Review: Hard Rock Hotel, Penang

Date of travel: 16 Sep 2011

HuiLing: Did you hear about the rock joke? Nevermind, it's too "hard" to tell.

Whenever I mention Hard Rock Hotel, the first thing I hear is "Wahhhhh" and it is often followed by "Expensive!". Having heard this one too many times, I wanted to check it out for myself. We decided to go there on a public holiday weekend, Malaysia Day 2011, for a 3D/2N stay. Do your research to locate the best deal for Hard Rock Hotel. Rates from the official website may not always be the best. This is what we paid

RM349 nett with breakfast is a great price, message me if you want to know where from

From the moment you arrive, you know that your holiday has officially started. Hard Rock Hotel, Penang greets you with music that will make your head nod, a welcoming Receptionist who tells you with a smile that your room isn't ready yet, and a welcome drink that looks like Iced Lemon Tea but is actually Sarsi. Get past all that and you are greeted with one of the most welcoming yet practical room I've ever been in.

The Deluxe Seaview Room

Good lighting, plenty of shelves everywhere to place things. Below the TV is an iPod docking station & DVD player

Each room maintains its standard in terms of cleanliness. We tried to hurry the housekeeping to finish cleaning our room. Although they have finished, a supervisor needs to arrive and officially stamp his approval before the room could be released to us.

For RM349, you get a very comfortable bed, a rain shower, top notch toiletries which includes Royal Gold toilet paper, and a good range of tea & coffee facilities that includes Milo. To me, these are all the small details that made my stay all the more pleasant.

Instead of seeing my reflection, I look like Elvis everyday!

Thanks Hard Rock Hotel, for the upgrade to Seaview Deluxe Room

Enough of room photos. Let's head down to the pool! This hotel has the most impressive pools in Malaysia. The closest to this is Avillion Port Dickson, but Hard Rock Penang wins hands down. It comes with 3 slides for different levels of enjoyment, a children's section with water shooting devices and monkey bars, a sea simulated pool where there is sand INSIDE the pool, and a lagoon section as long as 50 metres for you to do your laps. Beside the pool is a shallow 0.5 foot area where your kids can play whilst you're swimming, or for sun bathers to bask yet still be in the pool. All very practical aspects again.

The pool. From Right to Left: Bar area, slide area, sand beach area, massage huts. Rent floats for RM10-20/day

A little island to sun bathe at

Relive your chlidhood by going down the slides

Practical again - seat ledge at many areas to sit in the pool

Food was great and on-par with the usual Hard Rock standards. Breakfast includes the standard western fare of eggs and sausages & ham, hash browns, soup noodles, porridge, nasi lemak, fried noodles, fruits, and 5 different types of juices. For those who didn't get breakfast in your room deal, you can opt to dine in the restaurant for RM55++, or have room service sent to you for even cheaper.

Torn between bracing the traffic for Penang Food Hunt vs Hard Rock burgers in my room with a Seaview

A live band plays at the lobby area from 10:30pm onwards, with the usual crowd favourite songs. For their 2nd anniversary special, they now have a Foam Party on every Saturday night from 5pm-7pm for kids and 7pm till midnight for adults. This is where having a Seaview room could be both an advantage and disadvantage. I could experience the music and fun of the Foam Party from the comforts of my room. But alas, the noise traveled past midnight and I had to call Reception to complain about leftover people and their guffaws. Yes call me the party pooper.

Live band performance from 10:30pm daily

How can you visit Hard Rock Hotel without buying a Hard Rock T-shirt? Luckily for us, they had a super sale in conjunction with their 2nd Anniversary, several types of T-shirts for RM50 instead of RM90.

RM50 Hard Rock T-shirt

The staff of Hard Rock are probably used to this scene by now, but I found this pretty amusing. Each night, the front entrance lobby transforms into this beautiful spectacle of light where the ceiling is lighted up with the Hard Rock logo. Photographers are crazy people who would do anything to get the best shot.

What are they doing on the floor of the hotel entrance??!

Oh.. trying to catch this photo. Does this mean I was on the floor too? *smile*

Not so easy to catch a good shot

Finally, Hard Rock Hotel Penang is obsessed with The Beatles. They are everywhere! Do not stay at Hard Rock if you have Beatles-phobia!

The Beatles above your bed

The Beatles at the Hotel Entrance

The Beatles again, at the Lifts

Lego Men of The Beatles at Teen's Club

In conclusion, I loved my stay at Hard Rock Penang very much. I shall return!

Happily floating at Hard Rock Hotel, Penang!