The 28-storey building will house 246 units of serviced suites with built-up area upwards of 800 square feet. Straits Residences offers 6 types of condominium units with floor area ranging from 861 sq ft to 1,356 sq ft.
Most Luxurious family holiday of 4-5 members or a business trip for executives, it is a gorgeous and brand new property by the sea along the famous Gurney Drive area. It has an exclusive mall at ground floor which housed 20 international restaurants. It is located 5 minutes from Famous Gurney Drive Plaza, paragon malls, Island Plaza, One Stop Plaza and Tesco. The Straits Quay Suites are uniquely located at the award winning Straits Quay Marina and represent beautifully designed supersized of standard 1,000 sq feet ( usual 3 times size of normal hotel room) Family Suites for guests to experience Seaside livestyle.
The Suites are impeccably furnished and ideal for single, couples or indeed family stays. Not a single table in the living room, no washing machine, not working air conditionner, when we arrived the apartment was not ready and they offered us another apart in another building and of poorer quality. It took them 1,5 to make everything in order but in fact nothing has been done. When we arrived the room temperature was 28 C and with full time working AC the temperature was not dropping down. The next day a team of workers came and they changed the Outer AC block. But 6 lamps are not working, they changed the bulbs with no success, the owen is dirty and nobody came to clean it (2 days passed after the notification). Ugly Indian style beds in the bedroom and in the living room, small table (supposed to the dining table) and 2 iron chairs (like you may see in a cafe).
Stronly unrecommended to stay there. We booked our room through Air BNB.
Check in was smooth as we organised to meet the owners Uncle at a specific time at the fountain out front. This could be a bit of a challenge without internet access. The apartment was a 1 bed 2 bath in North block on level 3 (pool level) which was great, spacious and airy with good amenities and spacious balcony overlooking the marina. We pretty much had the pool to ourselves everyday which was very peaceful but not great if you like a bit of action. Security and complex staff were very pleasant.
Good selection of restaurants & small supermarket at the Quay although all on the pricey side for Penang. However, numerous restaurants, cafes & food-courts nearby along with Tesco in walking distance. Construction of the new island underway although did not really affect us with the double glazed stacking sliders it was very quiet. Also no mosquitos so could sleep with doors open if we wanted to.
Good Wi-Fi but not much choice of TV channels, also standard of cleaning left a bit to be desired but all in all a peaceful, pleasant stay. First, the positives - lovely, spacious balcony overlooking the marina. The apartment is very nice with all needed amenities except a hair dryer.
The kitchen is complete with microwave, stove top and a built in oven. There is also a washer-dryer machine in the kitchen. Yes, cutlery, mugs, glasses and some pots are even available. TV and wifi works well (except the tv in the bathroom). The bedrooms are nice with comfy beds. One can walk around the marina and the boardwalk to enjoy the sea view. The pool looks all right.
The negatives - we had a lot of problems with the elevator access key as 50% of the time it did not work. There is also no office to seek help or get/return key as one has to call the contact person. No Qibla indicator in the apartment. If you enjoy watching the sunrise and sunsets, this is not the place as neither was seen when we were there.
There is also no sea breeze except early in the morning. The rest of the time - hot and humid.
There are some restaurants but most sell alcohol and are not Muslim friendly (except for Pappa Rich). Overall- very upscale 'Mat Salleh' vibe about the place. Not for Muslim families.
IJM Land Bhd, the property development arm of IJM Corp Bhd, will be launching the condominium project in Penang, with an estimated gross development value (GDV) of RM240 million, this October.“The Waterside Residence is part of The Light Waterfront phase 2 which has a GDV of RM6.5 billion,” IJM Land managing director Edward Chong told TheEdgeProperty.com.The 4.27-acre freehold condominium comprises 256 units of 2- and 3-bedroom units with built-up sizes of between 1,055 sq ft and 1,270 sq ft. The estimated selling price averages RM700 psf.“Waterside Residence is situated next to a planned shopping mall and convention centre. We are targeting buyers who are looking for modern lifestyle homes,” Chong said.Phase 2 of The Light Waterfront includes a proposed mall with a gross retail space of 1.5 million sq ft, thematic shops, a convention centre, two hotels offering a total of 750 rooms and an office tower.“Registration of interest for the Waterside Residence is open currently. We are confident that it will be taken up quickly as it is very affordable.“In Penang, properties that are priced below RM1 million will be snapped up in no time.
Not only that, many people are upgrading their homes from inland to the seaside, thus the Waterside Residence will be very attractive to them,” he said.On the current economic slowdown, Chong argued that there is still room for property developers to thrive. However, he noted that the property segment is “definitely off its peak”.“The fundamental of economics is that there will be ups and downs. And the property sector is a consumer sentiment-driven business, meaning it’s not so much about the demand.“People will always buy property. The property segment has had a good run since 2009 up to about a year ago when we started to see the sector slow down a little but like I said, what goes up must come down,” he said.“Yes, the current market is more challenging but the market is not dead.
Because if you say it’s dead, you won’t see people at property fairs. To capture the market, a developer has to take in these three factors: pricing, product and location,” he added.Chong believes that developers can thrive even in a slowdown. “It’s just that during downtime, you have to manoeuvre around the storm, after that you’ll be alright. There will always be another upcycle and you’ll have to be there when it arrives,” said Chong.Source.