GEORGE TOWN, Jan 26 — The Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) has urged the public to wait for an official announcement on the closure of a 662-room five-star hotel here by its management.

MAH Penang branch chairman Raj Kumar told Bernama that he was aware of the internal memo, mentioning the closure of the Hotel Equatorial Penang, which went viral on social media.

The internal memo stated that the last day of the Hotel Equatorial Penang’s operation would be decided sometime before March 31 this year, due to the adverse effects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said that he had tried contacting the hotel general manager Alan Ong to verify the statement, but no progress has been made thus far.

"We can only wait until the hotel management team to make the official announcement. However, if this were to be true, then it would truly be a sad day for us all,” he said.

Located in the hillock of Bukit Jambul near the Penang International Airport, the Hotel Equatorial Penang has been operating since the late 1980s. — Bernama