Historic Hotel: Raffles Singapore - Harper's BAZAAR (Copy) (Copy)

Raffles: the name alone evokes palm fans and icy slings sipped in cane chairs. Alexandra English finds the opulent hotel’s new facelift has left it refreshed but unspoiled

There are three things you notice walking into Raffles hotel. First, the aircon, set to a temperature in such stark contrast to the heat and humidity of Singapore that it’s an assault on the senses (in the best possible way). Then there’s the chandelier, which is absolutely dripping with crystals. And then there are the blindingly white walls. Not only are the latter the kind of unattainable white NapiSan’s CEO must dream of, they’ve also been repainted with a formula designed to conserve the foundations of the building. In December 2017, the 133-year-old Raffles shut its doors for its most significant restoration yet, led by Alexandra Champalimaud of Champalimaud Design. Thirty layers of paint were painstakingly removed by hand so this high-tech layer could be slathered on. The original marble, which was given the stained-couch-cushion treatment (that is, flipped over to the clean side) in a 1980s refit has been replaced by tiles from the same Italian source. The recipe for the Singapore sling, the famous cocktail invented here in 1915 for ladies who wanted to drink in public without being seen holding something as uncouth as a whiskey, has been upgraded to include all-natural ingredients and bespoke bitters. This whole place has had a shake-up.

Raffles is on Beach Road, yet there’s no beach — at least, not anymore. In 1887, before land reclamation pushed the coastline some two kilometres away, it was a 10-bedroom bungalow by the South China Sea. Guests enjoyed the sea breeze from a verandah in front of the main building, which now overlooks the driveway. Its owners, hotelier brothers the Sarkies, began a building overhaul that would help usher in a golden era of travel in the East. By the next decade, the Palm Court wing, with its shockingly green courtyard, had been added, and the original bungalow was later replaced by a three-storey late Victorian Italianate Revival building. In the past century or so, Raffles (named after the founder of modern Singapore, Sir Stamford Raffles, and nicknamed the Grande Dame) has hosted Charlie Chaplin, Ava Gardner, ElizabethTaylor, Karl Lagerfeld and Nelson Mandela, to name but a few.

The hotel’s Writers Bar pays homage to the hotel’s literary past. British playwright and novelist Somerset Maugham would sit under a tree in Palm Court and write the gossip he overheard at dinner parties into his stories. Author Rudyard Kipling had something of a love-hate relationship with the hotel. “Raffles Hotel ... where the food is as excellent as the rooms are bad,” he wrote in his 1899 book From Sea to Sea. Well, Kipling, if you could only see the rooms now. All 115 of them.

Parlour, bedroom, bathroom: they’re all here — even at the lower end of the room scale. At 46 square metres, the smaller Studio Suites are palatial compared with most hotel rooms, and the Presidential Suites feature a verandah, walk-in wardrobe, living room, dining room and bedrooms, all decorated with antiques.

The most impressive feat of this revamp? How the hotel has retained its colonial charm while placing itself firmly in this century. A tablet controls everything in the suites — from summoning your butler to operating the blackout shades, adjusting the temperature, perusing the pillow menu and orchestrating the mood lighting. (A tip: keep the lamps on until you’re safely tucked in bed, because it gets dark; manoeuvring around the monster four- poster can be hazardous after lights out.)

With five restaurants and three bars, Raffles is a food and drink connoisseur’s dream. The Long Bar still serves Singapore slings to crowds who line up from 11am. (Anaphylactics, be warned: the tradition of throwing peanut shells onto the floor continues.) Alain Ducasse’s Mediterranean-inspired grill BBR sits in the historic Bar & Billiards room, the oldest standing bar in its original location in Singapore. Michelin-starred chef Anne-Sophie Pic heads up La Dame de Pic, and Raffles Courtyard recently opened to serve Southeast Asian plates and cocktails alfresco. This last is located in the ornate Raffles Arcade, added during the previous renovation, which also houses shops, opulent ballrooms and a serene spa where you can decompress until you’re ready to take on the outside world again. It is indeed a return to the golden era of travel.

Raffles Singapore, 1 Beach Road, rafflessingapore.com.

This story originally appeared in the April 2020 issue of Harper’s BAZAAR magazine. Image: Ralf Rooten/courtesy of Raffles.