Spices Hotel in Georgetown

Stayed at Spices Hotel, Penang and unfortunately the experience did not meet expectations.

The room had several maintenance and cleanliness issues, including faulty power sockets, a broken window, stained bathroom surfaces, and a strong unpleasant odour from the carpet and room. The staircase area was also very noisy throughout the stay, making it difficult to rest comfortably.

Housekeeping service was inconsistent. On one day, face towels were not replaced after room cleaning. On another day, despite placing the room cleaning request before the stated housekeeping hours, the room was not cleaned at all when we returned late at night. Amenities were also not replenished.

While the location is convenient, the overall room condition and service quality did not reflect the amount paid. Guests paying full room rates should receive proper housekeeping, maintenance, and cleanliness standards.

I hope the management takes these issues seriously and improves the guest experience moving forward.

Update following response from hotel: its not that the room did not meet my expectations. The service that you described, and I paid for, was not provided at all. I am entitled to a refund for that reason. It is also not clear why management told me I would not be refunded for night 2 of my stay, when I was told by the first receptionist that I would be. Your generic response has failed to adress this.

I chose this hotel specifically because I needed a place to work remotely and made sure my booked room had air conditioning, a desk, and WiFi (which to be fair is available in most hotels as standard and is not an unreasonable ask). The room fell far short of these basic expectations.
The air conditioning struggled to cool the large high- ceilinged space. Even after several hours, the room remained uncomfortably warm. I raised this with reception, who sent maintenance who confirmed the unit was working at its lowest temperature, but the space was clearly too large for it to be effective.
Trying to work was another issue. The chair at the desk was broken (no base under a visibly grubby cushion) making it unusable. The WiFi was very patchy and kept dropping out, making it impossible to do video calls or even browse reliably. I eventually gave up and went to a nearby café to work.
Before leaving, I explained at reception that the room was too hot and the lack of WIFI was an issue. I asked if I could move to another room. I was told the hotel was fully booked, but that I could request a refund for the second night through Booking.com, which I agreed to. However, while searching for alternative accommodation, I found that there were other rooms available in the hotel for both nights of my stay.
That night was unpleasant, the room remained warm, and it was difficult to sleep due to both the heat and outside noise from the street. The next morning, I spoke to a different receptionist, who was very polite and apologetic and tried to fix things (offering another room!) and I said I would prefer to leave and get a refund as discussed with the receptionist the previous day, I asked if she could confirm what would happen re a refund for night 2. After calling management, she said the hotel would not issue a refund for the second night because they were aware of the WiFi issue and were working on it, with IT maintenance "coming later" (this was already 3:45 p.m.). However, this is not a valid reason to deny a refund under consumer protection laws. The room was advertised as having air-con, WiFi and a functional desk, which was a key reason I booked it. Since the WiFi was unusable and the air conditioning ineffective, the room did not match the description.
This review doesn’t even cover the other issues: steep, narrow stairs with irregular step heights that were difficult to navigate with heavy bags; grimy and grubby key cards; stained and dirty walls; and what appeared to be either a desiccated insect or a mouse dropping in the bed.
There are far nicer, cleaner, and more professional hotels in the area at a similar price point. I would not recommend this one.