The A&M—ancient and modern—would be a good name for Raffles (no need to give a location as everyone knows that the source of the Singapore Sling is the Raffles, in Singapore). It, the hotel, started so humbly. In 1887, three Armenian-Iranian brothers, Arshat, Aviet, and Tigran Sarkies, leased a beach bungalow and converted it into a 10-room hotel. They called it after the founder of modern Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles, who, having been born on a ship off Jamaica, died peacefully in London in 1826 at only 44.
Like Topsy of lore, Raffles, the hotel, grew and grew. Today, it has 115 bedrooms, all suites, albeit of various sizes. Along its journey, high points undoubtedly included the invention of the Singapore Sling. In 1915, a hotel barman, Ngiam Tong-boon, concocted a coloured drink for ladies, not supposed to be joining their menfolk in strong alcohol. He put together gin, Cherry Herring, pineapple juice, lime juice, Cointreau, Benedictine, Grenadine, and a dash of bitters, topped with a pineapple slice and a cherry garnish. Thus begat a thriving business that sees the hotel’s Long Bar serving, depending on the season, 800 to 1,200 orders a day at US$28 a pop. The Sling’s bespoke Brass Lion Distillery Gin is produced 20 minutes away by Jamie Koh, and authorised canned Singapore Slings sell like hot cakes at Singapore Changi Airport’s duty free.
Raffles has from its start been renowned for its Sikh doormen, who must be at least 1.9 metres tall. Clad in white turbans and gold-bedecked white military-style dress coats, it’s not surprising they are photographed near non-stop. Following the lead of a female Chinese influencer, selfies, particularly by young Asian ladies in flimsy Valentino 2026-like dresses, are also a feature of the pale green ironwork fountain in the courtyard outside The Tiffin Room.
Despite such continuous transient activity, stay at Raffles and layout ensures peace from the constant crowd. The rooftop pool is a really quiet spot (and Whispering Angel’s in the ice bucket at the adjacent bar). Escape to the spa, perhaps for Bastien Gonzalez footcare that introduces you to how an angel must feel. Simply enjoy the true luxury of your Alexandra Champalimaud-designed suite, say number 207, named for Elizabeth Taylor.
You may possibly coincide with a Magic Hour @ Raffles, presented by SSO. The Singapore Symphony Orchestra plays in the gardens and locals picnic. Any evening, however, there’s copious dining opportunity. Butcher’s Block is an adult fairyland. A dark space, with the most illumination for the stage at one end, except it’s not a raised stage. It’s on a level, but behind a 1.5-metre-high wall goes on the activity of preparing food, with a butchery at one end. 16 chefs support Jordan Keao, a heavily tattooed and softly spoken Hawaiian. The music is soft. The service is empathetic. Start, perhaps, with one bite of beef tartare on rice crisps with caviar on top. Go on to Wagyu striploin, 150 grams, not too much, perfectly cooked, with Riedel glasses of Don Melchior Cab Sav Puente Alto Vineyard 2020 (what a last dish before going through the Pearly Gate).
And then we’ve got AP Café. Very cleverly, Raffles decided to replace Alan Ducasse’s Bar and Billiard Room, BBR, with a partnership with Audemars Piguet. The larger part of the restaurant is now the Audemars Piguet House, namely a showroom, which extends down below ground into a futuristic showroom housing over 100 unique and priceless watches. The ground floor is the inside-out café, run by Australian Dave Pynt’s Burnt Ends Hospitality Group. An absolute must here is the tiny rösti, three-centimetre-diameter gold-leaf-covered discs topped with generous spoonfuls of caviar (the rösti, by the way, are crème-fraîche-infused).
Make time at some point to look at the boutiques in Raffles’ retail arcade. PopMart’s one worth noting (it’s a bit of an illusion as the wall at the back of the store swings open to reveal Singapore’s Centurion Club, catered by Butcher’s Block). The front of the boutique, however, is indeed a gallery for some of PopMart’s dolls and toys, all adding to the over-US$16 million personal wealth of Wang Ning, the Henan-born 38-year-old who founded the Beijing-based global toy company that at last check had a market cap of US$42 billion.
Raffles might have unique heritage but it sure remains a centre of world attention.
