Raffles Singapore
Singapore

Raffles Singapore is one of Ampersand's Top 10 Lux City Hotels

No trip to Singapore would be complete without a visit to the enduring classic that is the Raffles Hotel – better still, book in to stay. A Singapore institution in its own right, Raffles is one of the world’s most famous hotels. Named after Singapore’s founder, Sir Stamford Raffles, and later part of the Sarkies brothers’ enterprise in 1887 (who are also behind Asia’s other historic greats, the Strand and the Eastern & Oriental) no other hotel so successfully continues to conjure the ‘golden’ age of Empire. Raffles is renowned for its literary associations; Ernest Hemingway, Somerset Maugham, Rudyard Kipling and Alfred Hitchcock all drank at the hotel’s iconic Long Bar with its dark varnished wood, softly swaying ceiling fans and famous ‘Singapore Sling’ cocktails.

Aside from the Long Bar, facilities at Raffles include a small private swimming pool on the 3^rd floor with a poolside bar, a Raffles museum, a spa, several small high-end boutiques and six restaurants, including the Tiffin Room which is great for a smart curry lunch. Service is attentive – there is 24 hour butler service – though there are better views from Singapore hotel rooms, Raffles' leafy city centre location is not far from the CBD (Central Business District) and within striking distance of Singapore’s two main hubs, Orchard Road and the up-and-coming Marina Bay area. The main appeal of Raffles is its polished colonial glamour, which appears to be in no danger of fading; the Duke & Duchess of Cambridge, William and Kate, were guests at the hotel on their grand tour of Asia.

The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.
Rudyard Kipling