PARK ROYAL Penang Resort
Batu Ferringhi is a hugely popular tourist destination in Malaysia, with people flocking to the long stretches of sandy beach to enjoy themselves. Water sports, a vast choice of restaurants and a range of other tourist attractions keep people happily ‘busy’ during their visit. PARKROYAL Penang Resort is right on the beach and manages to provide everything you might need all in one place. It’s well located to access the other famous Batu Ferringhi attractions, including the very popular night market. Even though PARKROYAL Penang Resort enjoys a beachside location, guests are spoilt for choice with two giant pools in the resort. One is perfect for children and families with a paddling pool and 2 water slides. The other is a freeform leisure pool where guests can cool down, swim and generally relax. But even if you love the pool or the beach, you might find yourself tempted by one of the cosy looking basket seats, set underneath the shade of the palm trees. This place seems to be set up for people who want to relax. The hotel itself has an informal and relaxed vibe and seems particularly well set up for families; there’s a complimentary kids club that is so well equipped it might be hard to get your kids to leave at the end of the day. The ‘Cool Bananas Poolside Cafe’ offers another family haven with food, pool tables, video games and a mini library. We really felt the family friendly atmosphere during our stay in the resort. There are a total of 309 guest rooms in the resort, all with the in-room facilities you might expect from a 5 star resort. Each room has an LCD TV (with international channels), hairdryer, tea and coffee making facilities, mini-bar, safe, iron and ironing board as well as wifi (which is available throughout the whole resort). The room and hotel design is ‘contemporary Asian’, expect to find bold colours, wide open spaces and a few traditional features to remind you of your exotic location.
The Vegan Food
A complementary gift of nutmeg juice and traditional Tambun biscuits, a sought after gift in Penang, were waiting for us when we arrived in our room. What better way to welcome vegans to their room than with a selection of local vegan food and drink? Breakfast was served in the open-air Tamarind Brasserie where fruit platters and freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juices gave a great, healthy start to the day. We ate tasty vegetable fried rice, complete with chunks of fresh tofu; not a bad start to the day at all. There was also a breakfast ‘to go’ option for guests who have to check-out early. We tested this service out to see if the usual options could be adapted for people eating a vegan diet and enjoyed a great breakfast of juice, salad and rice that matched what we were given in the restaurant. Excellent stuff. We returned to the Tamarind Brasserie for lunch where the chef made us a spicy curry full of vegetables and lentils. We also made our own healthy salads at the salad bar (full of alfalfa sprouts, seeds, beans, beetroot and juicy chick peas). We enjoyed more vegan food treats in the evening when these pretty little dark chocolate dipped strawberries arrived (you won’t be surprised to hear that we were very happy about this).
The Vegan Essentials
There were feather free pillows on our bed already so we didn’t need to ask for any bedding to be changed. The in-room amenities were from luxury brand St. Gregory, they had the cruelty-free bunny stamp on them and information about not containing nasty chemicals but we couldn’t see anything that said they were vegan or not. The resort spa offers adults another place to escape, relax and be pampered. The products used are by Thalgo and St. Gregory, both quality luxury spa lines, but we’re still waiting to hear about whether they are vegan or not. If we find out, we’ll update you here!
The Vegan Food Quest Verdict
Check-in to PARKROYAL Penang Resort for a Batu Ferringhi beach escape where you’ll be catered for as a vegan and can enjoy relaxing by the pool (or beach) until your heart’s content. When you fancy an adventure, you’re not too far from everything that Georgetown has to offer, which for us is always a ‘must visit’ location for any trip to Penang.
We were guests of PARK ROYAL Penang Resort but please rest assured that their generosity in hosting us didn’t influence our views
PARK ROYAL Penang Resort
Batu Ferringhi Beach
Penang 11100
Malaysia
Telephone: +60 4 881 1133
Cost From: £80 / $120 (March 2016)