Hop On Hop Off buses - tourist delight or a rip off?

Hop On Hop Off Bus Penang

Joanne has succumbed to the ubiquitous Hop on Hop off Bus Tour in each new city - London, Naples, Barcelona so yesterday our first day in Penang it was Hop On Hop Off bus day.
My first thought it was reasonably priced - 45 RM about $15 Aus each against maybe 3 times that in Barcelona.

Penang splits its tour into Beach and city. As we are already at the beach Batu Ferringhi we decided to complete the beach tour and then break to look at the high end malls on Gurney Road in George Town.

The bus came... a relevantly modern vehicle but with the now compulsory sign - we are upgarding [ fill in spot ] so the next people will be an experience they paid for?? In this case it was commentary was being upgrade but in the meantime the stops will be described - number 17 stop Batu Ferringhi where we have the Holiday Inn and the Park Royal.

Mmmm I wonder if I will ever be the tourist who gets there when it is all done - the Park Royal is undergoing an upgrade so if we had of come in July rather than April it would be really wonderful.

The Beach Tour was great - the city tour was, without commentary a very long ride in a bus through the perpetual George Town traffic jam.. bloody horrible.

Park Royal Pool Area

The Hotel is great, the food fantastic and the pool warm and CLEAN. Joanne is off at the spar so she should be a new woman when she come back

Verdict on Hop On Hop Off Bus 100% for Beach Tour 0% for City Tour so 50/50 but not recommended until there is commentary - how much of a broken down city can you stand without being told why it is broken down??