The short answer: the oldest hotel still taking guests in Asia is Colombo's Galle Face Hotel, opened in 1864 and often called the oldest east of Suez. Here is the value twist: it is also the cheapest on this page, around $106–$150 a night, while younger icons like Raffles Singapore (1887) cost four figures. We rank by verified founding date and print each rate beside it. All eight were open and bookable in June 2026.
By Marcus Ellison, Senior Luxury Hotels Editor · Last updated: June 15, 2026
We may earn a commission when you book through links on this page, at no extra cost to you. Rankings are editorial and never sold. Founding dates, operating status, every "oldest" claim and every rate range below were checked against each property's published history and live booking data in June 2026.
Age is the one hotel record that doubles as a sales pitch, which is exactly why it needs an auditor. A founding year sells rooms, so it gets stretched: a guesthouse on the same plot, a building that predates the business, a brand that bought the name all get folded into a single round number on the notepaper. The cleaner question for a guest is what you actually pay to sleep inside the history, and in Asia the answer refuses to follow the dates. The oldest house here, Colombo's Galle Face of 1864, is the least expensive by a distance; the four-figure rates belong to younger names with louder marketing. So this list keeps the ledger straight. It ranks by the founding date each house can document, prints the qualifier that keeps each "oldest" claim honest, and sets the 2026 rate alongside the year so you can see precisely what the past costs per night.
At a glance
| Hotel | Place | Opened | Documented claim | Rate reality (2026) |
|---|
| Galle Face Hotel | Colombo, Sri Lanka | 1864 | Oldest east of Suez (widely cited) | ~$106–$150 — the value pick |
| Mandarin Oriental | Bangkok, Thailand | 1876 (as The Oriental) | Thailand's first luxury hotel | From ~$420 |
| Eastern & Oriental | Penang, Malaysia | 1885 | First Sarkies-brothers hotel | Mid-range heritage rates |
| Raffles Singapore | Singapore | 1887 | The icon; all-suite since 2019 | Four figures (~$1,090–$1,590) |
| Imperial Hotel | Tokyo, Japan | 1890 | Japan's first Western-style luxury hotel | Upper-tier Tokyo rates |
| The Taj Mahal Palace | Mumbai, India | 1903 | Mumbai's first harbour landmark hotel | Grande-dame, often approachable |
| The Manila Hotel | Manila, Philippines | 1912 | The Philippines' oldest premier hotel | Approachable for a landmark |
| The Peninsula | Hong Kong | 1928 | Hong Kong's oldest hotel | ~$520–$900 |
How we dated, costed and verified this
We rank by the earliest opening date each house can document, its recorded grand opening or first trading year, not the age of a predecessor guesthouse unless the house itself counts it. Operating status was confirmed in June 2026 against each property's own reservation pages and major platforms; a hotel we could not confirm was taking guests is excluded, which is why The Strand, Yangon (1901) does not appear. Rate ranges are live 2026 figures, shown to make the value comparison explicit. Where a title leans on a qualifier, first against oldest, luxury against any lodging, country against continent, we print the claim and the words that keep it true. Our full method is on the methodology page.
The ranked list
1
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Galle Face Hotel
Opened 1864 · oldest east of Suez · year-round
A group of British entrepreneurs opened the Galle Face on the Indian Ocean shore in 1864, five years before the Suez Canal began operating, which is the basis for its long-standing billing as the oldest hotel east of Suez, ahead of Bangkok's Oriental, Singapore's Raffles and Mumbai's Taj. It looks out over the Galle Face Green, a twelve-acre seafront strip, and a 2015 restoration brought the fabric up to date without trading away the colonnades and the chequerboard lobby.
Rate reality: roughly $106–$150 a night in 2026 — the oldest hotel on this page, and by some margin the cheapest. The clearest proof that age is not a luxury tax.
Stay here if: you want the single most history per dollar in Asia, on a seafront in a city that rewards a few unhurried days. Ask for: a sea-facing room in the Regency Wing for the sunset the green was named for.
The qualifier, honestly: "oldest east of Suez" is the widely repeated billing, not a notarized world title, and Colombo is a working capital rather than a resort. At this rate you are buying genuine heritage and a sea view, not five-star polish in every corner.
Source: Galle Face Hotel, history; Wikipedia.
More Sri Lanka stays we rank →
2
Bangkok, Thailand
Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok
Opened 1876 as The Oriental · Thailand's first luxury hotel · year-round
The Oriental opened on the Chao Phraya River in 1876, and a guesthouse trading under that name appears in the record as early as 1863. It is the house that taught Thailand the luxury hotel, and the writers it lodged, Conrad, Maugham, Coward, gave its Authors' Wing the name it still carries beside the modern River and Garden wings. A river that has not stopped moving and a service culture other Bangkok hotels measure themselves against are the reasons it has stayed at the top for nearly 150 years.
Rate reality: entry rooms from about $420 a night in 2026 — serious money, but mid-pack on this list, and less than a younger Raffles suite.
Stay here if: you want the river, the legend and a genuine five-star standard in one address. Ask for: a river-view room in the River Wing, then the cross-river shuttle to the spa.
The qualifier, honestly: the "first luxury hotel in Thailand" claim is sound; the 1863 date belongs to the earlier guesthouse, not the hotel as built. The riverside setting is glorious but a taxi-boat ride from the skytrain core, so factor the transfers.
Source: Famous Hotels; Mandarin Oriental, official.
Read the full Mandarin Oriental Bangkok profile →
3
George Town, Penang, Malaysia
Eastern & Oriental Hotel
Opened 1885 · the first Sarkies hotel · year-round
The Eastern & Oriental was the first venture of the Sarkies brothers, the Armenian hoteliers who would go on to build Raffles in Singapore and The Strand in Yangon, opened in 1885 to serve the merchants passing through Britain's first port in the region. Its seafront lawn and the Victory Annexe make it the heritage anchor of George Town, a UNESCO old town, and the long waterfront promenade out front is still the address's signature.
Rate reality: mid-range heritage rates, typically well below the Singapore and Hong Kong icons — Penang remains one of the better-value heritage cities in Asia.
Stay here if: you want Sarkies-brothers pedigree at a fraction of Raffles money, with George Town's street food and shophouses at the door. Ask for: a suite in the original Heritage Wing rather than the newer Victory Annexe.
The qualifier, honestly: it is the oldest of the Sarkies houses, not the oldest hotel in Malaysia outright, and the property spans two wings of very different ages, so confirm which one you are booking. Penang's heat and humidity are year-round.
Source: E&O Hotel, history; Wikipedia.
See the Eastern & Oriental profile →
4
Singapore
Raffles Singapore
Opened 1887 · reopened 2019 · 115 suites · year-round
The most famous name on the list opened in 1887 in a beachfront bungalow and grew into the colonnaded landmark that gave the world the Singapore Sling. A near-two-year restoration closed it until August 2019, when it reopened as an all-suite hotel of 115 keys, the courtyards and verandahs intact, the plumbing and the suites firmly of this century. It is the benchmark every other heritage hotel in the region is measured against, and it prices accordingly.
Rate reality: firmly four figures, roughly $1,090–$1,590 a night in 2026, sold only as suites — the most expensive stay on this page, and about ten times the Galle Face.
Stay here if: you want the icon at full polish and the suite-only format suits the occasion. Ask for: a Courtyard Suite for quiet; the Sling at the Long Bar is a tourist rite, not a quiet drink.
The qualifier, honestly: it is the most storied, not the oldest, here, younger than Galle Face, the Oriental and the E&O. The 2019 rebuild means you pay four figures for heritage that has been thoroughly, beautifully renewed rather than left raw.
Source: Raffles, official history; CNBC, 2019 reopening.
Read the full Raffles Singapore profile →
5
Tokyo, Japan
Imperial Hotel
Opened 1890 · Japan's first Western-style luxury hotel · year-round
The Imperial came into being in 1890 as a state guest house for foreign dignitaries during the Meiji modernization, Japan's first Western-style luxury hotel. Its most famous chapter is the Frank Lloyd Wright building that opened, and survived the Great Kanto Earthquake, on the same day in 1923; that structure is long gone, but the institution marked 135 years in 2025 and is now expanding, with an Imperial Hotel Kyoto opening in 2026. The address by Hibiya Park has hosted Chaplin, Monroe and Babe Ruth.
Rate reality: upper-tier Tokyo rates, set by a vast, central, full-service hotel rather than a boutique — priced on location and scale, not scarcity.
Stay here if: you want continuity of institution in central Tokyo, a short walk from the Ginza and the Imperial Palace gardens. Ask for: a higher Imperial Floor room for the lounge and the city view.
The qualifier, honestly: the antiquity here is of the institution, not the building, the current main tower is modern, and the celebrated Wright structure no longer stands. It is a large, busy convention-grade hotel, so come for the legacy and the location rather than intimacy.
Source: Imperial Hotel, official; Wikipedia.
Browse the Tokyo hotels we rank →
6
Mumbai, India
The Taj Mahal Palace
Opened 16 December 1903 · Mumbai's first harbour landmark hotel · year-round
Jamsetji Tata's palace hotel opened beside the Gateway of India on 16 December 1903, the first harbour landmark of the city, the site of Mumbai's first licensed bar and the first hotel in India with steam elevators. It crossed its 120th year in 2023 still as the flagship of the Taj group, the domed silhouette as much a symbol of the city as the Gateway it faces, and the Palace wing and the later Tower wing now sit side by side.
Rate reality: a grande-dame address that often prices more approachably than its Singapore and Hong Kong peers — Indian luxury rates make this one of the more attainable icons on the list.
Stay here if: you want a true palace hotel on the water in Colaba, steps from the city's headline sights. Ask for: a sea-facing room in the original Palace wing rather than the modern Tower.
The qualifier, honestly: the claim is "Mumbai's first" landmark hotel, not India's oldest outright, and the two wings differ sharply in character and price, so book the Palace deliberately. Colaba is dense and the Gateway crowds are constant.
Source: IHCL Tata, official; Wikipedia.
More historic grand hotels →
7
Manila, Philippines
The Manila Hotel
Opened 4 July 1912 · the Philippines' oldest premier hotel · year-round
Built between 1909 and 1912 on reclaimed land along Manila Bay and opened on 4 July 1912, the Manila Hotel was advanced for its day: 149 rooms, telephones throughout, and the first intercom system installed in Asia. It served as General MacArthur's official residence, survived the 1945 Battle of Manila and was rebuilt afterwards, and it still trades on the bay with more than a century of continuous service behind it.
Rate reality: approachable for a national landmark — Manila's luxury rates sit below the regional icons, so the history here comes without a four-figure ticket.
Stay here if: you want a bayfront piece of Philippine history with the famous MacArthur Suite and a sunset over Manila Bay. Ask for: a bay-view room in the original wing, timed for the sunset the bay is known for.
The qualifier, honestly: "oldest premier hotel in the Philippines" is the accurate framing; much of the fabric is post-war reconstruction after 1945, so the continuity is of institution and site. Manila's traffic and the area around the hotel ask for some planning.
Source: Manila Hotel, official; Wikipedia.
Browse the records hub →
8
Kowloon, Hong Kong
The Peninsula Hong Kong
Opened 1928 · Hong Kong's oldest hotel · year-round
The "Grande Dame of the East" opened in 1928 as Hong Kong's most lavish hotel and remains the city's oldest, the flagship of the Peninsula group. The colonnaded lobby and its afternoon tea, the fleet of green Rolls-Royce Phantoms and the rooftop helipad have set the local standard for nearly a century, with a 1994 tower adding height and rooms without disturbing the 1928 frontage on Salisbury Road.
Rate reality: roughly $520–$900 a night in 2026 — high, but, for a hotel of this stature, often less than a Raffles suite, and with full grand-hotel service.
Stay here if: you want the icon of Hong Kong hospitality with harbour views and the city's most theatrical lobby. Ask for: a harbour-view room in the tower for the Star Ferry and the skyline.
The qualifier, honestly: it is Hong Kong's oldest hotel, not Asia's, the youngest house on this page by decades. The lobby's fame means afternoon-tea queues and a steady stream of non-guests through the public spaces.
Source: The Peninsula, official; Wikipedia.
Read the full Peninsula Hong Kong profile →
So which one is really the oldest, and which is the buy?
The oldest is the one question with a clean answer: Colombo's Galle Face, opened in 1864, predates every other house here and the Suez Canal besides. The Oriental in Bangkok (1876) and the Sarkies brothers' Eastern & Oriental in Penang (1885) and Raffles (1887) follow in close order, then Tokyo's Imperial (1890), the Taj in Mumbai (1903), the Manila Hotel (1912) and, youngest of the famous names, Hong Kong's Peninsula (1928). The value question is more interesting, because the ranking inverts. The oldest hotel is the cheapest, around $110 to $150 at the Galle Face, while the priciest, Raffles at four figures, is the fourth-oldest and the most thoroughly rebuilt. If you are buying history by the night, Colombo and Penang are the bargains and Singapore is the splurge. We left The Strand in Yangon off entirely, despite its 1901 Sarkies pedigree, on a single rule: we do not list a hotel we cannot confirm is open.
Frequently asked questions
- What is the oldest hotel in Asia still operating?
- By verified founding date, the Galle Face Hotel in Colombo, Sri Lanka, opened in 1864, is the oldest hotel still taking guests in this part of the world, often billed as the oldest east of the Suez Canal, which it predates by five years. The Mandarin Oriental Bangkok opened as The Oriental in 1876, with records of an earlier guesthouse of that name from 1863, and is recognized as Thailand's first luxury hotel.
- Which of Asia's oldest hotels is the best value?
- The Galle Face Hotel, and it is not close. Age carries no premium here: the single oldest house on the list, founded in 1864, also runs the lowest rates, roughly $106 to $150 a night in 2026. By contrast the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok starts around $420, the Peninsula Hong Kong runs roughly $520 to $900, and the all-suite Raffles Singapore sits in four figures. Heritage and price move independently in Asia.
- Is the Mandarin Oriental the oldest hotel in Bangkok?
- Yes. The Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok opened on the Chao Phraya River in 1876 as The Oriental Hotel, with records of a guesthouse of that name run by two Americans dating to 1863, and is widely recognized as Thailand's first luxury hotel. Its historic Authors' Wing survives from the 19th century alongside the modern River and Garden wings. Entry rates start around $420 a night in 2026.
- Are Asia's oldest hotels expensive to stay in?
- Not uniformly. The spread in 2026 is wide: the Galle Face in Colombo sits around $106 to $150 a night, the Mandarin Oriental Bangkok starts near $420, the Peninsula Hong Kong runs roughly $520 to $900, and Raffles Singapore, sold only as suites, is firmly four figures. Age tells you nothing about the rate; the cheapest hotel on this list is also the oldest.
- Can you still stay in all of these hotels?
- Yes. All eight properties above were open and taking reservations when we checked their own booking pages and the major platforms in June 2026, from the value-priced Galle Face to the four-figure Raffles. One famous near-contender, The Strand in Yangon (1901), is deliberately left off because its operating status was unconfirmed and reported as closed in 2026; we do not list a hotel we cannot confirm is taking guests.
- Why is The Strand in Yangon not on the list?
- The Strand, opened in 1901 by the Sarkies brothers who also built Raffles and the Eastern & Oriental, would otherwise rank near the top by age. We left it off on an operating-status check: as of 2026 its status was unconfirmed and several sources reported it closed indefinitely. Our rule is simple, a hotel we cannot verify is currently taking guests is not presented as bookable, however storied its past.
- Why do so many Asian hotels claim to be the oldest?
- Because each claim only survives inside its qualifier: oldest east of Suez, oldest in a country, the country's first luxury hotel, oldest under continuous operation. Wars, occupations and rebuilds broke many timelines, so words like "first", "luxury" and "continuous" do the heavy lifting. We rank by the founding date each house can document and print the qualifier that keeps each superlative honest, alongside the rate so you can weigh history against cost.