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| Roommates Guesthouse Penang |
Every time when planning for a trip, first thing that came into my mind was the accommodation. Well, the cheaper, more comfortable and more convenient hostel always be the winner. In the world heritage site of Georgetown, more and more hostels and guesthouses were being built. Today, I want to introduce to you all the Roommates Guesthouse which is located at Lorong Chulia.
Roommates guesthouse has started their business two years ago. Currently, Roommates has two buildings, one is for 8-bed dorms (the photo as shown above) and the other one is for 4-bed dorms. 8-bed dorms is mix style dorm while the 4-bed dorm separated the male and the female guests. There are altogether two 8-bed dorms and five 4-bed dorms. However, the 4-bed dorm of room number two was rented by an Australian traveler for the whole year so basically the 4-bed dorms only left with four dorms.
I know you didn't get what I meant in the previous paragraph (as I was confused by my own words too), therefore I have made this chart for your easier understanding.
This is Roommates 1 (8-bed dorms). At first, I thought that Roommates guesthouse has only one building, so I went into this guesthouse to check in. After giving my name, the worker told me that my room was at Roommates 2 (4-bed dorms). For now, let just have a look at Roommates 1 first, will introduce to you all the Roommates 2 later.
The first impression I get when I walked into the guesthouse was that it was a bit messy and complicated. However, when I looked back at the photos I took, the guesthouse was actually quite neat. I think it was mostly because I was not feeling too well at that moment and that it caused the messy feeling. Saw the mattresses on the floor? It is for the guest to comfortably watch the TV hang on the opposite wall. If you don't like to watch TV, sitting on the soft mattress and read the book you like is another kind of enjoyment. Oh ya, you cant wear shoes in Roommates guesthouse. You have to put your shoes at the shoe rack and enter bare foot.
There are few Penang's travel brochures available in Roommates guesthouse. There are Georgetown map in some of the brochures. If you are new to Penang, these brochures could be a big help!
I
saw this certificate on the wall. Congratulations to Roommate
guesthouse for winning the Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence 2013.
Roommates provides computer services to their guest. It is definitely a good news for someone like me who don't have any online devices. One thing that I was not satisfied with was that the computer screen and the keyboard was set a bit too high, it was really inconvenience for me to see the screen and typed on the keyboard. Another thing to mention is that there were mosquito at this area at night.
This
guesthouse has three toilets, one at the upper floor and two on the
ground floor. I want to compliment their toilets for the cleanliness,
they were really clean!
This
is the bed of the Roommates guesthouse. I slept at the lower bed of the
bunk bed. Each room was using the same bunk beds, there are 4 bunk beds
in the 8-bed dorms and 2 bunk beds in the 4-bed dorms. Each bed unit
was supplied with a lamp and a socket. There was a curtain at the side
too. If you wish to have some private space, just pull the curtain until
the very end. There are air-condition in each room as well.
Here is what I think after sleeping one night in a shared dorm. It was really not an easy task to share a bunk bed with others. I have to be careful enough so that I don't move too much until it can affect the friend sleeping above me. Another thing I want to mention is that the room's soundproofing system was not that good. I can hear the voice came from outside and the footsteps of those who walked at upstairs.
Now lets go to Roommates 2. The second building (to the right of the yellow building) is the Roommates 2 guesthouse. It is just opposite the Roommates 1 guesthouse. This guesthouse is exactly one year old and the building itself is a rented unit.
The upper floor of the guesthouse is specially for female guests while the ground floor is for the male guests. There are 4 rooms at the upper floor and only one room available on the ground floor. I asked the worker why is it the ratio of the male and female rooms has such a big different? The worker told me that they have more female guests so they have to prepare more rooms for the female travelers.
Roommates 2 has three bathroom as well and all were located on the ground floor. Previously I forgot to mention that each of these bathrooms were equipped with heater.
This is the back of the guesthouse. There are tables for the guests to have their meals.
Roommates has sold drinks as well. The prices are as follow :
Beer per can - RM5
Can drinks per can - RM2.00
Mineral water per bottle - RM1.50
If you wish to do laundry, it costs RM4 per washing of not more than 5kg. Price is inclusive of detergent. Note that ironing is not available.
There is a locker available in the guesthouse. If you have something important or valuable, you may lock them inside this locker.
Right before the stairs to the upper floor, there is a quite special mirror and I took a selfie of myself..haha.. Notice that there is a dog at the end of the stairs? Somehow I feel like it was warning the male guests not to go up..hehe..
As long as you are a guest of Roommates guesthouse, you get to enjoy the free breakfast prepared by them. I was overslept that day so I didn't get the chance to taste the free breakfast (the free breakfast was available until 10 am only). Fortunately, I do get a cup of free coffee..hehe.. XD The worker told me that they used to prepare nyonya food as the breakfast but some western guests do not seem to like it. Thus, to prevent food wasting, they decided to change the breakfast to western style.
One of the things that Roommates guesthouse stands out among others is it's strategic location. It was quite convenient to reach most of the tourist attractions from this location. If you are looking for some nice cafe, there was one just straight opposite the guesthouse, Pit Stop Cafe. Walking further a bit and you will found another good cafe, The Alley Cafe. When the sky turns dark, with just a few steps from the guesthouse, you get to enjoy a variety of local foods at Chulia Street.
Address
17 B Chulia Lane, Penang, 11200 Penang, Malaysia
Contact
04 - 261 1567
·Free Wifi·24 Hours Check In·No Lock Out
Room Rate
Weekday - RM30 （per night）
Weekend - RM32（per night）
This was the room rate I was told by the worker, it is different from what is written in their website. Do confirm the prices with Roommates Guesthouse Penang before you make any decision.
Roommates Penang
Website
www.roommatespenang.com
This post was originally written on 22nd May 2014
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