InterContinental Penang Resort to open in December

InterContinental Penang Resort is due to open in Teluk Bahang in December 2026 with 348 rooms and suites, the brand's first resort in Malaysia, Buletin Mutiara reported on 23 October. It brings back the former Penang Mutiara Beach Resort, which closed in March 2006 and never reopened.

The resort

• Rooms and facilities: 348 rooms and suites, a Club InterContinental, four restaurants and bars serving Peranakan, Italian and Nikkei food, the Gemala Spa, family facilities such as trekking programmes, games rooms for teenagers and lawns facing the sea, and space for meetings and events
• Design: draws on Penang's cultural mix, from the lobby and restaurants to the meeting rooms and children's areas
• Bookings: expected to begin in April, Buletin Mutiara reported. Director of sales and marketing Choong Kit Siong said international travellers book six to nine months ahead
• Owner: THR Hotel (Penang) Sdn Bhd, a unit of Tradewinds Corporation Bhd, which signed with IHG Hotels & Resorts in June 2022. It will be the second InterContinental hotel in Malaysia, after InterContinental Kuala Lumpur

How it got here

• 1988: the Penang Mutiara Beach Resort opened on 16 September with 438 rooms, built as a joint venture between Pernas Hotel (Penang) and Singapore's Overseas Union Enterprise. Pernas Hotel Chain took over its management in 1999
• 2006: it closed on 27 March for renovation. Reopening was set for 2008, put back to 2009 and then postponed indefinitely
• 2022: IHG announced the InterContinental deal on 21 June, planning 355 rooms and suites, six private villas, a wellness village, three pools, five restaurants and bars and about 1,000 sq m of event space, for a 2025 opening
• 2026: the resort opens in December with 348 rooms and four restaurants and bars, slightly smaller than the 2022 plan

Enlarge

The beachfront site lies about 30 minutes' drive from George Town, with the Teluk Bahang fishing village, Penang National Park and the Tropical Spice Garden as neighbours, according to IHG.

Cover image: IHG Hotels & Resorts, via EdgeProp.