Hard Rock Hotel Penang

Was really lucky that this year I got a chance to stay at Hard Rock Hotel in Penang for a night. For those that has not been to Hard Rock Hotel or their famous Cafe's, well this is a small glimpse of what you can experience. Everything about the hotel focuses around music genre and not just "Rock"! 

When you arrive, instantly you will see many music themes abound and if you are a Beatle's fan, then this place is as if its a mini shrine! Do read on.

You are greeted by the bronze statue of the Beatle's if you are at the pool side!

It's actually life size!

Even the handles on the doors are of metal guitars. This is what you call attention to detail

This is the outdoor seating area of their cafe where one can have their breakfast or dinner

This is their Hall of Fame. It can be used as a function hall!

Even their coasters are all Hard Rock!

Now checkout their pool. Its a free form pool

Kids will love the slides

Most rooms will have a view

There is even a Rock Spa though I didn't get to try it, it looked good

A now a sneak peak into the rooms. I had a twin sharing bedroom which was comfortable but not very big. But their toilet was interesting with a really big portrait

 Hard Rock amenities. Nothing out of the ordinary

 Notice the Beatle's picture? Tiny beds though

But at least is was sea facing and had a balcony with chairs

 And the sunset view

 All the sea facing rooms

 Now Hard Rock Hotel really comes alive after the sun sets! This is the huge guitar that greet every visitor as you arrive at the hotel. Its not that obvious in the day

 The purple and yellow color scheme

 And of course the very famous Hard Rock Cafe

 If you are at the pool at night, on a full moon, you get shots like this

 And if you enter Hard Rock Cafe, this is where the party starts, Guests staying at the hotel do not need to pay a cover charge to enter

 Lots of interesting decorations

 The crowd picks up as the night unwinds

 The resident band

Then now finally show you about the food. This is a oven baked bread with dips. Didn't get to eat this one but just snapped a photo of it when I saw it being prepared

Yummy looking bowls of fries

So when I was at Hard Rock Hotel, the company had basically gotten a package deal and thus the food isn't exactly like what we would normally get I guess as it was more customized based on the budget.
Well, the dessert during lunch looks kinda interesting

Well, I ended up having a plate of this. Frankly, the food is not as great tasting as it looks. Only the noodles was good and the rest was truly disappointing

Thats why I got a 2nd helping of the noodles. Yes the prawns are large but these are frozen prawns which means its practically tasteless

OK, you can't go wrong with pre-made baby octopus so no complaints here

They had white fungus with dried longan as dessert. I never expected the cafe at Hard Rock to serve this kind of dessert

Honey dew and sago dessert. Again, not out of the ordinary but at least these were palatable

Now next up is dinner. Well, the variety for dinner was way way more than what was available for lunch but again, nothing too great. I'm beginning to see why people never rave about food at Hard Rock. So we got smoked salmon with sesame, some kerabu, kapitan chicken, some noodles, and some lamb. Well, honestly, no complaints but the food just doesn't have the oomph to it.

And finally, on the next day, breakfast is serve. Sausages, ham, omelette, yam cake and potato cake. Again, simple items though I never expected yam cake. Starting to have the feeling that the chef here could be Chinese? Hmmm...........

So I had a really heavy breakfast. This is curry chicken with roti canai, waffles, a muffin and mee goreng

With such a heavy breakfast and then lunch only about 3 hours later, my lunch was very simple. I had soup, a fried crab cake and lots of fruits.

Overall I feel Hard Rock Hotel Penang, as a whole, has lots to offer especially the nice pool and happening music. Did I mention that you can even watch the band at Hard Rock Cafe performing in your in room TV? Yeah they stream it live everyday. So a great place to stay, but not the best for food. I'm sure they will improve but not sure if I will ever get to go back to try it as their price is not cheap. I was lucky this was a company trip and I got to finally experience what Hard Rock is all about.