GEORGE TOWN: Developer Sri Nisuh Sdn Bhd has won the bid to develop one of the state’s oldest landmarks — the Crag Hotel atop Penang Hill.

Crag Hotel was established in 1929 but has not been well maintained over the decades as a succession of management groups lacked the funds to market or upgrade its colonial-era facilities.

The project’s architect Heah Hock Seng said the redevelopment was an environment-friendly project and all efforts would be made to upkeep the present structure, situated on an elevation of 833m from the sea level.

There will not be any blasting of boulders near the hotel, he stressed.

The redevelopment would consist of 20 individual suites and villas with a deck each as well as a dining room on Level One,

“The main building of Crag Hotel will be preserved and converted into a restaurant as well as a lounge bar with the existing pulley system maintained for its heritage value,” said Heah.

Other facilities include a world-class health and spa facility which is open to everyone.

The hotel’s RM37mil redevelopment project will take off after an agreement is signed between the developer and the state government in two weeks, said Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.

He announced that the hotel would be managed by Indonesian-based Aman Group of Hotels, a renowned firm that runs the Amanpuri Hotel in Phuket (Thailand) and the Aman at the Summer Palace in Beijing, China.

Crag Hotel would be renamed and re-branded as Amancrag Resort and its upgrading work is expected to be completed within 30 to 36 months, Lim told a press conference here.

He said the redevelopment would bring economic benefits to Penang in terms of job opportunities and local contracting jobs as well as investment returns to the state government which owns the hotel.

Aman Group would be allocated a long-term contract tenure by the state to manage the property.

SOURCE: The Star