GEORGE TOWN, Jan 28 — Seven Terraces, one of the best boutique hotels in Penang — was the only Malaysian entry in this year's Best Small Hotels in Asia TripAdvisor Award.

It came in seventh in the prestigious line-up of 25 Asian hotels. 

This year, Seven Terraces won a slew of other TripAdvisor awards as well.

It topped TripAdvisor's awards as the best small hotel in Malaysia for this year.

The hotel, one of the award-winning hoteliers' Chris Ong and Karl Steinberg's hotels in Penang, also grabbed first place for best service for all hotel types in Malaysia. The luxury hotel, consisting of a row of seven restored heritage shophouses, came in second as the most romantic hotel in Malaysia. This is of course not the first time the hotel, boasting of Straits Chinese influences in its architecture and decor, won international recognition. Back in 2013, when it was relatively new in the hospitality industry in Penang, it was the only Malaysian hotel to be placed on the Conde Nast Travellers' hot list of that year.

The luxury hotel, consisting of a row of seven restored heritage shophouses, came in second as the most romantic hotel in Malaysia. — Picture by K.E.Ooi

When asked about the TripAdvisor awards, a proud Ong attributed it to his management team's hard work. "We couldn't win these awards without them and it was all done naturally and softly because they feel loved and appreciated," he told the Malay Mail Online in an email. He added that the awards are what made running the hotel an amazing and rewarding experience especially with a team made up of different nationalities. "It is amazing especially when you think of how international the team is — consisting Malaysians, South Africans, Nepalese, Sri Lankans, Bangladeshi, Filipinos, Myanmar, Indonesians — and they all understand our service, our culture and each other to provide excellent service to our clients," he said.