Penang Vacation Home, aka Penang Holiday Homestay, is a homestay program at 1 Sky Condominium in Bayan Baru, Penang. Stylishly furnished, it offers three 3-bedroom apartment units within a convenience distance to the Penang International Airport and the Bayan Lepas Free Industrial Zone. Each unit has its own living room, dining area and kitchen. Features include microwave oven, electric iron, hair dryer and washing machine. Facilities include the car park (on level 3) and swimming pool (on level 6).
Penang Vacation Home
Tingkat Mahsuri 2
Bayan Baru
11900 Bayan Lepas, Penang
View of Bukit Jambul from Penang Vacation Home (10 July 2015)
Getting there
By Taxi
Tell taxi to take you to Ideal One Sky at Tingkat Mahsuri 2, Bayan Baru.
By Bus
The nearest bus stop is along Jalan Mahsuri, served by Rapid Penang bus 302, 303, 304, 305, 307, 308, 309 and 401E. Bus 401E goes to the airport while all the other buses terminate at the Weld Quay Ferry & Bus Terminal (Jetty).
Our Stay at Penang Vacation Home
On 10 July, 2015, my wife and I were invited to a stay at Penang Vacation Home. Although we often do hotel reviews in Penang, this is the first time that we try out an urban homestay. We arrived at around 6:00 pm. The first thing is to collect the keys at Le Swen Laundry (street view below).
A problem we faced is that we couldn't find a vacant street-side parking lot, so my wife waited in the car while I went to the laundry to get the keys. Then it was pretty straightforward. We made a circle back to 1 Sky Condominium. There are two access cards, one for the lift lobby and one for the car park. We did not bother to determine or remember which card is for which purpose. At the car park entrance, we simply placed both cards to the sensor and let it do the choosing.
There are two adjoining parking bays, so we chose the one nearest the entrance to the lift lobby. The parking bay is near the lift lobby and is within sight. We took our stuff up to the unit. There are two keys - one for the outside padlock and another for the front door.
The unit is very spacious, though furnishing is a bit bare. There are three bedrooms of which we only occupied one. It has a separate kitchen, complete with pantry. There are two bathrooms with toiletries such as body wash, shampoo and towels. A glass partition keeps the basin and toilet area away from the shower.
The furnishing of the living room is adequate though basic. On the coffee table, the owners have placed files with useful information about Penang, like, where to eat, what to see, where to go, and so on. I thought this is a nice touch (not that I would need it) for the convenience of actual guests. There is also recommendations for restaurants in the immediate vicinity.
We did not feel like going far that evening, so we had our dinner that night at The Cruises Steakhouse, a short walking distance away.
Returning to our homestay unit that evening, we discover that it has a large, spacious balcony with a very nice view. We can see Bukit Jambul and Relau.
That evening, we chose to occupy the master bedroom. It has a nice view of the hills of Bukit Jambul from the window.
This is the bedroom we occupied at Penang Vacation Home. Note the glass door to the balcony on the right. (10 July 2015)
We found that two of the bedrooms have glass doors leading to the balcony. While we appreciate the direct access, we found that at night, light from the glass door gets into the bedroom. We would prefer if the owners install curtains on the glass doors too, to cut off the glaring light from the balcony.
The next morning, we toured the facilities of the Penang Vacation Home. There is a nice swimming pool along with a children's pool. Although I brought along my swimming trunk, I did not try out the pool. All the facilities are well kept and underused. We visited the gym, which is empty - probably because we were there rather early (8:00 am in the morning). There are a lot of facilities which, were I a resident, I would certainly be using regularly. We walked around the grounds and enjoy in particular the views.
Penang Vacation Home (10 July 2015)
When we check out of our unit, we merely have to deposit the keys to the letter box of our unit, and the owners will retrieve it from there. On the whole, we find that Penang Vacation Home offers a cost-effective alternative to staying at a hotel. For people traveling as a group, this offers a nice (and spacious) alternative where they can stay together.
Apartment Units at Penang Vacation Home
Penang Vacation Home presently offers three apartment units, the Deluxe Hillview, the Executive Suite and the Superior Hillview.
If you are seeking private guided tours of Penang, message Penang Tour Guides at penangtourguides@gmail.com and enquire with them.
Buy, rent or sell properties in Penang
Do you have a property for sale or to rent out? Are you looking to buy or rent a property? Get in touch with me. WhatsApp me (Timothy Tye) at 012 429 9844, and I will assign one of my property agents to serve you. I will choose the agent for you, according to your property needs. So when you message me, provide me some details of what you need, whether to sell, to buy, to rent or to rent out, and what type of property, is it condo, apartment, house, shop, office or land.
Adakah anda mempunyai hartanah untuk dijual atau disewakan? Adakah anda ingin membeli atau menyewa hartanah? Hubungi saya. WhatsApp saya (Timothy Tye) di 012 429 9844, dan saya akan menugaskan salah seorang ejen hartanah saya untuk berkhidmat kepada anda. Saya akan pilih ejen untuk anda, mengikut keperluan hartanah anda. Oleh itu, apabila anda menghantar mesej kepada saya, berikan saya beberapa butiran tentang apa yang anda perlukan, sama ada untuk menjual, untuk membeli, untuk disewakan atau untuk disewakan, dan jenis hartanah apakah itu kondo, pangsapuri, rumah, kedai, pejabat atau tanah.
Let me take you to explore and discover Penang through my series of walking tours on YouTube. You may use these videos as your virtual tour guide. At the beginning of each video, I provide the starting point coordinates which you may key into your GPS, Google Maps or Waze, to be navigated to where I start the walk, and use the video as your virtual tour guide.
Disclaimer
Please use the information on this page as guidance only. The author endeavours to update the information on this page from time to time, but regrets any inaccuracies if there be any.
Hello and thanks for reading this page. My name is Timothy and my hobby is in describing places so that I can share the information with the general public. My website has become the go to site for a lot of people including students, teachers, journalists, etc. whenever they seek information on places, particularly those in Malaysia and Singapore. I have been doing this since 5 January 2003, for over twenty years already. You can read about me at Discover Timothy. By now I have compiled information on thousands of places, mostly in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore, and I continue to add more almost every day. My goal is to describe every street in every town in Malaysia and Singapore.