We stayed in Penang for 2 nights and both nights in Hydro hotel, it was our first time staying with Hydro. When we arrive, my partner drop off the luggage at the main entrance, the bellman was fast to attend to our luggage which gave us a good impression of the hotel. I waited 10 to 15minutes to be served by the receptionist. He quickly checked us in and told us that the room was not ready and told us that he would hand the room keys to us personally. He wasn't rude but he wasn't professional either - leaning over the table, rolling of eyes ,etc when talking to us. we didn't mind that as we assumed he's a trainee and nervous.

We stayed in a deluxe room with a balcony.Bellman followed us to our room with our luggage, and he was very kind to remind us of the breakfast location, time, etc. the room was spacious but it has a damp / wet sock smell around the toilet / wardrobe area and it was really hot as we got in as the sun was shining in. we turn on the aircond. After an hour or 2, my partner was still sweating and complaint that the aircond wasn't working well. When my partner wanted to take a shower, there was no bath mat or towel. So we called the reception- i guess ( there was no directory anywhere near the phone, so we just assumed 0 was it). Half an hour pass, there was no towel / bath mat. We called again, and a housekeeper came to our room with ONLY the towels, we requested for bath mat once again but NEVER gotten it. We gave up waiting. As we were on our way out for dinner, we request from a housekeeper that was cleaning the other room. He then advice us to call but we told him our situation, he just handed us the bath mat instead of sending it our rooms. we spotted some insects crawling on the dressing table as well.- we didn't mind all the unprofessional manner so far, as we didn't want it to ruin our holiday.

Bfast was ok, overcrowded, but waitresses were fast to attend to our unused plates. We wanted to do water sports, and was advice by the over night shift receptionist to approach the "water sports counter" that was close. went to reception again, and she told us to go to the tour counter. we were looking at the board that was advertising the sports, and spotted on the snorkeling activity. We told the man that was attending to us about the snorkeling and he suggested monkey beach. He offered to send us to the place in his car, but we decided to drive but needed him to lead the way. so he led the way, we paid RM10 for this.

We arrived at a beach, and the tour person pass us to another person in charge of the boat to this monkey beach. we were informed earlier by the hotel tour that, it cost us RM120 each for the activity and BBQ meals. I remember asking the guy about snorkeling but my question was somehow ignored. Got on the boat and head to monkey beach. As we were almost reaching the beach, through the conversation with the boatman, we were told there was no such snorkeling activities offered at monkey beach!!! We were angry, felt cheated. wasted our time and money!

we were expecting too much of this hotel. My advice to travellers, do your homework before travelling ( don't be as foolish as us and don't be too reliant on hotel), read trip advisor for hotels - we didnt! and if possible, when wanting to do any activities, double check again and again what you're getting, as some tour agents aren't very good in explaining in detail!!

I believe back in the day, this Hotel was up there with the best. Those days are long gone...
I can not fault the service and friendly staff that greeted us, they were fantastic. The rooms were very bad and needed some attention. We booked a suite and the roof had serious damage from dampness. Around the light switch they had tried to bog it up with putty but it fell away every time I hit the light switch.
The cigarette smoke coming from the others rooms was intoxicating,even though we asked for a non-smoking floor. But hey you get what you pay for and we certainly got that.

Back in October 2011, we stayed at The Hydro in Penang for seven nights. Although we arrived early, we only had to wait a few minutes before we got into our room. Very comfortable beds, lovely view of the sea. The buffet breakfast, although a wide variety, was average. One day, my husband and I ate something that gave us gastro-enteritis. Manage informed and she was very apologetic. Next day, we received a large bowl of fresh fruits. From then on, she enquired to see if we were better. Good internet connections but only one computer in the whole of the business centre. One day, I was ill and the cleaners came tapping on the doors to see if you are in. Unfortunately, they do not use their knuckles but either a pencil or some other object, and it was absolutely irritating when one is having a migraine and trying to rest. All in all, a good hotel.

This hotel is a great value for money. I had a marvelous time staying here as the breakfast was decent and the room was clean. Although some of the equipment is quite old it didn't bother me much. The sleep is amazing the pillows are so comfortable and the beds are amazing. As for transport I really did not have any issues with it, many people complain about it but I don't see what for. There are free buses that takes you to good spots from where they drop you off it is possible to go most places by foot. Also I Found the pool good as it allowed you to do dives and flips into the deep ends of the pool. Another thing I found is that service was good as if you called for something they usually delivered quite promptly.

All in all if you want a place for relaxation for a good price I definitely recommend this. As for transport as long as you are organized and know how to use the shuttles you will be right as everything is easy to get to and walk to.