ปุตราพาเลซโฮมอินน์

As I emailed you last friday, the room was not available. Please respond to my mail and arrange for refund.

Good...

Location was ok with bus right outside. No microwave or oven to cook. Gas cylinder was disconnected and locked. Not even a frying or saucepan. Owner was difficult to contact, it took over an hour of trying, to get into condo. Once in rooms were OK. Would not stay there again.

First of all this is an apartment, not really a hotel. The rooms are in good condition and only thing is you are not allowed to cook. Would be great if microwave oven is available. Will recommend friends to come here if they are here on a holiday.

First of all this is not a hotel, but a "condotel". It is essentially a condominium that is rented out. I have done these types of arrangements in the past in other countries and I have not had problems. I travel to Penang 4 times a year and I know the area well enough to know that the advertised unit is close to a mall and more importantly has easy taxi access. However, 2 days prior to my arrival I received an email from the manager to call him. I was traveling in other countries so I was not able to contact him directly, but did send a reply email. The short story on this is that they NEVER said that the room in the Putra Place was not available. When I arrived at the airport, they did pick me up but that is when they informed me that the room they had available was in a completely different location away from the mall. As it was 10pm at night, I really did not have another choice than to take the room that they had. It was in a residential area and trying to get a taxi was based on luck. They should have told me right away when they learned that the room was not available and given me a refund so I could have booked a different option. But I am very disappointed to say they decided to keep me on the hook until I had not other option. As a seasoned traveler who has been to the area many times, the problem was not that painful. However, for somebody who has not been to Penang before or does not really know the area well, this could have been a disaster.