The four-star Cititel Penang, a 19-storey hotel along Penang Road in George Town, is up for sale at RM163 million via an expression of interest (EOI) exercise. The property sits on three freehold parcels totalling nearly one acre, with 451 rooms and amenities including basement parking, food and beverage outlets, a bar, spa facilities, and function spaces.
Cahaya Utara Sdn Bhd owns the hotel, with Wah Seong (Malaya) Trading Co Sdn Bhd holding a 50% stake and Kota Johore Realty Sdn Bhd at 30%. The directors are Datuk Seri Robert Tan, Datuk Lim Chee Wah, Kuok Khoon Ho, Loo Hooi Guan and Aaron Tan Jian Hong, The Edge Malaysia reported.
The hotel is managed by Cititel Hotel Management Sdn Bhd (CHM), the hotel management arm of IGB Bhd. Built in 1997 and refreshed over the years, the property has been a long-time fixture for both business and leisure travellers. Sitting in George Town’s heritage enclave, it commands sea views across the North and South Channels, sightlines to the Penang Bridge, and walking-distance access to Komtar and the UNESCO World Heritage core of George Town.
The EOI closes on 30 September. Rahim & Co Chestertons is handling the deal. Senior director Siva Shanker told The Edge the property offers investors a combination of freehold tenure, city-centre location scarcity, and future value-enhancement potential.
The sale comes against a hospitality boom in Penang. Between August 2023 and 2025, about 13 new hotels opened on the island, adding more than 2,300 rooms. The pipeline shows no sign of slowing, with roughly 10 hotels under construction and 11 approved, expected to add an estimated 4,000 rooms this year alone.
New international entrants on the island include Frasers Hospitality’s Capri by Fraser, JdV by Hyatt, and Galaxy Minyoun Penang, several anchored in IJM Land’s The Light City waterfront development. Older assets are also being resurrected, including Hotel Equatorial Penang in Bukit Jambul, shuttered since April 2021 and undergoing major refurbishment. The InterContinental Penang in Teluk Bahang is slated to open in December, marking the brand’s first resort in Malaysia.
Through CHM, the IGB group also operates Cititel Express Penang and The Wembley, alongside hotels in Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Johor Bahru, and Sydney. IGB previously sold Cititel Express on Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur for RM37 million to Singapore’s The Royal Group. In 2016, it sold its flagship 910-room Renaissance Kuala Lumpur for roughly RM765 million.
For a buyer, Cititel Penang represents a rare combination: a sizeable, freehold city-centre asset with an established operating history, and a location that newer builds on reclaimed land or the fringes of George Town cannot replicate.
