The Eastern & Oriental Hotel along Farquhar Street, George Town, is one of the most elegant hotels in the Orient. Often called the E & O, it was the first of a chain of hotels founded by the four Armenian brothers, Martin, Tigran, Aviet and Arshak Sarkies, collectively known as the Sarkies brothers. Some of the best known hotels in the Far East were started by them, including the Raffles Hotel in Singapore and the Strand, in Rangoon, Myanmar. By 1892, the brothers were spread across Southeast Asia. The youngest, Arshak Sarkies, took up the management of the E & O while Tigran Sarkies manages the Raffles Hotel and Aviet was stationed in Rangoon. The eldest, Martin Sarkies, has by then retired.
Search for the Best Penang hotel Room Rates
Click here to search for the Best Penang Hotel Room Rates out of a list of all the major online room booking providers.
History of the E & O Hotel
The idea to set up the hotel business came about in 1885 when the Sarkies brothers met the Khaw family in Bangkok, and was encouraged by them to set up a hotel in Penang. The Khaws built two separate hotels which the Sarkies managed. These were the Eastern Hotel, completed in 1884, and the Oriental Hotel, in 1885. It became immediately apparent that these two hotels should be combined, and hence the Eastern & Oriental Hotel was formed. In addition, the Sarkies also managed the Crag Hotel on Penang Hill.
The merger of these two hotels created one of the finest hotel establishments in the region. It boasted of having the world's longest sea-front lawn, which is 842 feet in length. Famous personalities who arrived at the E&O (many of whom also turned up at the Raffles Hotel) included Noel Coward, Douglas Fairbanks, Hermann Hesse, Rudyard Kipling and Somerset Maugham.
If you love George Town's heritage, you are in the thick of it at E & O. The hotel itself is a heritage building, and it is also surrounded by numerous heritage sites, such as the Protestant Cemetery, the Penang Museum, Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion, to mention a few.
Slippery Senorita, a pub, is a short walk across the street, if you wish to go for a drink.
What I don't like about this hotel
Well, it is the most expensive hotel in the city. It feels like living in a museum. Also, there aren't any shopping malls nearby. Having said that, if you come to relax luxuriously, the E & O is the place to do it in style.
Before booking a hotel room, make sure you are getting the lowest price for it. Different hotel booking websites offers the same room at different prices. If you stick with one site all the time, you could be paying more for the same room. Now why pay more?
The form below is a Research Engine. It doesn't take bookings. Instead it lets you find the hotel booking website that offers the room you want at the lowest price. You can see and compare what different sites are offering, and then click to choose the one with the best price. Do this, and you're guaranteed to save a whole lot of money on your room reservations!
Our Flight Checker helps travelers compare flights and get the lowest fare for their trips. If you're flying somewhere, use our Flight Checker to compare the rates from different airlines. To use it, enter where you will be flying from, where you will be flying to, your departure date and return date. Select the number of passengers, and then click search.
Our engine will return you a list of possible flights that you can take. You can compare the fare of different airlines for your trip. Click on your selected airline, and we transfer you to the airline website.
Penang Travel Tips is researched and written by Timothy Tye, universally known as Tim. The text is the copyright of Timothy Tye, and may not be copied for commercial use or re-published in another website without the author's permission. Information provided is in goodwill and is believed to be correct and up-to-date at time of writing. Photographs on this website are the copyright of the author and may not be reused without prior permission. For commercial licensing of photographs, read the licensing terms.
