Penang construction update (2023 edition)

Trip report for my visit to Penang in March 2023. New hotels questionably close to the old town, an endangered historic cinema, and land reclamation mania.

Penang is one of the main cities that I revisit every year, with 2021 being the only year I missed in the last decade (no prizes for guessing why). While the old town remains entombed in a UNESCO-protected time capsule, some big projects are going on around the island.

I got the bus from the airport to the old town area of Georgetown, which can take anyw…