Hotel is in less than 10minutes walk from the ferry in the centre of Georgetown. There is an in-house chinese restaurant, but you are in a few minutes walk from many options, ranging from international cuisine, to little india, to malay, to chinese...
Staff is very friendly and helpful. My train from KL arrived early in the morning and regardless of the check-in policy they have kindly found the room.
My room was on the ground floor and tiny. Website showed much better photos than the actual decors with no traditional charm. There was dumpness in the room that nothing could eliminate, it seems was inside the walls and the smell was difficult to sleep with. Otherwise - enjoy the town!

Stayed two nights in January 2013 before going to the beach at Batu Ferringhi & really glad we did. The historic centre of Georgetown is fascinating and lively and hot and dirty. You have to watch where you're walking all the time as there are no level surfaces and many impediments as well as a lot of traffic. There is a lot to see, a delghtful jumble of temples, clan houses, shrines, hawker stalls and shops that range from the boutique to quite industrial. We were so glad we were staying at the Yeng Keng, to step through the gate to the calm courtyard was to come home and relax. The rooms are not huge but are clean and the bathrooms are very nicely finished. We had rooms 212 and 210 upstairs at the back and we were not disturbed by any noise from the road. Must mention Ms Yeoh the receptionist, a great welcome and very helpful in suggesting sights, arranging taxis etc. She is a real asset to the hotel. We tried to sightsee in the morning while it was cooler and then spent the afternoon in the hotel pool. I don't imagine there are many places in the local area where you can while away the afternoon heat with a cooling swim, it was great.
One gripe, when you are in the courtyard and order drinks from the cafe they also bring a bowl of peanuts. We assumed that they were complimentary and were surprised to be charged 2 ringetts for them. They are on the menu as "tid bits" but had not been ordered. This happened every time we ordered a beer.

The Yeng Keng was a nice hotel, exceptionally clean and staff were attentive. However, the pool had an excessive amount of lemon flavoured bleach in it, to the point where it caused skin irritation and felt as if my teeth enamel was being stripped clean. Go to the hotel, but don't use the pool.

We really loved this exquisitely renovated small hotel in the historical section of Penang. It is all very tastefully done and perfectly maintained with a number of small public areas tucked into various areas including upstairs.. The staff are extremely attentive, helpful and friendly. They have a good extensive breakfast buffet (included) in their new "café bar", which is in the style of a Parisien café, not a North American coffee shop. Do check their web site http://www.yengkenghotel.com/ for lots more information and photos.

The contrast between the calm oasis of the hotel and the bustling traditional street scenes immediately outside the courtyard is really quite striking. The loudspeakers of the mosque across the street can be noisy at certain times of the day but we could not hear it in our upstairs room at the back. It too is part of the local scene, of course.

The pool is small but very clean and just right for a cool down at the end of the day. It is true that the rooms are on the small side but they are nicely done and they fit the style and architecture of the hotel very well.

There is very good city bus service along Chulia street that can take you almost everywhere on the island. You need to figure out which bus goes where but you can find that out on the Penang bus service web site. Alternatively the hotel can arrange a taxi for you at a fair rate.