The Shophouse studio in George Town

Apartment

Room size: 650 m²/6997 ft² 1 bedroom/studio 1 bathroom

2 guests

Best Prices

*Bookings have to be made minimally a week ahead* The Studio has been renovated and has a new retiled floor and exposed brick walls! Home away from home! The Shophouse is a studio apartment-style accomodation in a 100+year old townhouse in George Town.

The Shophouse is a renovated apartment-style accommodation in a 100+year old townhouse in George Town. The city is now celebrating its 10th anniversary as a World Heritage City, so this is a great time to experience the ambience of staying in a Shophouse in a living heritage city!

This is the ground floor suite of a three-storey house. As an open-plan private apartment unit, it has a queen-sized bed and a convertible sofa (firm and comfy!) so two people share a bed and the third guest sleeps on a sofa bed. It comes complete with an ensuite bathroom, and a simple kitchen and dining area. Only a microwave (to heat up food) and kettle (for hot drinks) are provided because guests are literally surrounded by Penang's best hawker foods available throughout the day. One 2hp air-con and two ceiling fans keeps the place cool, and the room's centrepiece is its lovely airwell. Despite being in the city, you could be woken up by the chirping of birds in the mornings, the ringing of a bell at the Krishna temple a couple of doors down; and in the afternoon, the warm, yeasty aroma of baking bread will waft in from the next door bakery - one of the few still making traditional Hainanese bread.

*A minimum two-night stay is required.
* Please notify me before booking if you're planning to check in after 7pm because I'm not always able to accommodate this.
*During your stay, the floor above your unit could be occupied by the host, or the second floor could be occupied by other guests. All share a main door and common staircase but all have separate entrances to their floors so it's like your own private apartment. I've picked the description as a "private room" though because you will hear people come through the main door and up the stairs.

Dato Koyah is off Penang Road which is a paradise of the best hawker foods in Penang. This is a great space for foodies who want to enjoy the rhythms and pace of George Town. The street is largely residential with low-traffic businesses, except at night when one end of the road draws in the supper crowd. Staying in a George Town shophouse will mean ambient sounds of the city. There will be some traffic noise, ie muffled drones of motorbikes whizzing by and the Krishna Temple bell that is rung at 730am. But this suite is relatively "embedded" within the building so the sound is muted. **If you're looking for absolute silence, this is not a suitable space.**

Hawker highlights around the corner include my neighbour's kaya toast and eggs (Toh Soon, 7.30am-6pm at Campbell Street), wonton mee (morning), koay teow th'ng (morning to early aftn), pork broth (9am till late), roti prata and fried maggi mee (9pm -4am), Nasi Kandar (24 hours). ** A food map will be provided!

Dato Koyah is off Penang Road which is a paradise of the best hawker foods in Penang. This is a great space for foodies who want to enjoy the rhythms and pace of George Town. The street is largely residential with low-traffic businesses, except at night when one end of the road draws in the supper crowd. Staying in a George Town shophouse will mean ambient sounds of the city. There will be some traffic noise, ie muffled drones of motorbikes whizzing by and the beeping sounds of automatic car locks. This suite is relatively "embedded" within the building so the sound is muted.

I or my mother (my co-agoda conspirator) will be present to check guests in, and give them a brief overview of how they should treat the space: locks, switches, aircon guidelines, garbage disposal, second exits etc.
Upon booking, guests also get a Google list map of food recommendations, and they also get a physical artist-drawn food map of the immediate area near the Shophouse. I can customise any other recommendations and travel tips if they ask.

The world heritage core zone is easily accessible by foot, and the public bus service is just across the main road. Great food within minutes of walking!

It's a residential neighbourhood with small businesses and it is calmer compared to parallel roads but yet within short walking distance to every amenity, primarily food and heritage sites.

If you've 30 mins, do watch this recent Singapore documentary on Penang! https://youtu.be/rpx1WUHPe7Y

It's really easy to walk everywhere and to catch the bus to Komtar where the main bus terminus is. There is sufficient public carparking on the street, take note that Penang has now changed to a coupon system. I usually arrange for my regular cabbie to pick guests up from the airport for RM40 and you can subsequently make your return arrangements with him.

If you've 30mins, do watch this Singapore documentary on Penang! https://youtu.be/rpx1WUHPe7Y

Please let me know your check in times soon after you book, for planning ease. I'm generally flexible with check-in and check-out times but if there is a back-to-back booking, then do note that the standard 12pm check out time and 3pm check in will apply.