They say Penang attracts not only tourists but also digital nomads. It isn’t just a rumour, it’s been happening for many years. I’ve personally known many of them from different continents of the world who dropped by Penang as a short getaway during their trip in Southeast Asia.

That being said, many places started designing their interior environment to be as comfy as possible to cater to the needs of these nomadic folks. From cafes to hotels, there are enticing features from these places that would attract more people to do their work there. Here are nine of the places that would make the ultimate work shrine.

Coworking Spaces

This idea is getting popular, but in case you still don’t know, coworking space is a business-hub for people of different companies to work together in the same office with common infrastructures such as equipment, custodial services, refreshments, and more. There are a few shared spaces in Penang, I’d personally like to recommend three of them.

1. Settlements Workspace

(Image source: Settlements Workspace)

Built in the heart of Georgetown, Penang, Settlements is an 18,000 sqft shared space in Livingston Tower. It houses creative communities and other business professionals of growing companies from locals and international as well. Not only that it offers free spaces but also workshops to foster networking cultivation among coworkers. As Georgetown is a central zone with an array of heritage buildings, f&b outlets, and tourist attractions, many digital nomads roam in this area to do their work, hence the strategic location makes Settlements the first choice for digital nomads when it comes to settling in a comfortable spot to do their work and build connections.

Contact Information:
Address: Level 8, Livingston Tower, 170 Argyll Road, 10050 George Town, Pulau Pinang.
Hours: 9am- 6pm (Weekdays, closed in weekends)
Tel: +604- 371 0299
Email: [email protected]
Website: http://settlements.work/
Social Media: Facebook

2. The Venture Coworking Space

(Image source: The Venture Coworking Space)

Defined by collaboration, The Venture Coworking Space offers the power of connectivity between entrepreneurs, industry professionals, and freelancers in Penang and people from foreign countries as well. As the coworking space is located in Tanjung Tokong, the suburb between touristy spots such as Georgetown and Batu Ferringhi, it makes The Venture another great spot for digital nomads to work and have fun simultaneously. Its specialty includes the side window that takes the members to the front beach view and other business services that can hardly be found elsewhere.

Contact Information:
Address: Lot 508-2-1, Tanjung Point Residences, Jalan Tanjong Tokong, Tanjung Tokong, 10470, Pulau Pinang.
Hours: 9am- 6pm (Weekdays, closed in weekends)
Tel: +6019- 950 7596
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.theventure.com.my/
Social Media: Facebook | Instagram

3. Regus (Bayan Lepas Branch)

(Image source: regus.com)

Originated in Belgium, Regus is a global corporation that offers coworking space services, that includes its three shared spaces in Penang- Gurney Drive, Ideal, and SPICE Arena. Known for its factory zone, Bayan Lepas is seeing escalating residents and places to eat in recent years, which inadvertently, attracts travellers’ curiosity to visit this town for exploration. Thus, it makes Regus, especially the branch in SPICE Arena, with its more appealing indoor settings, another suitable spot for digital nomads who journeyed to the south part of the island but wanted to spend more time here before going back to the other areas of Penang.

Contact Information:
Address: SPICE Arena, 180, Jalan Tun Dr. Awang L3A-2, Level 3A, Relau, 11900 Bayan Lepas, Pulau Pinang.
Hours: 24/7
Tel: +604- 615 8000
Website: Regus- SPICE Arena, Bayan Lepas, Penang
Social Media: Facebook

Hotels

“Laundries, housekeeping, gymnasium, buffet meals, and more…” It all sounds perfect when you stay in a hotel. Since 2020, several hotels in Malaysia started the work-from-hotel package which would attract more digital nomads who are still staying in this country during the pandemic lockdown. Among all, here are three recommendations for you.

4. Sunway Hotel Georgetown

(Image source: Sunway Hotel Georgetown)

Located in Georgetown, across Lorong Baru, Sunway Hotel offers modest rooms and suites to the guests from the range of leisure sleepovers to working stopovers. Not only that the rooms are cozy but the hotel won AON Hewitt Best Employer 2018 which justifies the friendly-staff and services in general. To make working from the hotel easy, guests are offered to work in the deluxe room at the fixed rate of RM78 only with complementary features. The hotel is having its promotion for this package until the end of March 2021, so it’s going to make staycation and working at a time enjoyable.

Contact Information:
Address: 33, Lorong Baru, George Town, 10400 George Town, Pulau Pinang.
Hours: 9am- 6pm daily (Work From Hotel)
Tel: +604- 229 9988
Email: [email protected]
Website: Sunwayhotels.com- Work From Hotel
Social Media: Facebook | Instagram

5. G Hotel Kelawai

(Image source: G Hotel Kelawai)

Also being located in the historical Georgetown, 2PM Coworking Space @ G Hotel Kelawai is a hotel-owned shared space that all digital nomads and remote workers don’t want to miss as well. On top of the available features under this service, the hotel is serving four types of passes for customers- Saver Day Pass without food credit, Day Pass, 5-Day Pass, and One Day Personal Working Space Pass. Deluxe rooms will be given with different charges based on the pass option itself.

Contact Information:
Address: 2, Persiaran Maktab, 10250 George Town, Pulau Pinang.
Hours: 8am- 8pm daily (2PM Coworking Space)
Tel: +604- 238 0000
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://kelawai.ghotel.com.my/
Social Media: Facebook | Instagram

6. Royal Chulan Penang

(Image source: Royale Chulan Penang)

A heritage building with significant value is something to treasure, and it’s no different for Royale Chulan Penang. Situated at the heart of the UNESCO Heritage Site in George Town (opposite Ferry Penang), Royale Chulan Penang is content to reflect the beauty of its colonial architecture with a mixture of modern luxuries. Doing work in the charming old property could be fun, especially when the excitement and nostalgic feelings hit your heart to the fullest. That makes working from hotel in Royale Chulan Penang alluring to fellow digital nomads. While people usually offer connectivity with shared areas when it comes to working outside of the house, this hotel offers a room for each guest who signed up for the ‘work from hotel room’ package up to 12 hours with other features at the price of RM 149. It’s suitable for those who’re looking for a change of environment settings.

Contact Information:
Address: No 1 & 2, Pengkalan Weld, George Town, 10300 George Town, Pulau Pinang.
Hours: 8am- 8pm daily (Work From Hotel Room)
Tel: +604- 259 8888
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.royalechulan.com/Penang/Home.aspx
Social Media: Facebook | Instagram

Cafes

It’s been a common idea that cafes are places for tea break refreshments, meals, hangouts, instagrammable backdrops, and work as well. Penang, being known as a food paradise, consists of cafes and restaurants all over, and here are my three preferences.

7. Brown Pocket Cafe

(Image Source: Brown Pocket Cafe)

Life in a typical office can be boring sometimes, and people tend to spend their free time in shopping centers. Imagine enjoying leisure time and taking some work time in between to make yourself productive, that sums up the experience of doing your work in Brown Pocket Cafe. Located on level 6 of Gurney Paragon Mall, this cafe becomes a hot spot for students and digital nomads to do their work most of the time. Not only that Brown Pocket serves good waffles and fluffy pancakes, but their wifi speed is also smoother than the many cafes in town. To top it all off, the view through the window and the wooden tree in the middle are the factors that bring a cozy ambiance to this cafe.

Contact Information:
Address: Gurney Paragon L- 10250, 6-11, Jalan Kelawai, Georgetown, 10250 George Town, Penang.
Hours: 10am- 10pm daily
Tel: +604- 370 5034
Website: http://www.brownpocket.com/
Social Media: Facebook | Instagram

8. Macallum Connoisseurs

(Image source: Macallum Connoisseurs)

Here’s another cafe with a minimalist indoor design and exceptional coffee taste to make itself to the list. Macallum Connoisseurs provides a mixture of three business natures under its 8,000 sqft warehouse building- cafe, roastery, and academy where it doesn’t only serve meals for customers but also coffee supply to other cafes and coffee brewing certificate to coffee enthusiasts. Other than events and special occasions, this large-scale cafe becomes one of the common go-to-places for remote workers and digital nomads for its accessibility from nearby landmarks such as Komtar, First Avenue, and more.

Contact Information:
Address: 1, Gat Lebuh Macallum, 10300 George Town, Pulau Pinang.
Hours: 9am- 10pm daily
Tel: +604- 261 3597
Website: https://macallumcoffee.com/
Social Media: Facebook | Instagram

9. TEMU

(Image source: TEMU)

According to the cafe, the ‘TEMU’ logo is to play with the letter-M as it indicates the meeting of 2 people with a hand-shaking gesture. This logo story goes back to the definition of the word ‘Temu’ itself which brings the tagline “Kamu & Kopi”. Not only that its heritage building with the modern interior appearance escalates the interest of customers upon entering, but the climbing plants outside of the cafe also make itself an alluring instagrammable location for fellow youngsters. Being located in one of the heritage streets, Lebuh Melayu, TEMU becomes another friendly place for digital nomads who aren’t only seeking a place to chill, but to do some work in between as well.

Contact Information:
Address: 62, Lebuh Melayu, George Town, 10300 George Town, Pulau Pinang.
Hours: 10am- 6pm daily
Tel: +604- 226 1863
Email: [email protected]
Social Media: Facebook | Instagram

There are still many more great places apart from whatever that are listed above. What are your recommendations that can be awesome for digital nomads but somehow didn’t appear in this article? Feel free to share your comments so that we could know more genial places out there with equal quality for work.

(Featured image credit: Photo by Jonathan Kemper on Unsplash)