Maya Chen
Raffles Singapore is an all suite hotel of 115 suites at 1 Beach Road, opened by the Armenian Sarkies brothers on 1 December 1887 and still the defining grande dame stay in the city. There are no standard rooms here. Every guest gets a suite with a parlour, a marble bathroom and personalised butler service, inside a white Neo Renaissance building that Singapore gazetted as a National Monument in its centenary year. It suits travellers who want one landmark hotel as the centre of a Singapore trip, and it is wasted on anyone who only needs a bed near the airport. This guide explains what the suites, the dining rooms and the famous Long Bar actually deliver, and who should book somewhere else instead.
Quick Facts
- The address: 1 Beach Road, Singapore 189673, in the civic district, a short walk from Esplanade and City Hall MRT stations.
- The opening: 1 December 1887, as a 10 room hotel run by the Sarkies brothers. The hotel reopened on 1 August 2019 after its most recent full restoration.
- The rooms: Suites only, 115 in total, each with a separate parlour, high ceilings, a marble bathroom with bath and shower, and butler service.
- The status: A gazetted National Monument, described by the hotel as one of the few remaining 19th century hotels still operating in the world.
- The famous drink: The Singapore Sling, created at the Long Bar in 1915 by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon.
- The dining: Eight venues listed by the hotel, including 1887 by Andre, yi by Jereme Leung, Butcher’s Block, the Tiffin Room and the Grand Lobby for afternoon tea.
- The booking route: Direct on raffles.com or through the hotel reservations team. Rates move with season and suite category, so check the live calendar rather than any printed figure.
What makes Raffles different from Singapore’s other luxury hotels?
Singapore has taller, newer and more technologically ambitious luxury hotels, several of them inside shopping malls or marina towers. Raffles is the opposite proposition. It is a low, white, garden wrapped building from another century, and the experience is built around space, ceremony and staff continuity rather than spectacle. Suites open onto verandahs and courtyards planted with palms. The public rooms run at a volume noticeably lower than a modern mega hotel lobby. For a comparison with the other heritage name on most Singapore shortlists, see our guide to Capella Singapore on Sentosa, which trades this city centre formality for a resort setting on the island.
How did a 10 room beach hotel become a National Monument?
The hotel’s own history, set out on raffles.com, starts with the Sarkies brothers opening a 10 room property on Beach Road in 1887, when the sea still came up close to the building. The main building that guests photograph today followed in the 1890s heyday, and the hotel grew through the early 1900s into the social centre of colonial Singapore. Writers became part of the mythology early. The Personality Suites still honour celebrated past guests, a group the hotel’s materials associate with names such as Charlie Chaplin, Joseph Conrad and Somerset Maugham. Singapore declared the building a National Monument in 1987, and the 2017 to 2019 restoration closed the hotel completely before it reopened with 115 suites, up from 103 before the works.
Which suite category should you actually book?
The official site groups the accommodation into nine suite categories, running from Studio and State Room suites up through Courtyard, Palm Court, Personality, Residence, Promenade and Grand Hotel suites to the Presidential Suites. The honest way to choose is by outlook and occasion rather than by chasing square metre counts, which the hotel publishes per category on its own pages.
What do the entry level suites give you?
The smaller categories still deliver the full formula: a parlour separate from the bedroom, tall windows, polished teak floors, a marble bathroom and a verandah or shared verandah depending on category. State Room suites sit in the historic main building near the Raffles Arcade, while Studio suites sit above the Grand Lobby. For a couple on a two or three night city break who will spend their days out, these are the rational buy. The upgrade money buys outlook and ceremony, not a different standard of service, because the butler programme covers every suite in the house.
When are Palm Court and Personality suites worth it?
Palm Court suites face the hotel’s internal palm garden, the green courtyard that appears in most of the hotel’s own photography, and they are the classic honeymoon and anniversary choice. Personality Suites add the literary and celebrity associations, each themed around a famous former guest, and suit travellers who are coming partly for the story. Grand Hotel and Presidential suites are entertaining scale spaces aimed at families, small celebrations and guests who host in the room. If none of that describes your trip, the premium is better spent on dinners in the hotel’s restaurants.
What is the butler service, in practice?
Raffles promotes personalised butler service as the spine of the stay, and the hotel’s own description frames it as a dedicated point of contact from arrival to departure. In practical terms that means one team handles the unglamorous logistics that otherwise eat a short trip: unpacking and pressing on request, restaurant and spa bookings inside and outside the hotel, itinerary adjustments, and the small deliveries, from extra towels to a pot of tea, that in other hotels go through three departments. It is a service model built for guests who value having one human solve problems, and it is a large part of why rates sit where they do. Travellers who actively dislike staff attention will find the attentiveness harder to switch off here than in a larger, more anonymous hotel.
Where will you eat and drink inside the hotel?
The current dining line up on raffles.com runs to eight restaurants and bars. 1887 by Andre is the flagship contemporary French room, named for the founding year. Yi by Jereme Leung serves refined Chinese cooking. Butcher’s Block is built around wood fired meat. The Tiffin Room, one of the hotel’s historic dining rooms, serves North Indian food, famously presented in tiffin carriers. Afternoon tea is served in the Grand Lobby, and Raffles Courtyard offers the most casual seating, outdoors under the palms. You do not need a room key for most of this. The restaurants, the arcade shops and the bars are open to non residents, which makes Raffles a legitimate half day visit even for travellers sleeping elsewhere. Our 2 days in Singapore itinerary shows how to fit a Raffles afternoon into a short stop without losing the hawker centres and gardens that make the city.
Is the Long Bar worth the queue?
The Long Bar is the birthplace of the Singapore Sling, created there in 1915 by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon, and it operates on walk ins rather than reservations. The ritual is specific: order the original Sling, eat the complimentary peanuts and drop the shells on the floor, a tradition the bar actively maintains as a nod to the plantation era floor sweeping customs. Go in knowing it is a famous, priced accordingly, one drink experience rather than a neighbourhood bar, and time it outside the early evening peak if you dislike queuing. The Writers Bar, named for the hotel’s literary guests, is the quieter alternative for a second drink.
Who does Raffles suit best, and who should skip it?
Book Raffles if this is a milestone trip, if you love grand hotel ritual, if you are celebrating something, or if Singapore is a two to four night stop where the hotel itself is part of the sightseeing. The location works hard too: the civic district museums, Marina Bay and the downtown MRT interchanges are all close, and the building gives a first visit an instant sense of place. Skip it if you want a rooftop infinity pool scene, a resort beach, a room rate that leaves budget for heavy shopping, or complete anonymity. Families should also weigh it carefully. The hotel welcomes children, but the atmosphere is hushed and ceremonial, and Sentosa’s resorts give younger kids far more to do between meals.
Frequently Asked Questions
When did Raffles Singapore open?
The Sarkies brothers opened Raffles on 1 December 1887 with 10 rooms. The hotel was declared a National Monument in 1987 and reopened on 1 August 2019 after its latest restoration, emerging with 115 suites.
Does every room at Raffles come with a butler?
Yes. The hotel is all suite, and its own materials describe personalised butler service as part of every stay, across all nine suite categories.
Can non guests visit the Long Bar and the restaurants?
Yes. The Long Bar, Writers Bar, Raffles Courtyard and the hotel’s restaurants are open to the public. The Long Bar takes walk ins only, so arrive outside peak hours to avoid the longest queues.
Where exactly is Raffles Singapore?
At 1 Beach Road in the civic district, postal code 189673, close to Esplanade and City Hall MRT stations and within walking distance of Marina Bay and the National Gallery.
Is Raffles a good base for a first trip to Singapore?
For a first trip built around sightseeing and one or two special dinners, yes. It is central, calm and historically resonant. For a trip built around beaches, theme parks or nightlife, a Marina Bay tower or a Sentosa resort will fit better.
Rates, menus and opening arrangements checked against raffles.com, the hotel’s official site, on 13 November 2026. Suite rates vary by date and category and are best confirmed on the live booking calendar.
