Raffles Singapore Hotel

If you have the budget for just one indulgence, make it a stay at Raffles Singapore. This 103-suite heritage hotel at Beach Road was declared a national monument by the Singapore government in 1987. At 126 years old, she shines forth with the colonial glory of a grand old dame – without the wrinkles.

Raffles Hotel stands for all the fables of the exotic East,” the playwright Somerset Maugham once wrote. How true. Almost everything – from the antique grandfather clock that stands majestically in the lobby to the ornate wrought-iron portico to the neo-Renaissance architecture – harks back to the 1920s and 1930s heydays when the grand hotel hosted the society’s elite. The hotel houses two wings: Palm Court and Bras Basah – the former was completed in 1894 and the latter in 1904, but their architecture and interior are uniformly old-world. Raffles Hotel is perfect for history buffs who want to soak in Singapore’s colonial past without sacrificing comfort and opulence.

Upon arrival, all guests are welcomed with a glass of Singapore Sling – the iconic pineapple juice cocktail that was developed by a Long Bar bartender before 1915. Thereafter, your butler – one of the privileged few who have dutifully served the crème-de-la-crème of the world’s elite, such as Bill Clinton and the late Michael Jackson – will see to your every whim, including packing, unpacking, pressing and shoe shining.

Link to Hotel: Raffles Singapore Hotel