GEORGE TOWN, Sept 3 — The Heritage 1926 Hotel along Burmah Road here that has been vacant for the past four years will be given a RM20 million facelift before it reopens under the management of Ascott International.
Today, local company, JetBlue Sdn Bhd, signed a 15-year lease agreement with the property owner, Penang Development Corporation (PDC) with an option to extend it another 15 years.
The company also signed a partnership with Ascott International for the Singapore-based company to run the hotel after refurbishment.
Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow, who is also PDC chairman, said the original structure of the heritage building will be maintained.
“Only the interiors will be upgraded and refurbished while the exterior’s heritage features will be maintained,” he said after witnessing the signing ceremony at Ascott Hotel here.
He said PDC had called for a request for proposal (RFP) to tender out the hotel and JetBlue was selected from several applicants.
“The target is for the hotel to open on its 100-year anniversary in 2026,” he said.
He said the hotel originally has 96 rooms but some of the smaller rooms will be combined so it will reopen with 78 rooms.
The hotel has been vacant since 2020 after the previous hotel management company’s lease ended.
The hotel was originally 24 linked houses, built in 1926, that featured Anglo-Malay architectural styles that lined Jalan Imigresen, next to Burmah Road.
The linked houses used to be quarters for British immigration officers and local administrators when it was first built.
