The hotel was founded by the four Armenian Sarkies Brothers (Martin, Tigran, Aviet, and Arshak Sarkies). They opened the 10-room colonial bungalow at Beach Road and Bras Basah Road owned by an Arab trader, Syed Mohamad Alsagoff on December 1, 1887. The original location was by the seaside, although continued reclamation means that the site is presently some 500 metres away from the shore. No Asians were permitted as hotel guests until the 1930s. Designed by architect Regent Alfred John Bidwell of Swan and Maclaren, the current main building of Raffles Hotel was completed in 1899. The hotel continued to expand over the years with the addition of wings, a verandah, a ballroom, a bar and billiards room, and further buildings and rooms. The Great Depressionspelled trouble for Raffles Hotel and, in 1931, the hotel went into receivership. In 1933, however, the financial troubles were resolved and a public company called Raffles Hotel Ltd was established.
Upon the start of the Japanese occupation of Singapore on February 15, 1942, it is commonly said that the Japanese soldiers encountered the guests of the Raffles Hotel dancing one final waltz.During World War II, the Raffles was renamed Syonan Ryokan, incorporating Syonan ("Light of the South"), the Japanese name for occupied Singapore, and ryokan, the name for a traditional Japanese inn. More than 300 Japanese troops committed suicide in the hotel using grenades following the liberation of Singapore.
The hotel survived World War II despite the hardships Singapore faced and the use of the hotel at the end of the war as a transit camp for prisoners of war. In 1987, the government declared the hotel a National Monument.
In 1989, the hotel closed for an extensive renovation, at a cost of S$160 million. The renovation was carried out by Ssangyong Engineering and Construction, a South Korean construction firm acclaimed for its overseas projects.
It re-opened on September 16, 1991, after being restored to its state during its heyday in 1915. The hotel has built an extension with a similar design, for a shopping arcade and new rooms.
a few words about the Singapore Sling :
The Singapore Sling is a cocktail that was invented by Ngiam Tong Boon for the Long Bar in Raffles Hotel in Singapore sometime between 1910 and 1915; it is a kind of sling, a traditional type of cocktail. The recipes published in articles about the Raffles Hotel prior to the 1970s are significantly different from the current recipes. There were also different "Singapore Slings"--those drunk in Singapore at large, and the recipe used at the Raffles Hotel. While the recipes around the city varied significantly, the cocktail at the Raffles remained the same. The original recipe used gin, cherry brandy, and Benedictine (most often in equal parts).The drink was shaken and strained into a glass, and then filled to individual taste with club soda. The recipe used by the hotel was the result of recreating the original recipe based on the memories of former bartenders and written notes that they were able to discover.
The current Raffles Hotel recipe is a much modified version of the original, most likely changed sometime in the 1970s by Ngiam Tong Boon's nephew.
The original recipe used at the Raffles Hotel originally included club soda to taste. The modern Singapore Sling is available on all Singapore Airlines flights, and the drink is free on all classes of travel
Formerly one of the last few cloistered convents in the world, the fine gothic architecture is a favourite theme among photographers.
Write to you soooooooooooooooon
That's not fair, i'm jealous.!!
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Merci Olivier pour cette super soirée. a bientôt
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