Raffles Hotel

Raffles opened in 1887 and became the archetype of the grand colonial tropical hotel, a low white building of verandahs, louvred shutters and travellers' palms around courtyards, and it has been trading on that image ever since with considerable success. Its bar-room legend is the Singapore Sling, a pink gin-and-cherry-brandy cocktail created here around 1915 by a barman named Ngiam Tong Boon, reputedly so that women could drink something in public that looked like fruit juice. The Long Bar still serves it, and still puts out sacks of peanuts whose shells guests drop on the floor, the one place in Singapore where littering is not merely tolerated but expected. A careful restoration finished in 2019. Non-guests can wander the arcade and courtyards and photograph the doorman in his white uniform and turban.

History

The building began as a beach house of the early 1830s and became Emerson's Hotel in 1878, and the Armenian Sarkies Brothers opened the ten-room Raffles Hotel on 1 December 1887. The main building by Regent Alfred John Bidwell was finished in 1899, the first hotel in the region with electric light, and the hotel became a national monument in 1987 (Wikipedia, Raffles Hotel).

Highlights

• The Long Bar - the Singapore Sling and the peanut shells on the floor.
• The colonial facade - the white verandahs, shutters and travellers' palms.
• The courtyards and arcade - open to non-guests, with shops and cafés.
• The doorman - the uniformed Sikh doorman, an institution in his own right.

When to go

Year-round; the Long Bar is busiest in the early evening, and going mid-afternoon means less of a wait. The courtyards are pleasant at any time and are one of the few genuinely shaded outdoor spots in the district.

Good to know

The Singapore Sling at the Long Bar costs many times what the same drink costs elsewhere, is now made from a pre-batched mix, and is very sweet; most people have one for the ritual rather than the drink. The bar is often full and queues form. Public access is limited to the arcade, courtyards and bars, since the hotel itself is guests only.

Nearby

The civic district, National Gallery and Marina Bay are within walking distance.

Key facts