Finding the right hotel can make a big difference in your vacation. I have highlighted some hotels that I, and my friends, personally have found good as well as some highly rated hotels. I find Agoda to be a great way to find discount hotels (budget and luxury hotels at a discount), hostels, homestays, B&Bs… all over the world. I have partnered with Agoda so I get a referral fee if you make a reservation through one of my links. They also offer reviews from past visitors but they only offer those hotels that have partnered with them. Another good choice (but not so great in SE Asia yet) is Hipmunk.

Langkawi

• Tanjung Sanctuary Langkawi Resort, luxury, situated on 67 acres of land and private beach, this romantic hotel presents 30 spacious and airy bungalows that provides magnificent views and a luxury hotel
• Casa Fina Fine Homes Hotel, discount, free wifi.
• Sunset Beach Resort – very nice bungalows near the beach, great Indian restaurant on the beach right next store. Moderate prices, very nice and simple bungalows.
• Tanjung Rhu Resort, luxury, free wifi.
• Cosy Inn, discount, free wifi, good choice when you want to save money and enjoy the beaches of Langkawi. The location is not that great but the savings compared to other choices are large.
• more Langkawi hotel choices

Kuala Lumpur

• Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur, luxury, downtown – very close to Petronas towers and convention center. Check in is a bit chaotic (they have a very sloppy process, no queing strategy…) but the location and rooms are fantastic. Grand Deluxe rooms are significantly better in my opinion (more room and fantastic huge windows and views); if you want that easily worth $30 more a night.
• Traders Hotel by Shangri-La, luxury, free wifi, downtown – very close to Petronas towers and convention center.
• The Royale Chulan Hotel, luxury, free wifi, downtown
• FB Hotel Kuala Lumpur, discount, free wifi, 20 min bus ride for $1 takes you KL Sental.
• more Kuala Lumpur hotel choices

Penang

• G Hotel Penang, luxury, Gurney Drive, free wifi, very good customer service.
• Muntri Mews, Georgetown, free wifi
• Red Inn Heritage Guesthouse, Georgetown, discount free wifi.
• EQ Ferringhi Hotel, Batu Ferringhi, discount, free wifi
• Parkroyal Penang Hotel, luxury, Batu Ferringhi, free wifi.
• more Penang hotel choices

Johor Bahru
Cab drivers may well have trouble finding discount hotels, you should probably try to bring full addresses and phone numbers.

• Bliss Boutique Hotel, free wifi, great staff, very nice – but small- rooms. Downtown, next door to Chey Papa.
• J Hotel, discount, out of town – toward the airport.
• Cactus Inn Resort, discount, out of town, about 10 minutes to Permas Jaya. Nice out of the way place to relax. There is a nice hill to walk up and see scenic views. Make sure you have a map and/or phone number for the hotel – taxi drivers don’t know where it is. Also taxi drivers try to demand not to use the meter when they pick you up – best if you plan on staying at the hotel for the duration or have your own car. The hotel itself is nice, only simple food is available from the kitchen (which is fine with me, but may bother some). wifi is limited to very few rooms – make sure you specific if you want wifi in the room.
• Lavender Inn Permas, Permas Jaya, discount, noise may be a problem.
• Mutiara Hotel, city center, somewhat upscale but somewhat dated. Johor Bahru doesn’t have much in the way of Luxury accommodation (lots of those are in Singapore).
• The Puteri Pacific, city center.
• Hotel Time, discount, Permas Jaya. Good choice for a discount hotel. It is away from clubs so you avoid that noise, still it is noisy as, especially the windows do little to keep noise out.
• I would avoid The Zon Regency By The Sea unless you don’t care about noise. They have a very loud sound system for their bar inside their atrium that is extremely loud well into the morning (past 1 AM).
• more Johor Bahru hotel choices