HAPPY BIRTHDAY, RAFFLES HOTEL SINGAPORE!

KEE@FSWMAG.COM


I STAYED AT RAFFLES SINGAPORE, TOUTED AS ONE OF THE BEST IN THE WORLD AND I AGREE. THIS ALL-SUITE HOTEL REALLY CAN BOAST A HISTORY AS LONG AS A MARATHON AND CONTINUES TO BASK IN THE LIMELIGHT AS THE GRANDE DAME HOTEL OF SINGAPORE.







I am also stunned speechless by the exquisitely maintained premises, both public and private as in your suite. The gardens are luxuriant, lush and lovely, its varying shades of green so soothing to eye and mind. 


Standing on the first or second floor balconies and looking down at the impeccably kept lawns and bushes is a study in exotic eastern pleasure garden. 


The mood is decidedly colonial British and I half expect to bump into a khaki-clad mat salleh with big mustache and hat roaring for a stengah. He would probably mistake me for the son of an oriental potentate due to my extravagant garment and bling and might nod respectfully.


Anyway, I always feel as if time has been frozen and I have stepped back into time each time I visit Raffles. Despite being smack in the middle of the heart of Singapore with mad traffic a stone's throw away, Raffles always feel like a hundred miles away, as if in Taman Negara or the nearest paradise isle. 


You can spend almost all your time in the hotel as its shopping arcade flaunts Louis Vuitton and Lotus jewels and you know what that means! The many shops offer world class shopping and they will deliver to room even before you finishing signing the credit card slip.


As for the rooms, it really feels like I have woken up circa 1950. I love watching the old fashioned ceiling fan swirl and whir lazily and I feel I should only wear white shirt and the type of trousers my father wore, big and baggy and comfy!


So if you are in Singapore, make sure you check into the 125 year old Raffles and get their limo to pick and send you back to Changi.

Raffles has all the mod cons hidden beneath a stately, majestic and elegant facade evocative of the 19th centiry

This limousine is not the latest model but a vintage vehicle that reeks of romance and style

  

Raffles, many happy returns!

Here’s to many more…

There are a few hotels in the world whose names have become virtually synonymous with the cities in which they are located – and none more so than Raffles in Singapore.

Named after Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of Singapore, Raffles was built 125 years ago, more than a decade before the turn of the nineteenth century.  It soon became the haunt of business tycoons, the great and good, rogues and adventurers, politicians, movie stars, authors and journalists.

Visiting writers included Rudyard Kipling, Somerset Maugham and Noel Coward, a host of foreign correspondents – all of whom fed in the stories and legends, fact and fiction, which have clung to the hotel ever since. Through their stories, the Long Bar, the Palm Court and the Billiard Room with its tiger, became familiar to people who had never even been to Singapore. Today these stories remain and are relished – but time has not been allowed to stand still at Raffles.

Today, Raffles Hotel Singapore is the proud flagship of the eight strong Raffles Hotels & Resorts, with sister hotels in Paris, Dubai, Cambodia, the Seychelles, Beijing and the Holy City of Makkah. The company is embarking on a new phase of expansion, with openings in Manila, Istanbul, Jakarta and Hainan in China, over the next two years.  

With a compelling mix of cultures and styles, every hotel in the Raffles family has its own individual personality, with its own story to tell and its own sense of place.  However, each one is proud to draw on that timeless essence of Raffles – to deliver thoughtful, personal and discrete service to well-travelled guests – whether it is one of the legendary Raffles butlers, a brilliant sommelier, a gifted spa therapist, or a beach attendant with a wonderful big genuine smile. 

Recent awards bear testament to this dedication to service.  All of Raffles’ hotels have been in the spotlight over the past 12 months:

·                     Raffles Beijing - Condé Nast Traveler (US Edition), World’s Best 100 Hotels, 2011

·                     Raffles Grand Hotel d’Angkor, Siem Reap and Raffles Hotel Le Royal, Phnom Penh, Cambodia – both awarded the TripAdvisor 2012 Certificate of Excellence

·                     Raffles Makkah Palace -  World’s Leading Luxury All-Suite Hotel, World Travel Awards 2012

·                     Raffles Dubai – Sommelier Sydney Rathnayake is named Sommelier of the Year at the 2011 Hotelier Middle East Awards

·                     Raffles Praslin, Seychelles – Condé Nast Traveller (UK) Hot List 2012

·                     Le Royal Monceau, Raffles Paris – Best New Hotel, TATLER Travel Awards 2011

·                     Raffles Singapore - Best in Asia - 2012 Ultratravel 100 Awards

In May 2012, Gallup named Fairmont Raffles Hotels International as one of only 27 organisations worldwide to receive the 2012 Gallup Great Workplace Award. Based on the most rigorous workplace research ever conducted, the awards honour organisations whose employee engagement results demonstrate they have the most productive and engaged workforces in the world. The winners span the globe and represent all facets of business, from healthcare to hospitality, retails, manufacturing and banks to insurance.

John Johnston, President of Raffles Hotels & Resorts said: 

“At Raffles we believe that true luxury is not just about what you do, it’s about how you make your guests feel. So we go out of our way to give the warmest welcome, the most comfortable stay, the richest experiences and the fondest memories. I believe this engagement, on a different level, is what really brings guests back to our hotels time and again. We call this emotional luxury.  ” 

This is what good service looks like at Raffles around the world……..

Singapore    •    Phnom Penh   •     Seychelles     •      Makkah      •        Paris          •       Beijing      •        Dubai        •    Siem Reap

-Ends-

About Raffles Hotels & Resorts:  Raffles Hotels & Resorts is an award-winning, luxury international hotel company with a history dating back to 1887 with the opening of Raffles Hotel, Singapore. The portfolio currently comprises eight luxurious properties, from secluded resorts to city hotels in key locations around the world: in Singapore, Cambodia, China, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Seychelles and Paris, each one is an oasis of calm and charm. The company is embarking on a new phase of expansion, with openings in the Philippines, China, Istanbul and Indonesia scheduled over the next two years. With a compelling mix of cultures and styles, every hotel in the Raffles family has its own individual personality, with its own story to tell and its own sense of place. However, each one is proud to draw on the timeless essence of Raffles – to deliver thoughtful, personal and discreet service to well-travelled guests.