(Dec 2): It is clear a visit to Singapore’s Raffles Hotel is going to be special when your car pulls into the circular driveway. The crunch of gravel gives the place an air of Downton Abbey, but the hotel’s famed Sikh doormen, in their white turbans and ornate uniforms, are an instant reminder that you are firmly in ex-colonial territory.
An extensive renovation brings the iconic 132-year-old hotel into the 21st century while retaining a timeless grace
(Main picture): In the Grand Lobby, the eyes are drawn upwards to a single glittering chandelier, made in Prague and boasting 8,142 crystals. Raffles Hotel was opened towards the end of 1887 by the Armenian Sarkies brothers. Twelve years later, the original beach house was replaced with a new building designed by English-born R A J Bidwell, which was then expanded over the decades.
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