Big shoutout to Tourism Malaysia for making this staycation happen. I know you a bit blur now why I said that heh.
Because Tourism Malaysia came out with a Stimulus Package alongside MATTA and Shopee - where they are sponsoring RM100 per person (discount) for any tour package purchased on Shopee that is in line with MATTA.
Needless to say, Holiday Tours has a few packages lined up and one of them was a 2D1N staycation at Hotel Jen Penang Georgetown by Shangri-La!
The selling price for the 2D1N Hotel Jen is RM115 per person for the 2D1N package, so with the RM100 discount voucher on Shopee, we actually only paid RM15 for a hotel staycation.
Every account is only entitled to 1 RM100 discount voucher, and there were like 12 of us so we needed 12 people to buy and utilize these vouchers on Shopee - so we reached out to friends (haha) to help us out (only if they did not plan to use them) and finally, we managed to get all the vouchers and wala - it was staycation time! Heh.
You can try this link (click with your phone app) and see if the package is still there - because I am quite sure the Hotel Jen's package is fully booked/purchased. But there are many other packages that you can use this RM100 voucher on.
You can only enjoy this voucher thing via Shopee App - if I am not wrong.
We emailed the Reservations Team days prior to the check-in and requested for all rooms to be on the same floor and if possible, to have multiple connecting rooms - and to have early check-ins.
We were informed that early check-ins were not possible due to the high occupancy rate that week so that was a bummer that we had to only check in at 3PM - but being us, we went to the hotel early anyways, at like about 1245PM.
We decided to try request for early check-in (again) and it worked! We managed to check into 2 rooms first and then by 2PM, all our rooms were ready! So, that works! Heh. Perseverance is key :)
This is the package that we purchased.
It is inclusive of:-
> daily buffet breakfast
> entrance ticket to 3D Trick Art Museum
Oh, and we paid an extra RM10 per room for the weekend surcharge.
The staff was friendly and helpful. It was such a pleasant check-in experience with them. The lobby is nice and clean, even the hallway to the rooms. There were lots of sanitizers in the hotel so very convenient to wash your hands every 5 steps. Heh.
The room (Deluxe Room with King bed) was quite spacious - and I love that they have an extra lounge chair by their giant window (which I love so much!).
Overall, clean room with a clean bathroom so I think I will give it a 4 out of 5 stars.
The missing 1-star because of its location heh. I think it is a great hotel for those who prefer to explore the city and do some cafe hopping and for businessmen for sure. But for families with children, it is not very ideal - just because there were not many things to do in (around) the hotel.
No beach and the pool are very basic. Also, cos Covid so no swimming for all of us so bleh.
Only 2 rooms were connected - my grandma's and ours. So our room was the party/supper-room. Yes, we tapau food from Green House - like curry mee and tailok mee and steamed chicken. Heh.
So here's a fun hack.
Do you know that you can call the hotel and request bowls and cutleries from the restaurant and they will bring it to your room? We requested 5 bowls and cutleries and they delivered.
Like legit super nice good quality bowls that they use in the restaurant okay - not those plastic bowls.
That is why we could enjoy our curry mee and yee sang kai chok. Heh.
So now you know ok.
Here's a short video of the room :)
Till next staycation, bye now.