Raffles Singapore

A hotel whose name is instantly recognizable, the Raffles Singapore is pure colonial confection, a landmark maintained in its original style, with liveried Sikh door attendants greeting guests. Opened by two Armenian brothers in 1887 as a 10-room bungalow hotel overlooking the South China Sea—its address, 1 Beach Road, attests to the waterfront location before reclamation extended Singapore’s boundaries—it has since welcomed movie and music stars, authors, and heads of state. Somerset Maugham wrote, after a stay, “Raffles stands for all the fables of the exotic East.” At the end of World War II, it served as a transit camp for prisoners of war. A new wing and various extensions have turned Raffles into a little enclave, with pretty interior courtyards and a high-end shopping arcade with antique, art, fashion, and jewelry stores. Rooms come with butler service, 14-foot ceilings, verandas, Asian carpets, brass fittings, and glistening teak floors.

Sit back at the Long Bar at Singapore‘s luxurious Raffles Hotel - home of the Singapore Sling - this famous cocktail drink originates from this bar. Order a Sling, sit down at a table, eat the peanuts provided and then casually discard the shells onto the floor. I entered the Long Bar with a friend; I noticed myself standing on some peanut shells, then notice it’s everywhere on the floor. Awesome; if that’s what people can do here, I’ll do the same. I see other travellers look amused at the sight of peanut shells discarded onto the floor. There’s music played from a live band upstairs, easily accessible from the Long Bar. The Long Bar is a nice venue to relax in the evening after a day of travelling around Singapore.

This white-on-white hotel is one the world’s truly iconic properties. Opened in 1887 by two Armenian brothers from Persia (making the hotel twice as old as the country of Singapore), the property retains its colonial look and ambiance, with beautiful courtyards and gardens, high-ceiling rooms, shopping arcades, liveried Sikh doormen, and pleasingly shiny wooden floors. Its long history includes acting as a transit camp for prisoners of war at the end of World War II and welcoming notable guests such as Ernest Hemingway and Somerset Maugham who said, “Raffles stands for all the fables of the exotic East.” While some parts of the property are off-limits to those who aren’t guests, any visitor can drop by the Long Bar. This two-story bar, inspired by the Malaysian plantations of the 1920s, is where the Singapore Sling was invented. Order one. Start planning your visit to Singapore, and more than 30 other destinations in Asia, with Singapore Airlines.

Two of Singapore’s famous historic hotels are official national monuments and attractions unto themselves. Raffles is synonymous with the Singapore Sling, a cocktail you can sample in the hotel’s Long Bar. Built out of Aberdeen granite and originally serving as the General Post Office building, the neoclassical structure—known for the past two decades as the Fullerton Hotel—retains its verandas, Doric columns and many fine plaster details.