Gotta say, the refurbishing that the place has undergone recently has done wonders for the hotel. It is very very pretty indeed. If you are looking for a boutique hotel that is unique and photographs well to put in Instagram, look no further. It is now very true of its name, very modern fittings and finishing, the bathroom especially, with the full glass walls and the black and white tiles, is absolutely fabulous. I opt to get a bigger room with a balcony and a bathtub, and I think its money well spent. Not only that the room is huge, but the balcony is a very nice addition. Pull the blinds up, you can enjoy a bath as though you are outside, and there's even chairs and tables so you can even enjoy coffee on the balcony. The best thing bout this hotel, is its rooftop jacuzzi. Though it is such a shame that I came during CMCO, so the jacuzzi is closed for usage. Though very modern, I love the fact that the owners has decided to keep the oldskool architecture of the building intact. Things like the stairs for instance, and building's facade is maintained, making it a sight to behold. Everywhere you look, there's interesting things to take picture of, I took dozens of pics during my stay. But sadly, that's where the postitives end. Apart from being very very photogenic, there's really not much else. No breakfast is provided even, given the price of rooms, is a fact I'm quite surprised bout. Well, at least it redeems itself for being in a location you can quite easily get food joints all around. Parking is a bot of an issue also. Although there is parking area that is allocated by the hotel, I was told that at night the parking gates might be closed. I was really weirded bout this, but was also told that parking by the roadside next to the hotel is completely safe. I highly doubt it though. Might be something to resolve in the future. But, if what you're looking for is just a very very trendy, very pretty looking hotel that is comfortable to stay, then this is the perfect place for you.

I went to Penang (long-distance bus terminal in Sungei Nibong just to the south from long bridge to continental Malaysia) in overnight bus from Kuala Lumpur. Komtar Mall, where public buses arrive from Jalan Sungei Nibong, is not so far away to Lebuh Chulia, where most of backpackers accomodation concentrates, - about a kilometer. I went through almost all of it. Everywhere it was either quite unattractive, or too expensive. Finally I stopped at the Modern hotel, which is very near to Lebuh Chulia and small market with foodcourts. It happened to be quite bearable. The room was, though small, but fairly accurate. And the shower, wash basin and WC worked properly. For Georgetown room costed inexpensively - maybe because it was on the third floor without elevator? In the lobby two ancient old man were playing solitaire all the day.
To my mind, quite bearable.