Choose Raffles for storied, fast-expanding glamour, the 1887 Singapore original, butler-served suites and an Accor ALL loyalty tie-in. Choose The Peninsula for a tight collection of 12 consistently excellent city Grande Dames led by 1928 Hong Kong, with famously uniform service but no points program. Raffles is the romantic brand; The Peninsula is the dependable one.
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Raffles and The Peninsula sit at the top of the luxury market, but they are built on opposite logic. Raffles is a heritage name being scaled up: a story-led brand, owned by Accor, growing across continents with a mix of restored icons and brand-new resorts. The Peninsula is a heritage name kept small on purpose: 12 hotels, nearly all owned and run directly by the same Hong Kong company, prized for being almost identical in quality wherever you find them.
Raffles opened in 1887, when the Sarkies brothers launched a 10-room hotel in Singapore named for Sir Stamford Raffles. That flagship, with its Long Bar and Singapore Sling, still defines the brand. Under Accor, Raffles now spans Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean and the Americas, and it is still opening: Raffles London at The OWO debuted on 29 September 2023 in the former War Office, and Raffles Sentosa Singapore opened in 2024 as the country's first all-villa resort.
The Peninsula traces to 1928 and The Peninsula Hong Kong, the "Grande Dame of the Far East," built by the Kadoorie family, whose Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels company, incorporated in 1866, still controls the group. Its dozen hotels are overwhelmingly big-city addresses, with the newest being The Peninsula Istanbul (February 2023) and The Peninsula London (September 2023). The honest split: Raffles for romance, reach and resorts; The Peninsula for consistency and city polish. The full case for each is below.
| Raffles | The Peninsula | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Heritage romance, resorts, loyalty | Consistent big-city luxury |
| Founded | 1887 (Raffles Singapore) | 1928 (Peninsula Hong Kong) |
| Owner / group | Accor (luxury portfolio) | Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels (Kadoorie family) |
| Footprint | Global, growing; Asia, Europe, Middle East, Indian Ocean, Americas | 12 hotels, mostly major cities |
| Loyalty | Accor ALL (earn and burn points) | None (no points program) |
| Signature | Long Bar, Singapore Sling, butler service | Rolls-Royce fleet, lobby afternoon tea, helipad in Hong Kong |
| Newest | London OWO (2023), Sentosa (2024) | Istanbul (Feb 2023), London (Sep 2023) |
Signature: The 1887 Singapore original, all-suite, butler-served, with the Long Bar where the Singapore Sling was invented, plus a fast-growing global estate that now includes restored landmarks and brand-new resorts under Accor.
Raffles leads with story. The Singapore flagship, opened by the Sarkies brothers in 1887 and named for Sir Stamford Raffles, set the template: an all-suite grand hotel with personal butlers and a literary, colonial-era romance no new-build can manufacture. Under Accor, the brand has expanded across continents, from Raffles Seychelles and Raffles Maldives Meradhoo to Raffles Istanbul, Raffles Udaipur and Raffles The Palm Dubai. Crucially for points collectors, Raffles sits inside Accor's ALL (Accor Live Limitless) program, so stays can earn and redeem.
It is also the more newsworthy of the two right now. Raffles London at The OWO opened on 29 September 2023 inside the former War Office on Whitehall, with 120 rooms and suites, and Raffles Sentosa Singapore opened in 2024 as Singapore's first all-villa resort, 62 pool villas. Raffles The Red Sea in Saudi Arabia is among the openings in the pipeline.
Honest trade-off: reach costs consistency. Raffles spans heritage icons, new-build resorts and management deals of varying age, so the experience ranges more widely than The Peninsula's; a night at the 1887 Singapore flagship is a different proposition from a newer franchise property. Do your homework on the specific hotel rather than trusting the badge alone.
The 2023 debut inside Whitehall's former War Office.
The brand's art-world flagship off the Champs-Elysees.
How The Peninsula stacks up against another Asian icon.
Browse every head-to-head we have published.
Signature: A dozen mostly big-city Grande Dames run to an unusually uniform standard, the "Grande Dame of the Far East" in Hong Kong at their head, with house-fleet Rolls-Royces, lobby afternoon tea and a level of polish that barely changes from city to city.
The Peninsula does the opposite of scaling fast. The group runs just 12 hotels as of 2026, in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, London, Paris, Istanbul, New York, Chicago, Beverly Hills, Bangkok and Manila, almost all owned and operated directly by The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, the Kadoorie-controlled company incorporated in 1866. That direct ownership is the point: the product and service are remarkably consistent, and the brand rarely takes a property it cannot control end to end.
The 1928 Hong Kong flagship remains the emblem, complete with rooftop helipad and a fleet of bespoke Rolls-Royces. The two newest additions both arrived in 2023: The Peninsula Istanbul opened on the Bosphorus in February, and The Peninsula London opened at Hyde Park Corner in September. If you want to book luxury blind and know exactly what you will get, this is the brand.
Honest trade-off: the small, urban footprint limits you. There is no points program to earn or burn, coverage is thin outside major cities, and beach or resort options are essentially nonexistent. For a city break or business trip The Peninsula is hard to beat; for a villa or beach holiday it is the wrong list entirely, and rates sit at the very top of each market.
Book Raffles when the story matters and you want range: the 1887 Singapore original and its butler-served suites, genuine resorts from Seychelles to Sentosa, the buzz of new openings, and Accor ALL points to earn along the way. It is the more romantic brand and the only one of the two with real beach and villa options.
Book The Peninsula when you want city luxury you can trust without checking reviews: 12 directly run Grande Dames led by 1928 Hong Kong, near-identical quality from Tokyo to Chicago, and service that rarely slips. In short, Raffles for heritage romance, resorts and loyalty; The Peninsula for consistent, top-tier big-city stays. There is no points currency at The Peninsula, so frequent-stay collectors lean Raffles.
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Neither is simply better; they win on different things. Raffles is the more romantic, story-driven brand, anchored by the 1887 Singapore original, and it is expanding fast under Accor with new resorts and city hotels, plus an Accor ALL loyalty tie-in. The Peninsula is a tight collection of 12 consistently excellent, mostly urban Grande Dames led by the 1928 Hong Kong flagship, with famously uniform service but no points program. Pick Raffles for heritage romance and resort variety, The Peninsula for dependable big-city luxury.
Raffles participates in Accor's ALL (Accor Live Limitless) program, so stays can earn and burn points and stack Accor status. The Peninsula does not run a points loyalty program at all; it is an independent group owned by The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels and competes on consistency and recognition rather than a points currency. If earning and redeeming hotel points matters to you, Raffles is the clear pick.
The Peninsula is deliberately small: 12 hotels as of 2026, in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Tokyo, London, Paris, Istanbul, New York, Chicago, Beverly Hills, Bangkok and Manila. Raffles is larger and growing quickly, with properties across Asia, Europe, the Middle East, the Indian Ocean and the Americas and a pipeline that includes Raffles The Red Sea in Saudi Arabia. The Peninsula trades breadth for uniformity; Raffles trades some uniformity for reach and new openings.
The Peninsula, by design. With only 12 hotels, nearly all owned and operated directly by The Hongkong and Shanghai Hotels, the service and product are unusually uniform from city to city. Raffles spans heritage icons, brand-new resorts and management deals of varying age, so the experience ranges more widely; a stay at the 1887 Singapore flagship or the 2023 London OWO is a different proposition from a newer franchise property.
Raffles London at The OWO opened on 29 September 2023 in the former War Office on Whitehall, and Raffles Sentosa Singapore opened in 2024 as Singapore's first all-villa resort with 62 pool villas. The Peninsula London opened in September 2023 at Hyde Park Corner, and The Peninsula Istanbul opened in February 2023 on the Bosphorus waterfront. Both groups added landmark city hotels in 2023.
Raffles. The Peninsula is almost entirely an urban brand, so for a beach or resort stay it offers very little. Raffles has genuine resorts, including Raffles Sentosa Singapore, Raffles Seychelles, Raffles Maldives Meradhoo and Raffles The Palm Dubai, alongside its city hotels. For a city-break or business trip, The Peninsula is hard to beat; for a beach or villa holiday, Raffles is the only one of the two with real options.