Raffles Hotel Historical Building, Singapore

Undoubtedly, the Raffles Hotel is Singapore’s most elegant time machine—one with polished teak floors, snow-white facades, and a guestbook that reads like a century-long celebrity roll call. Founded on December 1, 1887, by the ambitious Sarkies Brothers—Armenian hoteliers with a flair for grandeur—it was named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the man who set Singapore’s early foundations. A hundred years later, in 1987, the hotel was officially declared a National Monument, cementing its place in the city’s story.

Over the decades, everyone from Charlie Chaplin and Somerset Maugham to Elizabeth Taylor and Karl Lagerfeld passed through its doors. The hotel even earned a quirky footnote in local history as the place where Singapore’s last tiger was shot—an event that leaves visitors blinking twice whenever they hear it. And of course, the Long Bar still claims fame as the birthplace of the iconic Singapore Sling cocktail, where the clink of glasses continues a tradition over a century old.

Early on, Raffles Hotel introduced luxuries the tropics had never seen: powered ceiling fans, electric lights, and enough modern comforts to make travellers forget they were half a world away from home. New wings, grand verandas, a ballroom, a bar, and a billiards room soon followed. Then came February 1942: as Japanese forces entered Singapore, the hotel’s guests danced a final waltz while staff quietly buried silver—including the famous beef trolley—in the Palm Court. Renamed Syonan Ryokan during the occupation, the hotel returned to British hands in 1945.

Two major restorations—in 1989 and again in 2017—polished the building back to its 1915 splendour while adding the realities of modern travel. Every room became a suite, soundproofing improved, technology was discreetly woven in, and new suites expanded the hotel’s layout. The Long Bar shifted to the nearby shopping arcade, the Writer’s Bar gained its own intimate corner, and the old Jubilee Theatre transformed into a gleaming ballroom.

Today, the Raffles Hotel shopping arcade offers about 40 boutique stores alongside most of its dining venues. Step outside those elegant corridors and you’ll find a tropical garden softening every edge—one last reminder that this legendary hotel is both a relic of the past and one of Singapore’s most charming places to pause...