Media
The Eastern & Oriental Penang
1 July 2012
The Eastern & Oriental Hotel is a hotel of old, colonial charm with the finest traditions of comfort and service. The property began its colourful history in 1884 as The Eastern. The Oriental was added in 1885 due to the Eastern’s overwhelming popularity. The hotels then combined to become the Eastern & Oriental Hotel. Established by the Armenian Sarkies brothers, Martin and Tigran, they became one Grand Hotel with Moorish minarets, a spacious domed lobby and a sweeping seafront.
In 1927, it was advertised as “The Premier Hotel East of the Suez”, boasting more than a hundred rooms, baths with hot and cold running water, individual telephones and a sea-front lawn which was commonly acknowledged to be the world’s longest at 842 feet.
While well patronised by colonial administrators, planters and the wealthy local elite’, it also counted Noel Coward, Douglas Fairbanks, Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham and Herman Hesse among its more famous guests.
The hotel is fully owned and managed by the Eastern & Oriental Berhad Group. After a major refurbishment, the E&O Hotel reopened its doors to the public on Tuesday, 3 April 2001.
Standing majestically along Farquhar Street and intersecting with Penang Road, the E&O Hotel is 20 kilometres from Penang International Airport. Located conveniently near food havens, shopping and entertainment belts of downtown Georgetown, financial district of Beach Street and surrounding cultural quarters, the hotel is again positioned as an exclusive 100 all-suite Grand Hotel, evoking an aura of place and time, maintaining strong historical links and traditions yet coupled with the facilities of present day.
All suites are magnificently furnished, extravagantly spacious and come in eight different types, with either city or sea views. Each suite comes with modern day amenities and every guest who stays at the E&O Hotel receives individual attention. The hotel’s round-the-clock impeccable butler service guarantees that guests’ personal needs and comfort are a constant focus from the moment they arrive. Personalized attentive service standards with old world charm are the hallmark of the E&O Hotel.
Set amidst lush tropical greenery in a beautifully manicured garden is our swimming pool that faces the sea and the focal point for guests seeking to unwind or to energise the body, mind and spirit. This is also where the oldest “Java” tree, which was planted before 1885, still stands (only three other smaller trees of this kind exist in Penang).
Savour the old world grandeur as you conduct your events in our 400-seat Grand Ballroom with a full stage, royal boxes and a gallery. While embodying the opulence of a grandeur age, it offers all necessary modern facilities to ensure the success of any event. Smaller function suites accommodate groups of 20 to 150 people. In every function room and suite, the latest and the best technology give guests instant access to the wireless world.
A tantalizing medley of flavours and aromas tempts guests to sample the hotel’s restaurants, cafes and bars, each with its unique aura.
1885 – Traditional in its look and contemporary in its style of cuisine, offers an artful ability to match wine and fine food. Awarded, one of Malaysia’s best restaurant for 2012 by Malaysian Tatler
Sarkies Corner – A colonial coffee shop that offers á la carte local and international cuisine.
Sarkies – This new addition to the culinary oasis in George Town offers extensive buffets for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Farquhar’s Bar – A little piece of colonial Malaya, serves great pub fare
The Deck – Encompassing the pool, it serves light meals and refreshment
At the E&O Hotel – we believe you have found the ultimate place of timeless splendour and A Return To Elegance……… To many travellers, the E&O Hotel has become a sanctuary. “A place where there is always enough time for the things that really matters”.
About the Eastern & Oriental Hotel
Established by the famed Sarkies Brothers in 1885, whose architectural landmarks also include the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, the Eastern & Oriental (E&O) Hotel in Penang island is the only hotel in the heart of the George Town UNESCO World Heritage Site that possesses prime sea frontage. Over its century-and-a-quarter history, the E&O Hotel has played host to some of the world’s most celebrated artists, writers and heads of state.
The original site of the E&O Hotel, the Heritage Wing, features 100 elegant and expansive suites that retained its unique colonial charm whilst offering modern comforts with round-the-clock butler service.
Staying true to its architectural inspiration, E&O unveiled its new extension in March 2013 – a 15-storey building named the Victory Annexe, its namesake being an old block of the hotel so named after the British victory in World War I. The Annexe adds a further 122 classically appointed, sea-fronting suites, complemented by new restaurants, meeting rooms, pool, spa, and niche retail outlets.
The Hotel’s restaurants and bar—Sarkies, 1885 and Farquhar Bar—have a celebrated reputation for serving an extensive menu ranging from Penang’s local delicacies to European fine dining.
E&O’s stately grand ballroom is perfect for hosting formal banquets, replete with viewing balconies and polished timber floors to honour the era and romance of debutante’s balls and black tie dinner and dancing.
The E&O Gallery, sited within the Victory Annexe retail arcade, is a unique project by the Hotel and Think City Sdn. Bhd. to relate the story of Penang’s social and cultural milestones as seen through the eyes of the E&O Hotel and its patrons.
Today, the luxurious 222 all-suite hotel stands as the grand dame of heritage hotels, its distinctive classic elegance and grace of service enhanced with time. Majority of the suites look out onto the ornamental garden and swimming pool with views across the Andaman Sea.
The E&O Group
Eastern & Oriental Berhad (collectively referred to as ‘The E&O Group’ or ‘E&O’) is listed on the Main-Board of Bursa Malaysia and has established itself as a premier lifestyle property developer with a proven track record for delivering innovative concepts and high standards of quality.
The Group’s past signature projects include the outstanding Dua Residency Condominium in the KL city centre and in upscale Damansara Heights, the Idamansara and Seventy Damansara exclusive landed homes. In the heart of the KL Central Business District, E&O’s St Mary Residences and the upcoming The Mews Serviced Residence, a joint-venture with Japan’s Mitsui Fudosan Residential, represent the latest in urbane and elegant city living. In Greater KL, E&O is embarking on a 135-acre wellness-themed development in Elmina West.
The masterplanned seafront development Seri Tanjung Pinang, E&O’s flagship project in Penang, is one of the most sought-after residential addresses on the island with the exceptional Quayside and Andaman seafront resort condominiums being the latest launches.
In Johor, E&O has partnered with the wholly-owned subsidiaries of Khazanah Nasional Berhad and Temasek Holdings (Private) Limited to develop the 207-acre Avira wellness-themed development in Medini, Iskandar Malaysia.
Taking the brand to the next level, The Group has successfully ventured overseas with its maiden project Princes House, a prime freehold property along Kingsway in central London. Recently, E&O strengthened its international growth engine with the addition of the 1919-built ESCA House, another prime freehold property to its cache in Bayswater, London.
E&O’s core of property development is supported by a cachet of complementary lifestyle elements. In the hospitality space, E&O is known for its iconic heritage hotels the Eastern & Oriental Hotel and the Lone Pine Hotel, as well as the contemporary E&O Residences Kuala Lumpur. In the lifestyle F&B space, E&O owns The Delicious Group of casual dining cafes in Kuala Lumpur. The Straits Quay retail centre and marina in Seri Tanjung Pinang bring to life the holistic concept of living by-the-sea complemented by the Performing Arts Centre of Penang and Straits Quay Convention Centre. Together, these lifestyle elements reinforce E&O’s position as a true lifestyle property development Group.