Go to Batu Ferringhi, right now!

2 years ago we were just back from Batu Ferringhi, 2 whole years ago! I can’t believe how time has flown by so quickly and how life has changed so much. Travelling as a family of 5 is always a bit of a challenge, somehow more difficult than a family of 4. Lots of hotels have family rooms that sleep up to 2 adults and 2 kids. Standard taxis seat 4 passengers, and the list goes on.

Things do seem to be changing and bigger families are becoming more of the norm. Although, I don’t ever think of us as a big family, just our family. To make this trip a bit more of a challenge, we were meeting our friends there who are also a family of 5. If we thought getting a table for 5 was a struggle in some places, we could only imagine how difficult a group of 10 would find it! With 6 kids running riot, we didn’t need to worry at all though because Batu Ferringhi in Penang was the perfect destination for us!

The Batu Ferringhi Basics

Situated in the north of Penang, Batu Ferringhi is where the best beaches are on the island. Along with chilled nightlife and an impressive night market. It makes it an ideal destination for families, even better thanks to the huge selection of hotels. In our 8-night stay, there was never one meal where we struggled to be seated as our group of 10. We never had a problem getting a taxi as plenty of minibuses were available which was a huge bonus for us!

Malaysia’s northern neighbour, Thailand gets more publicity. That is a great thing for travellers because it means it’s often better value in Malaysia. Penang is what I would say is Malaysia’s equivalent to Phuket. I don’t mean that in a bad way at all, Phuket has a bit of a seedy reputation these days and for those who have become accustomed to visiting the Far East some will stick their nose up at it for sure.

What I mean is that Penang is probably the Malay island with the easiest access for international travellers. The Neighbouring island of Langkawi is home to a lot of luxury properties, and Penang has more of a mixture of budget to luxury.

Penang has an international airport with flights from airlines such as BA and Etihad. It’s also the hub for low-cost airlines AirAsia and Firefly making it a great destination for twin-centre. We flew into Singapore with Qatar Airways and flew with AirAsia to Penang. The short 50-minute flight was great value and comfortable. We could have flown directly to Penang if we wanted a single centre trip.

Our hotel

The hotel we stayed in was the Bayview Beach Resort at the top of the resort. Not only did the hotel offer family rooms big enough for a family of 5, but they were also affordable and they had children’s facilities too including a splash park and an indoor, air-conditioned play area. The family rooms are massive. The bed in the master bedroom was big enough for all 5 of us. Fear not, we weren’t expected to sleep in one bed! There were also 2 singles and a sofa bed, so everyone had plenty of space!

The breakfast was great for families. With kids, a big concern is that they won’t eat anything but we booked breakfast at the hotel and there was a huge choice. Cereals, pancakes, fruit and yoghurt, so not many people would turn any of that down for breakfast. There is also a mini-market on site. A minute walk from the hotel a couple of corner shops with plenty of snacks available. No one ever went hungry, I can assure you of that.

Batu Ferringhi

Getting around Batu Ferringhi is easy. The roads are relatively quiet so most days we walked down to the resort centre. There are loads of shops and cafes. There’s even a Wendy’s, Mcdonald’s and Starbucks alongside traditional Malay restaurants. We headed out into the resort most evenings and the kids loved hitting the night market. Stretching almost 1km along the resort, it’s a bargain hunters’ paradise!

Kids toys, replica football kits, homewares, Sarongs and Sari fabric and of course, counterfeit CDs and DVDs plus everything and anything in between! Noah wanted to go down there most nights for a new football kit (I think he came home with 5 in the end). The girls loved wandering along and stopped to get their hands decorated with henna. The rest of us were really happy to stop for the street food along the way. Everyone loves a banana pancake!

Long Beach Food Court

I highly recommend heading to the Long Beach food court for dinner. There is something to suit everyone and the food is the best! We had a huge range of things and even there managed to get a table for 10 despite it being busy. It’s really popular, and for good reason too.

I want to put into words just how good it is here but I can’t do it justice! There’s a buzz about the place, almost as if you can feel it before you enter. Sitting on plastic chairs, squashed in and the aroma of all the different stalls melds into one. There’s no music just chatter from everyone enjoying their food, the servers and the barmen shouting out orders. I don’t think I do it justice because it sounds a bit crazy but it genuinely is the best place. Big smiles from the kids who got to taste real authentic meals. Niamh still talks about how good her chicken satay and fresh melon juice were that night!

Hard Rock Cafe Batu Ferringhi

From one extreme to another – Hard Rock Cafe was also a huge hit with the kids for dinner. Situated right next door to the Bayview Beach Resort. It’s on the grounds of the Hard Rock hotel, it was perfectly placed for those nights when we just were so exhausted from a day of exploring that we didn’t want to move too far and when the kids wanted a westernised meal. When the kid’s meals are served on guitar-style plates it’s a sure-fire way to make sure they’ll eat their dinner.

It’s also fully air-conditioned and as with all Hard Rock Cafes around the world, there is lots of cool memorabilia to see and a good soundtrack to eat too. the most expensive of the restaurants that we visited but much cheaper than the other Hard Rock Cafes around the world that we’ve seen i.e. Singapore. Despite the price and the fact it isn’t traditional Malay food, I’d still recommend a visit, it feels like a treat and was a memorable meal all the same.

Frandy Beach Bar

My absolute favourite meals were at Frandy Beach Bar. This cute beach bar is THE best place to see the gorgeous Penang sunset. The food is good and the drinks come in a bucket. The kids can play on the sand. The adults get to relax with a Tiger beer and some random music such as Wham! Last Christmas! I’m not even exaggerating how good it is!

Hair Braiding

Niamh had her hair braided while we were there. There are loads of beauty salons and massage parlours that will do hair braiding. I can’t remember the name of the place we went but the staff were so lovely and even had a little dog that sat on Niamh’s knee for the majority of the time that we were there so that pleased her!

I’d just recommend popping into any of the salons and asking if they will do it. If they don’t they’ll usually recommend somewhere that will. Or in our case, we popped into somewhere and they called a lady who drove over to do it for her! She loves having her hair braided when we’re away. It makes life a bit easier for us when it comes to washing and styling her hair too. Do not forget to put sun cream on the scalp after it’s been done.

Reflexology

Owen’s favourite thing to do was go and have a foot massage. Ever since his first massage experience in Thailand when he was 3 he loves having his feet massaged. He couldn’t wait to find somewhere to go in Batu Ferringhi in Penang.

Just the other day he was discussing it and reminiscing about the day that we spent by the pool but headed over for a massage to get a break from the sun and jumped back into the pool straight after! It’s a great way to spend a bit of time out together when we’d usually get the kids to go and have a nap out of the sun for an hour or so. We headed just across the road and sat together having our feet massaged. I think he enjoys the attention the ladies always give him!

Overall we had a brilliant time in Batu Ferringhi, and I would highly recommend it to anyone but especially to families. It feels safe, the beach is stunning. There’s plenty of choice for food and drinks. It’s well priced, has great value food and drinks too and lots of unique and highly memorable day trips can be taken.

Aside from the Bayview Beach Resort, there’s a huge range of hotels that are suitable for families including the Hard Rock Hotel (though be aware that not all rooms here have a balcony), The Lone Pine, there are 2 Shangri La hotels too and quite a few others in between so you should be able to find the perfect one for your family.

If you’ve been before let me know if you think I’ve missed anything, and if you’re looking to go I’d love to hear your plans! We twinned our trip with Singapore, you can read more about that here.

Take care of yourself

Becky x