I walked into the E&O Hotel Penang on a humid afternoon, and the first thing I heard was the sound of my own heels on marble.
That echo stopped me mid-stride. It’s the kind of sound you hear in old films – The Grand Budapest Hotel, perhaps, or Casanova – that immediate auditory confirmation that you’ve stepped into somewhere with soul, with stories embedded in every tile. The same floor Charlie Chaplin walked on. The same grand lobby where Rita Hayworth might have paused, adjusting her hat before heading out to explore Georgetown.
That’s when I noticed the dome above. The echo dome in the Heritage Wing lobby at E&O Hotel Penang is an original structure from the Sarkies era from over a century ago, designed to project even the softest sounds – a whisper, footsteps, the rustle of silk. It has witnessed countless conversations, celebrations, and probably a few scandals too.
And the doormen? They wear these khaki uniforms with helmets that look straight out of the J.W.W Birch colonial era. It’s not cosplay, it is preservation. Living, breathing preservation.
This is the Eastern & Oriental Hotel. The E&O Hotel Penang. And nothing quite prepared me for what it would feel like to inhabit this piece of living history.
A Walk Through History
The E&O Hotel Penang isn’t trying to recreate history. It IS history.
The Eastern & Oriental Hotel was born from the imagination of the Sarkies Brothers – Tigran, Aviet, Martin, and Arshak – Armenian entrepreneurs who understood that a hotel should be more than lodging. It should be theatre. It should be life itself.
Established in 1885 when the Eastern Hotel and Oriental Hotel merged, the E&O became their masterpiece before they went on to create Raffles in Singapore. What set the Sarkies apart was their love of celebration. They needed no excuse to host a ball – Chinese New Year, Christmas, National Day, any occasion would do. E&O Hotel Penang became the island’s social heart, where society gathered, where memories were made beneath crystal chandeliers.
The guest list through the decades reads like a who’s who of the 20th century: Charlie Chaplin, Rita Hayworth, Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling, Noel Coward, Herman Hesse. Even King Charles III, back when he was Prince Charles, found respite within these walls.
Walking these halls, you’re literally following in the footsteps of legends.
The Deluxe Suite: A Room I Couldn’t Bear To Leave
My Deluxe Suite in the Heritage Wing overlooked the Andaman Sea, and waking-up here each morning felt like inhabiting a dream I didn’t want to end.
The bed. How do I describe it? Impossibly comfortable, wrapped in crisp white linens that seemed to hold you in the gentlest embrace. Leaving it each morning required genuine willpower. I’d lie there, already awake, unwilling to break the spell – until the first ray of sunlight filtered through those white wooden sliding doors.
Then I’d surrender to the pull. Walking to the window became my morning ritual.
The sunrise over the ocean – mesmerising feels too small to describe it. The sky would transform into watercolours: pink and gold across the water. Birds flying across in graceful arcs. Silhouettes of boats across the ocean dark against the brightening horizon.
In a busy city like Georgetown, you don’t expect this. This quietness. This view. This feeling of being completely removed from everything, even though the city is right there.
The room itself felt like stepping into a love letter to a bygone era. White sliding doors that caught the breeze. Black and white marble in the bathroom – the real Victorian kind, cool underfoot. Colonial-era furniture with that patina of age, pieces that felt lived-in rather than museum-perfect. And those light switches – the chunky, satisfying kind from the 1970s that click with authority when you press them. Such a small detail, yet it transported me instantly to childhood, to my parents’s house, to a slower, more tactile time. That’s the thing about the E&O Hotel Penang, they didn’t modernise away the charm. They kept the soul.
Every morning, a newspaper arrived at my door. Folded. Pristine. When was the last time you experienced this particular luxury? It is these gestures, these quiet refusals to modernise away all the charm, that make the E&O Hotel Penang not just special, but essential.
The team took me on a tour of other suites too, each one more stunning than the last. There’s the Corner Suite, Studio Suite… rooms dedicated to the literary giants who found inspiration within these walls. If you’re a history buff or a romantic (or both), these suites are pure magic.
The Morning Walk You Shouldn’t Miss
One of my most treasured discoveries at the E&O Hotel Penang came in those early morning hours, before the day fully awakened. Walk along the hotel’s waterfront. Take your time and enjoy the serenity of it all.
The Java tree, that magnificent ancient sentinel standing between the Heritage Wing and Victory Annexe comes alive at dawn. It is full of birdlife. The birdsong is extraordinary, a symphony of calls and trills that feels like the tree itself is breathing music into the morning. Swallows fly past in graceful swoops, hunting their breakfast, their wings catching the first light.
The E&O Hotel Penang offers spectacular views and beautiful surrounding nature, but the real gift is this: the invitation to pause. To actually pause. To stand beneath a tree older than the hotel itself, listening to birds, watching swallows dance across the sky, feeling the sea breeze on your skin.
In our rushed world, this kind of stillness is the rarest luxury of all.
Heritage Wing Breakfast Privilege
One of the advantages of staying in the Heritage Wing is the choice of breakfast at any of the three outlets – Palm Court, Planters or Sarkies. I tried two during my stay, each offering a distinctly different experience.
Sarkies is the grand buffet affair – extensive and impressive. The spread includes cereals, pastries, Western classics, Asian favorites, Indian curries, and made-to-order stations but here’s what you need to know: ask the chef to prepare apam telur.
This traditional dish – a mildly sweetened, very thin pancake with crispy edges topped with egg is increasingly rare in Malaysia now, a culinary treasure from another era. I grew up eating apam telur, and finding it at Sarkies was genuinely special. Even my Australian friend Natalie raves about it. Trust me on this – ask the chef to prepare one and thank me later!
I prefer sitting outside by the waterfront, reading the newspaper that arrived at my door each morning, sipping a proper teh tarik, Malaysia’s classic pulled tea, while listening to the birdsong from the Java tree. Seaview. Unhurried. Exactly what breakfast should be.
Planters takes a different approach entirely. More refined, with a smaller buffet selection and beautifully executed made-to-order main courses. The indoor dining room is elegant, though the outdoor seating with its sweeping views of the Andaman Sea is hard to resist. One word of warning if you sit outside: watch your plate. The local black birds are bold and opportunistic – turn your back for a moment, and your breakfast might take flight. Consider yourself warned!
Both Sarkies and Planters are excellent, just different. Sarkies for abundance and nostalgia. Planters for quiet elegance. As a Heritage Wing guest, the choice is yours.
Canapés and Cocktails at The Cornwallis
One of the best-kept secrets of staying in the Heritage Wing? Wines and canapés at The Cornwallis from 6pm to 7pm, included with your stay. Delicious, diverse, beautifully presented options that pair wonderfully with their selection of wines or GnT.
The Cornwallis sits right by the seafront pool, so you can enjoy your sundowners while watching the sky turn pink and orange over the Andaman Sea. The sea breeze, the clinking of ice in glasses, the murmur of conversation – it’s civilised, elegant, and absolutely one of my favourite moments of the entire stay.
The Heritage Pool
The Heritage Wing pool became my sanctuary. It is perfectly positioned overlooking the Andaman Sea. I’d claim a sun lounger with my book and notebook, and hours would dissolve. Reading. Writing. Watching the light change on the water and seagulls skimming on the water surface, hunting.
This is what the E&O Hotel Penang understands: luxury isn’t just about having everything. It is about having the time and space to do absolutely nothing.
The E&O Hotel Penang Gallery
E&O Hotel Penang Gallery isn’t a dusty corner with faded photographs. It’s a carefully curated journey through 140 years of Penang’s social history, told through the lens of the hotel.
I stood before a delicate wedding dress from the 1950s, imagining the bride who chose this storied hotel for her most important day. Newspaper clippings from the 1930s chronicled grand parties and notable arrivals. Guest registers from the 1960s displayed elegant cursive signatures – back when checking in meant signing your name with a fountain pen, not scanning passports and swiping credit cards.
The Sarkies Brothers love of celebration is evident throughout. Photographs of elaborate balls, society gatherings, New Year’s Eve galas where Penang’s elite danced until dawn. Every excuse was a reason to celebrate, and the E&O Hotel Penang was the stage.
This contrast between then and now struck me deeply. Today’s efficient digital check-ins have their place, but something human has been lost. The E&O Hotel Penang manages to honour both eras without losing its soul.
Meet Pakcik Ezzat – The Heart of E&O Hotel Penang
You can have all the five-star amenities in the world, but it is the people who make a place unforgettable. Meet Pak Ezzat, the bellman with a bright smile.
This man is pure joy. Always smiling, always ready to help, remembering guests by name even years later. He’s been with the E&O Hotel Penang long enough to know every secret passage, every best-kept dining spot in George Town, every story the hotel walls could tell. That genuine warmth? You can’t fake it. That’s the soul of Malaysian hospitality right there.
Why the E&O Hotel Penang Matters
Penang has no shortage of hotels. Luxurious ones. Modern ones. More affordable ones.
The E&O Hotel Penang isn’t about where you sleep. It is about where you are in time, in history, in yourself. You’re in a UNESCO World Heritage Site, in a hotel that has welcomed guests for 140 years, in rooms where Hollywood stars found refuge and writers penned masterpieces. You’re hearing your heels click on the same marble Charlie Chaplin walked. You’re watching the same sunset Somerset Maugham watched.
The E&O Hotel Penang was once called “The Premier Hotel East of Suez.” Somehow, through careful preservation and genuine care – through people like Pak Ezzat, through those original light switches and echoing domes, through the refusal to modernise away all the magic. It still deserves that title.
Location & Visitor Information
- Eastern Oriental Hotel Penang (E&O Hotel Penang) 10 Lebuh Farquhar, George Town, Penang
Wings: Heritage Wing (historic, refined, butler service) and Victory Annexe (modern, spacious)
My recommendation: The Heritage Wing for the full experience – exclusive pool access, evening canapés, and those rooms with soul. - Distance: 45 minutes from Penang International Airport. Fort Cornwallis is a short walk; George Town’s UNESCO heritage streets are on your doorstep.
- Best time to visit: November to March for drier weather, though Penang’s tropical charm works year-round.
For those seeking authentic heritage, thoughtful luxury, and that rare sense of being exactly where you’re meant to be, the E&O Hotel Penang awaits.
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