The Kimberly hotel at the edge of Penang's UNESCO's World Heritage Centre provide easy access to the 21st and the 18th and 19th century worlds.

The room which I had was mostly taken up by the bed and it was a tight squeeze between it and the writing table. What was easily visible was clean, but I had to search for an item that had rolled under the bed and there were the beginnings of dust bunnies.

The breakfasts, which were included in the price of the room, were disappointing. The selection of food was limited and the restaurant was packed. We waited until 9:30 - 9:45 before going for breakfast because there was no place to sit.

The staff, in this sea of people, were noticeably calm and collected. They were polite and efficient, as were those working on the registration counter when large numbers were checking out and attempting to check in. I arrived early and left my bags in the hotel before checking, but they were left in the registration area, rather than a secure room.

The pluses for this hotel are its location, and despite being new, it has kept the essence of historical Penang.

I booked two Standard King rooms for 6 nights and had a terrible experience.

1. The rooms were very small. Smaller than it looks in the pictures. It feels dark and cramped. The room would not be able to fit two big luggage. There was no space for two persons to walk in front of the bed even if you squeeze!

2. Soundproof is terrible and I believe that applies for every room since it's a heritage building. I could even hear a cough from next room. So you could imagine all the noise from the hallway and banging of doors. Don't forget the honks from cars since it's quite near the main road.

3. There were big and small FLIES coming out from the toilet EVERY SINGLE DAY.

4. There were ANTS on our table since the day we checked in!

5. No amenities provided = NO hand soaps, NO slippers (you have to pay RM10 per pair! I don't mind if the room's floor is clean but it's not!), NO metal spoons (they give you PLASTIC stirrers), NO safe box, NO water bottles (Hotel keep saying they are trying to protect the environment but I believe giving your guests 2 bottles upon check-in should have made guests feel better!)

6. The toilet is very small. Shower and toilet is seperated by a curtain which makes the toilet even more cramped. When you shower, the whole toilet floor is wet and the curtain gives a bad stench because it's always wet.

7. Room cleaning is terrible. There were footprints on our bed sheets. Our room was not swept because I could our floor was still dirty after returning. Toilet rolls were not refilled eventhough we took our the toilet roller and put it on top for them to see. Turns out, they were not observant enough! Even our rubbish bins were not checked - our rubbish was not thrown.

8. WORST of all, the hotel did not give us the flexibility to change two standard rooms to a bigger room eventhough it could fit all of us. That was the worst feeling ever as we endured 6 days in that small room. The hotel would have made our experiences better!

In summary, I don't understand why anyone will be able to accept staying in the Standard Room. At that price, we could have booked somewhere else with bigger space and be given all the amenities! It was an awful experience and it spoiled our holiday mood.

Why ask your customers to book the Deluxe Room next time when you couldn't even satisfy them with your basic Standard room. There was no care and thought given to your guests. For me, there will be no next time in Kimberly Hotel Georgetown!

The Kimberley hotel is very clean and the location is good. However, the amenities at the hotel were very poor. There was no water provided in the rooms, no toiletries, and they didn't have an adaptor at the reception either. The room was way smaller than I thought it would be, can't swing a cat in there. The hotel's positive point is its excellent restaurant, the Auction Rooms, which has a very nice atmosphere and great staff - especially Mr. Jamal. We were some of the people who got stranded at the Penang Hill for more than 3 hours at night, and the staff at the restaurant was very understanding in the morning when we were late for breakfast!