Features
What to expect: Opened in 1887 and declared a national monument 100 years later, this three-story grande dame has inspired many writers over the years with its colonial charm. Splendidly attired doorstaff welcome leaders of industry, celebrities, and leisure travelers through the hotel's palm-fringed doors into the meticulously restored lobby with marble floors, swirling ceiling fans, wicker chairs, antiques, and memorabilia.
Amenity highlights: Guests have extensive dining options from 14 restaurants and lounges, many with colonial or old-Singapore touches. Recreation facilities include a 20-meter (66-ft) rooftop lap pool and the Amrita Spa, which offers a well-equipped fitness center and a range of health and beauty treatments (surcharge). The Raffles Culinary Academy (surcharge) features cooking and lifestyle classes for guests. A 388-seat, Victorian-style theater (surcharge) hosts corporate events, plays, musicals, and movie showings.
A complimentary Continental breakfast is served in the Tiffin Room each morning. Doc Cheng’s - This colonial-style restaurant is a blend of the East and West in both cuisine and decor, with a cool-white ceiling and walls, wicker-backed chairs, and a profusion of plants. A bar serves herbal cocktails. Open for lunch Monday through Friday and dinner nightly. Raffles Grill - An elegant dining room restored to its early-20th-century glory, with chandeliers, ceiling fans, tall French windows overlooking the Palm Court, crisp linens, and black wrought-iron chairs. Cuisine is a blend of classic and contemporary French. Open for lunch Monday through Friday and dinner nightly; closed Sunday. Empire Café - A casual restaurant modeled after a 1920s Singaporean coffee house, with tiled walls, marble-topped teakwood tables, and polished hard-back chairs. Cuisine emphasizes local favorites, including laksa and Hainan chicken rice. Open from mid-morning until late evening. Royal China at Raffles - An opulently decorated Chinese restaurant with highly varnished floors and walls, arched ceilings, red-and-gold lanterns, and black-lacquer chairs. Signature dishes include lobster noodles, roast suckling pig, and dim sum. Open for lunch and dinner.
Ah Teng’s Bakery - This small restaurant serves homemade pastries, sandwiches, and cakes. Antique-style tables and chairs and brass fittings give the space a nostalgic feel. Open from early morning until late evening. Long Bar Steakhouse - Reminiscent of a 1930s rubber-plantation dwelling, with an intricately tiled floor, white walls, timbered ceiling, collection of antique plates, crisp linens, and carved-back chairs. Cuisine emphasizes steaks and seafood prepared with Asian spices. Open for lunch Monday through Friday, nightly dinner, and Sunday brunch. Seah Street Deli - A New York-style delicatessen, circa 1950, with music from a jukebox and generously sized sandwiches, entrées, and salads. Open from mid-morning until late evening. Tiffin Room - This elegant dining room continues a tradition of serving a lunch and dinner tiffin curry buffet that began in 1890. Cuisine is Northern Indian, with a thali set served on a platter of ornate silver. Open for breakfast, lunch, high tea, and dinner. Raffles Courtyard & Gazebo Bar - Offering alfresco dining under swaying palms in a tropical garden, with seafood and other fare prepared Asian-style. Open from mid-morning until late evening. Bar & Billiard Room - Established as a private club in 1896, with a soaring ceiling, wicker chairs, solid carved tables, antiques, and two 19th-century billiard tables. A Continental lunch buffet and high tea are served on weekdays, and brunch is available weekends. Live jazz is featured on weekday evenings. Open from mid-morning until late evening. Long Bar - Home of the Singapore Sling cocktail, this two-story bar evokes a Malayan planters’ club from the 1930s, with its dark-wood timbered floor and walls, low wicker chairs, and period artifacts. Traditional pub fare and light snacks are served, and there is live music most evenings. Open from midday until late evening. Writer’s Bar - This intimate lounge honors the literary luminaries who have stayed at the hotel or written about it, including Rudyard Kipling, Noël Coward, and Somerset Maugham. A pianist plays most afternoons and evenings. Open from mid-morning until late evening. Raffles Café - Located off the shopping arcade and serving coffee drinks, teas, new-world wines, and light snacks in an alfresco setting. Open from early morning until late evening. Pool Bar - Drinks and snacks are served poolside from this lounge with ceiling fans, wicker chairs, and a marble-topped bar. Open from mid-morning until mid-evening.
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