Rock'n at the Hard Rock Hotel

RELAXATION: The Hard Rock Hotel Penang has the largest freeform swimming pool on the island featuring private cabanas.

HAPPY DAYS: At the Hard Rock Penang you can sleep under the gaze of the Beatles frolicking in the surf.

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There's something special about sleeping under the gaze of the Beatles.

At the Hard Rock Hotel Penang - a magical mystery tour in the making - the band is immortalised from bronze statues on the rooftop to tiny coloured tiles on a lobby feature wall.

The hotel, in keeping with sister properties around the globe, is filled to busting with authentic memorabilia from the heady days of rock and roll through the new millennium.

Each floor's lobby is individually themed including a blast of early Bowie and Fleetwood Mac amongst the stars that greet guests.  

The hotel itself is a tasteful contemporary house of rock pimped with the latest technology, each room has wi-fi connection, ipod docking station and live camera link to the performing Hard Rock Café bands.

The Hard Rock Hotel Penang is Malaysia's first property, and it didn't take long to rise in the popularity stakes with both local and international guests - a real bonus for a new hotel on the block.

The hospitality begins as soon as you set foot in the door. The dazzling Hard Rock Hotel branding illuminated in sparkly lights above your head, gently swaying in the breeze.  

Checking in is painless, melding effortlessly into the stretching bar with its selection of signature cocktails, Pickled Tink, Dizzy Miss Lizzy, Hippy Hippy Shake, Bahama Mama.  Cocktails at the bar, glide into poolside drinks, which are intermingled with the evening band's beat from the lobby bar.

With the largest freeform swimming pool on the island featuring private cabanas, kids slides and direct access from lagoon rooms, relaxing has never been easier.  The aptly named Rock Spa provides well-deserved pampering in gazebos facing the sea and is sure to make you feel like a star before heading out for a day in the surrounding Batu Ferringhi beach region, or even a drive to historic Georgetown - just 30 minutes away for some sightseeing and shopping.

It was hard to wrench myself away from the tranquillity and privacy of my spacious poolside room.  I couldn't get any closer to the water if I tried with three simple steps from my sunbaked decking to the cooling depths of the pool. Fresh towels arrive via a pool boy nudging an inflatable boat laden with mountains of blue laundry.  Cocktails in a similar style. A handy tip from the bar staff "try ordering a cocktail from your deck" saw me do just that. Bliss.

Usually by holiday close I'm ready to depart. My still wet bikini from the finale swim packed away after relishing every last minute in the sun, - but I didn't want to budge. 

The Hard Rock Hotel is so much more than a hotel, it's an experience, and I headed to my taxi with Beatles songs reverberating through my head 'You can't buy me love' - but you can buy me a holiday at the Hard Rock Hotel!