Open since 1887. The colonial Grande Dame at 1 Beach Road, fully restored 2017–2019. 115 all-suite rooms, the Long Bar where the Singapore Sling was invented in 1915, and the Tiffin Room — Singapore's most decorated working colonial dining room.
"Open since 1887 — the colonial-era Grande Dame, fully restored 2019. 115 all-suite rooms, the Long Bar where the Singapore Sling was invented in 1915, and the most architecturally significant grand hotel in Southeast Asia."
Raffles Singapore opened on 1 December 1887 at the corner of Beach Road and Bras Basah, founded by the Sarkies brothers — four Armenian brothers who would also build the Eastern & Oriental in Penang and the Strand in Yangon. The original property was a small ten-room beachfront hotel; by 1899 the Main Building, designed in white neoclassical Tropical Renaissance, had been completed and the property had become the most decorated grand hotel in the British Far East. The property was gazetted a National Monument by the Singapore government in 1987 and underwent its most ambitious restoration in living memory between January 2017 and August 2019, closing entirely for nineteen months while every guest room, public space, restaurant, and the original Long Bar were taken back to their late-Victorian foundations and rebuilt to current Raffles flagship standards. The reopening on 1 August 2019 returned the property to the city's first hotel and, almost certainly, its single most photographed building.
There are 115 suites — Raffles is now an all-suite property, expanded from 103 in the restoration. The Courtyard Suites, Palm Court Suites, and State Room Suites occupy the original Main Building and run from 70 to 130 square metres around the historic palm-court interior. The Personality Suites — named for guests including Somerset Maugham, Charlie Chaplin, Joseph Conrad, Pablo Neruda, and Rudyard Kipling — are individually designed and represent the property's most celebrated bookings. The two new Promenade Suites and the four Residence Suites (one- and two-bedroom configurations added in the restoration, occupying the Beach Road frontage) are the largest standard inventory. The Presidential Suite, in the historic North Wing, runs to 215 square metres with a private dining room. Every suite includes the brand's longstanding 24-hour Raffles Butler service — a tradition continuous since 1887.
The Long Bar — relocated to the second floor of Raffles Arcade at 328 North Bridge Road during the restoration, and reopened in 2019 with its original mahogany counters, rattan punkah fans, and peanut-shells-on-the-floor tradition intact — remains the home of the Singapore Sling, invented at the bar in 1915 by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon. The drink continues to be served in the original specification and is the most-ordered hotel cocktail in Asia. Tiffin Room, the property's signature dining room, runs the city's most considered curry tiffin lunch buffet on the original 1892 buffet line. Writers Bar, the lobby cocktail room set against original Persian rugs and 1890s photographs of resident writers, runs an Anglo-Asian cocktail programme. La Dame de Pic by Anne-Sophie Pic — the only Asian outpost of the three-Michelin-star French chef — opened with the restoration and runs the property's contemporary fine-dining programme. Yi by Jereme Leung holds modern Chinese with a single Michelin star.
Raffles Spa — restored as part of the 2019 reopening across two floors of the East Wing — runs ten treatment suites, separate male and female steam-and-sauna circuits, and the brand's signature treatment programme. The 18-metre swimming pool sits in the historic Palm Court, framed by the original 1899 colonnade. The fitness centre is open 24 hours. The position on Beach Road places Raffles within five minutes' walk of the Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay, the Marina Bay waterfront promenade, and Suntec Convention Centre; the City Hall MRT station is two minutes' walk; Changi Airport is 25 minutes by car. For Singapore at the level where the brief is "the city's grand hotel," Raffles remains the only complete answer.
For Singapore anniversaries the Raffles is the most decisive booking in Asia. A Personality Suite — Somerset Maugham, Joseph Conrad, Charlie Chaplin — for a literary or cinephile couple; the State Room Suite for a milestone year; a Singapore Sling at the Long Bar before dinner; a chef's-table dinner at La Dame de Pic; afternoon tea in the Tiffin Room. The Raffles Butler service handles every variant of the brief reflexively. Mention what is being celebrated at booking; the hotel handles anniversaries with the longest institutional memory of any Asian property.
For an Asian honeymoon anchored on Singapore — typically the second leg after Bali, Phuket, or the Maldives — the Raffles delivers the most considered grand-hotel romance in Asia. The Promenade Suite as the standard booking; the Personality Suite or Residence Suite for milestone honeymoons. Honeymoon turn-down at the Raffles runs to a hand-rolled chocolate selection from La Dame de Pic, an in-room Krug, and the brand's signature welcome letter from the Resident Manager.
For a Singapore proposal at the level where the architectural backdrop matters as much as the moment, the Raffles is the most considered booking in Asia. Concierge handles every variant: a private Long Bar at closing; a private dinner in the historic Tiffin Room; a sunset proposal in the Palm Court framed by the original 1899 colonnade; a candlelight private dining room at La Dame de Pic. Whichever variant — say yes is the only acceptable answer.
1 Beach Road
Singapore 189673
City Hall MRT 2 minutes' walk; Esplanade 5 minutes' walk; Changi Airport 25 minutes by car. Long Bar at #02-01 Raffles Arcade, 328 North Bridge Road.
115 all-suite rooms (post-2019 restoration)
Courtyard Suites from S$1,200/night
Personality Suites from S$3,500/night
Presidential Suite from S$15,000/night
Check-in: 3:00 PM
Check-out: 12:00 PM
Open since December 1887; full restoration January 2017–August 2019
Long Bar — Singapore Sling invented 1915
La Dame de Pic by Anne-Sophie Pic
Yi by Jereme Leung — Michelin-starred
Tiffin Room curry buffet since 1892
24-hour Raffles Butler
National Monument since 1987
From S$1,200/night. Personality Suites and the Presidential Suite book six months ahead for high-season weeks (December–February); La Dame de Pic books eight weeks ahead for any Saturday evening. The Long Bar operates without reservation; expect a 30-minute wait for a table at peak hours.
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