Affordable Malaysia

Best for Culture: George Town

Established in 1786 as a tin port for the British East India Company, World Heritage-listed George Town is one of Asia’s best-preserved colonial towns.

Sleep
A former stables, Muntri Mews (doubles from 300 ringgits, or $94) is the latest venture from Australian hoteliers Karl Steinberg and Christopher Ong.
The charcoal-grey weatherboard building offers nine rooms and an airy street-side café serving local staples like nasi lemak in the heart of George Town’s heritage quarter.
The duo are currently putting the finishing touches on Noordin Mews (doubles from $66), a 16-room hotel on the outskirts of the heritage zone with a swimming pool and café decorated in what they call “Chinese Hollywood", the sexy art deco of 1930s Shanghai.

Play
Explore George Town with the Penang Heritage Trust (pht.org.my; tours from $57), who take small groups through Little India and to artisanal workshops.
Pick of the many museums is the brilliant blue Cheong Fatt Tze Mansion (cheongfatttzemansion.com), former home of shipping mogul Cheong Fatt Tze, built in the 1880s on principals of feng shui.
Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen architected the fall of the Qing dynasty from a terrace house, now museum, at 120 Armenian Street (sunyatsenpenang.com).

Eat & Drink
Penang is renowned for its extraordinarily diverse local foods, like char kway teow (Hokkien-style fried noodles) and assam laksa (a sour mackerel soup that blends Chinese and Malay spices).
There are better food courts, but none that dish up location, atmosphere and cheap beer like Red Garden (20 Leith Street; redgarden-food.com).
For superb local Chinese cuisine, head to Tek Sen (18 Carnarvon Street; +60 12493 9424). The tamarind-based fish curry and salted fish bean sprouts are both excellent; the double-fried pork belly almost ethereal.
For lunch, French-born Mathieu Guegan at 42° La Boheme (42 Sri Bahari Street) bakes croissants and quiches that would stand up in Paris.

Best for the Beach: Langkawi

A cluster of 99 islands off Malaysia’s northwest coast, the languorous resort island of Langkawi is South East Asia’s only UNESCO-designated Bio Park.

Sleep
Set inside a quiet tropical garden overlooking Pantai Cenang, Langkawi’s main tourist strip, Sunset Beach Resort (+60 4955 6200; doubles from $60) has 28 clean and cosy rooms with private verandas or patios.
Offering a few more luxuries, the freshly renovated Four Points by Sheraton (+60 4955 6888; doubles from $108) sprawls onto a private beach at Kuala Muda.
The 214 spacious rooms each have plush beds, rain showers and bathtubs.
Other perks include Langkawi’s largest infinity pool – which spans a whopping 1680m2 – a kids’ pool, a fitness centre overlooking the sea and free Wi-Fi in public areas.

Play
German-run Blue Water Star Sailing (+60 13407 3166) offer cruises around the island’s south coast, stopping at uninhabited beaches en route.
The best pick for your wallet is the boozy Sunset Dinner Cruise on a traditional wooden schooner for $140 per person. Hire a car to explore the island’s forests, buy bags of tropical fruit straight from the farmers and spot hornbills.
Then, get your bearings over the island on the vertiginous Langkawi Cable Car (At Oriental Village, Burau Bay; adults $10) that flies to the 700m-high Sky Bridge suspended on top of Machinchang Mountain.

Eat & Drink
Pick your own fish at Orkid Ria (Lot 1225 Jalan Pantai Cenang; +60 4955 4128) and have them barbecue it over wood flames.
On Pantai Tengah, L’Osteria (Lot 2863 Jalan Pantai Tengah; +60 4955 2133) dishes up great thin-crust wood-fired pizzas. More upmarket, Nam at Bon Ton (+60 4955 6787; bontonresort.com) is set in a traditional Malay house. Order the Nyonya platter and feel good that the profits from the restaurant will go to support the resort’s cat and dog shelter.
Langkawi’s best Malay food is at Gulai House, an open-air restaurant set deep in the rainforest at the Datai Resort (+60 4959 2500; thedatai.com.my).

Best for Adventure: Kota Kinabalu

Home to the world’s oldest forests and three quarters of its marine ecology, Sabah’s languid capital, Kota Kinabalu, crows numerous escapades from its doorstep.

Sleep
In downtown Kota Kinabalu, Hotel Eden 54 (doubles from $37) has 23 small but stylish rooms in red and green; beware that the cheapest rooms don’t have windows.
A few notches up in class, the Jesselton Hotel (doubles from $65) was built after Japanese occupied forces bombed Kota Kinabalu in 1944. The rooms are a little dated, but the hotel has plenty of old-world charm.
For more facilities, including a pool, gym and room service, Le Meridien (doubles from $125) has 306 rooms and the reliability of an international chain; request an ocean-facing room for views.

Play
Nestled in the azure blue waters off Kota Kinabalu, Tunku Abdul National Park is a cluster of five islands with white sandy beaches and multi-coloured reefs.
Most islands have small shops renting snorkels, or organise a diving trip with Borneo Dream. In the other direction, the lush forests below Mount Kinabalu made it Malaysia’s first World Heritage treasure.
The park abounds with day walks, or for the energetic, a red-tape-rich two-day trek to the summit. See sabahtourism.com for more.

Eat & Drink
Locals from KK, as Kota Kinabalu is fondly known, rave about the Night Market, a bustling, sweltering sprawl of food stalls that prop themselves up outside Le Meridien Hotel each night.
The star of the show here is fresh seafood eaten the Filipino way: char-grilled over hot coals, then devoured by hand with rice, seaweed salad and a sweet chilli dipping sauce.

Wellbeing means different things to different travellers. Here’s how to pick a hotel that gets it right for you.

The best wellness holidays aren’t necessarily spent wrapped in a spa robe. Sometimes they’re found around a dinner table in Cambodia, on a hiking trail in New Zealand or after finally beating jet lag on the other side of the world. The hotel you choose is what makes them happen.

1. Easy access to good food

meals from Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20 — Taste delicious meals at Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20.

One of the quickest ways to derail healthy habits on holiday is to spend half of it working out where to eat instead of digging into the culture around you. Thankfully, Novotel has done much of the hard work already, with chefs building menus that lean into the flavours, ingredients and traditions of each destination.

In Sihanoukville, Cambodia, Korkor soup – often dubbed ‘Cambodian ratatouille’ – sits alongside raw blue crab dressed with lime and chilli, best enjoyed with views across the Gulf of Thailand.

In the lovingly chaotic city of Bangkok, the presence of food cranks up the sociability. At Novotel Bangkok Sukhumvit 20, you can settle in with mango sticky rice and stranger-turned-friends beside the pool at Sky on 20 rooftop bar, or bring them along to tackle river prawns and stir-fried crab with holy basil at the buzzing Crab Paradise Dinner Buffet.

Then Novotel Dubai Al Barsha welcomes you with a laidback twist on the level of indulgence the Middle Eastern city is best known for up on Deck Se7en. Looking towards Burj Al Arab, the rooftop lounge has everything from Mediterranean-style dishes like seabass ceviche to Italian prosecco sundowners.

At the other end of the scale, in the hills that surround the Novotel Bali Ubud Resort, calm comes from nature. At Siralada restaurant, Balinese traditions shape the menu while thunder rumbles over the surrounding jungle – proving the setting is as nourishing as the food itself.

While at Novotel Nha Trang, chef Kieu Thi My Hanh and her team showcase Vietnam’s knack for balancing freshness, texture and fragrant herbs. Pho remains a favourite, while seafood salad with pomelo and mango brings those flavours together in one bright dish.

It’s all an approach backed by partnerships with expert food creators such as Alfie Steiner, whose plant-forward recipes prove healthy food should never taste plain.

2. Better sleep options

Novotel Bali Ubud Resort room — Sleep deeply with Novotel.

There are few travel experiences more disappointing than arriving in a new country, determined to seize the day, only to fall asleep fully clothed by 3pm.

For Australian travellers, jet lag is often an unavoidable part of the journey. That’s one reason Novotel runs sleep-focused initiatives that help guests adjust quickly without compromising on health. We’re talking partnerships with Sydney-based sleep specialist Olivia Arezzolo, known for her advice on everything from better sleep habits to beating jet lag, alongside features like pillow menus, in-room yoga content and tailored sleep guidance.

The sooner you’re operating on local time, the sooner you can get back to more pressing matters – like deciding which spa treatment to book.

3. More ways to move

woman hiking around queenstown new zealand — Stay at Novotel Queenstown Lakeside and explore local hiking trails. (Credit: GettyI mages/ naruedom)

Every place in the world has its own way of getting you moving: whether that’s hiking up ice-bitten mountains before a sauna or gentle stretching by the pool before a facial. From fitness centres to spas, Novotel recognises that wellbeing rarely looks the same.

At Novotel Queenstown Lakeside, activity is inescapable. Here, hiking trails, ski fields, bungee jumps, and white-water rafting have made the region famous. The hotel’s location on the shores of Lake Wakatipu means less time spent organising yourself and more time out there experiencing them. To top it all off, you can book a private hot tub for the evening before heading back into the wilderness tomorrow.

Bali, of course, takes a softer approach. At Novotel Bali Ubud Resort or Novotel Bali Nusa Dua, movement is less about conquering a mountain and more about a dance class between the tropical gardens and lagoon pools. Afterwards, the spa takes over, with traditional treatments like a Lulur body scrub: a combination of rice, turmeric, sandalwood, ginger and jasmine that’ll soothe muscles already relaxed by the Balinese heat.

4. Better connections

Kids will love a stay at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh.

One of the best things about travel is that it gives your family stories you’ll be telling for years. Novotel helps create them with activities that bring everyone together, whether that’s trying something new, learning a local skill, or simply spending more time together.

Go for a distinctly Thai twist at Novotel Phuket Vintage Park, where many of the family activities draw on local culture. Kids can try everything from beginner Thai boxing and language lessons to umbrella painting and – a pastime beloved by children the world over – pool foam parties. Everyone is welcome to join in, whether that’s getting splashed, covered in paint, or simply watching their children discover a new side of Thailand during the dedicated Family & Kids Day.

A different adventure awaits at Novotel Sharm El Sheikh. Kids could be perfectly content with discos, drawing classes and new holiday friends, but the Red Sea has other ideas. Sitting on the edge of Naama Bay, days here might involve snorkelling colourful reefs, taking a boat trip to Ras Mohammed National Park or heading into the desert by quad bike or camel for a Bedouin-style dinner beneath the stars.

5. Location is everything

Surin Beach, Choeng Thale, Thalang District, Phuket, Thaiföld — Explore Phuket’s gorgeous beaches. (Credit: Bence Biczo)

Everyone’s idea of wellness looks a little different. With more than 600 hotels across 65 countries, Novotel gives guests the freedom to choose the destination that suits them best. Whether that’s a beachside escape in Phuket, an alpine expedition in Queenstown or a city break in Bangkok, there’s a good chance a Novotel isn’t far away.

All that’s left? Choosing your version of wellbeing.

Discover stays to inspire your everyday at novotel.accor.com.

Best for Culture: George Town

Best for the Beach: Langkawi

Best for Adventure: Kota Kinabalu

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