The cosmopolitan island-nation of Singapore is known as the most coveted tourist destination. Inviting the visitors for its never ending tourist activities, Singapore is also proud to offer the best accommodation facilities in the world. Among its many good hotels, the Raffles Hotel is the most exotic.
Birth and Historic importance of the Raffles -
Named after Sir Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, the Raffles was built in the year 1887 and completed in 1889. Since then the hotel has been hosting a number of historic events. This renowned colonial hotel is proud to be one of the last hotels of the world of the 19th century.
The historic Raffles’ billiard room is witness where the sole surviving wild Singapore tiger was shot in 1902. Later in 1910, the famous “Singapore Sling” cocktail was invented in the hotel bar circa. Then in the year 1942, when the Japanese invaded Singapore, Raffles was commandeered as a billet for ranking Japanese officers. Later it was used as a convenient hub for the transfer of war-prisoners.
Moreover, the hotel has also been a common visiting place for many writers and artists like Charlie Chaplin, Joseph Conrad, Rudyard Kipling and Somerset Maugham, this place was a great source of inspiration to them.
If you want a glimpse of the hotel’s entire rich and exciting past then visit the on-site museum where Singaporean history is presented in a handsome fashion.
Winner of several awards
The Raffles houses luxurious rooms, a world famous bar, a lush tropical garden courtyard accompanied by a sumptuous cabana and pool. To help the visitors shopping, there is a spectacular shopping mall also. For entertainment there is a splendid hotel museum and a magnificent Victorian era theater.
Attention paid to the environmental detail and the exquisite services lavished on every guest make it the perfect choice for many international accolades. Readers of Travel Trade Gazette-Asia and China have recently has recently voted the Raffles the “Best Luxury Hotel” for the sixth time in a row. And the iconic hotel has also been awarded as the “Best Boutique Hotel in Asia-Pacific” by readers of Business Traveler Asia-Pacific Magazine.
Not only this, the hotel has been declared a national monument in 1987 by the Singapore government. To recapture the early 20th century colonial atmosphere, the hotel was close in 1989 and it reopened for business in 1991.
With so many charms to its personality, don’t you wish you visit this structure once! If you can not afford the stay at Raffles then book a good Singapore hotel but you must make a point to go to Raffles and be a witness to the historic settings of the hotel that had inspired many artists and authors.