 a night, we got a twin room with very comfortable mattress and pillows. 

My only complaint are the towels. They're not fluffy and seem a bit old (or maybe it's just the color). 
Our room was on the second floor; right beside the common bathroom. 

Another thing I also noticed with Malaysian guesthouses is that they only have one electrical outlet per room so we had to take turns charging our gadgets. 

This is how a Malaysian socket looks like, so better bring an adaptor. 
Don't fret if you don't have one. There's Mydin, remember? haha

En suite bathroom - so spacious, we could have a spa party.

Light breakfast of toast, butter and jam, a slice of what I believe is their homemade chocolate loaf, and bottomless juice or coffee

And speaking of food -- Penang being Malaysia's food capital -- you'll never run out of options. Just around Hutton Lodge alone, there's a nearby hawker specializing in Nasi Kandar, and in one corner along Penang Road, there's a stall specializing in Char Kway Teow!

The lovely breakfast area

Also, for RM47.00 per head with taxi pickup, they also booked us seats on the bus going to Melaka which is definitely more convenient than my original plan of leaving around midnight and buying the tickets when we reach Sungai Nibong terminal.

Check out time is 1:00 pm, but if your departure is at a later time, you can leave your bags in their office at no extra cost.

Overall, Hutton Lodge is a recommended place to stay in Georgetown. I wish we could have stayed longer in this lovely town. 

Hutton Lodge

17 Jalan Hutton, 10050 Penang, Malaysia

Tel: +604-263-6003

http://www.huttonlodge.com

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